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Do you have history in the Worldwide Church of God? Are you still attending one of its offshoots? Do you see cracks in the doctrine and want more information, or do you not know why you're still there anymore? Is there a hole in your heart and just don't know why God isn't granting you the happiness you were promised would come through tithing and following a man? Do you find that no matter how hard you try you cannot live up to your own standards, and you feel like a failure? Do you find your pursuit of God to be based on fear?
Investigate with me the answers to these questions and more!

Friday, September 5, 2008

COG Theological Ancestry

I have come to a conclusion during my studies.  Lots of people have tried to write a history of their own "one true church".  They all try to link back to the Apostles.  WCG is no exception.  All of them are spotty, missing massive chunks of history, and glued together with opinion.  
In my studies you can trace the Sabbath tradition back to the Seventh Day Baptists in 1650.  There the road comes to a complete dead end.

However, if you want to know where you, as an xCOG member, came from theologically as opposed to historically, it's as easy as 1-2-3.   Herbert Armstrong claimed to be the first man in 1,800 years to preach the "truths".  He claimed direct divine inspiration from God.  Is this true? Not even close.  Here is your history:
Herbert Armstrong <- A. N. Dugger <- G. G. Rupert

If you go back to G. G. Rupert, you will find everything you need to know about what you believe.  A. N. Dugger (COG7) was a huge fan of G. G. Rupert, and Herbert Armstrong was a huge fan of A. N. Dugger.

Read these two articles for much more info:

This is absolutely no case, in absolutely no way, of Herbert Armstrong being inspired.  HWA, unfortunately for many of his believers (and me), used G. G. Rupert's theories and said they were his own; giving no credit to their source.  He built an aura of divine inspiration, saying God directly led him to understand these things from a study of the Bible.  He created a myth of being the first person in 1,800 years to teach these "truths".  He said he was never taught by men.  He misled tens of thousands.

I cannot escape the fact, no matter how hard I tried, that Herbert Armstrong was not an honest man.

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