I have called this article "Lying with the Truth" for a good reason: much of what the Worldwide Church of God teaches is, within its own frame of reference, true, or, at least, arguably true or difficult to disprove--particularly where they are looking at the biblical stance on various issues. Their shakiest teachings involve many unwarranted assumptions and conclusions, but generally they support their positions well.
What is the truth that the Worldwide Church of God lies with so well? Mainly, it is the bombshell about the origin of most modern Christian beliefs and practices. That the beliefs are the result of hundreds of years of councils and debates, questions and reasonings, and political maneuverings, and the practices the result of syncretism with other cultures and religions comes as a severe shock to most people.
Immediately after seeing that many things they have been taught do not originate in the Bible, people are often on their way to believing the Worldwide Church of God is the one church that has God's stamp of approval, without considering the possible answer to those carefully-unasked questions about Apostolic authority and how a "true" church can be distinguished from the false. The WWCOG prefers, aside from some word play on the name "Peter," designed to negate any idea of the existence of apostolic authority, to ignore the issue altogether. When Christ told Peter he was giving him the keys to the Kingdom, and the power to bind and loose on earth, and have it ratified in heaven, certainly, whatever He meant, He must have meant something (Matt.16:18). Ironically, in the last years of his life, the WWCOG's founder, Herbert Armstrong, himself asserted his "right" to be called an Apostle, and wield the supposed authority of binding and loosing he had always claimed did not exist.
The propaganda value of telling the truth is tremendous. There is still much room left for distortion: things may simply be left out; things may be disproportionately emphasized or de-emphasized; better still, while the overt teaching may be impeccable, a covert, "hidden" teaching may be in operation. The Worldwide Church of God uses all of these strategies.
Among the things left out, or brushed over skimpily, is the question of what constitutes a part of the true Christian church, and exactly what they base this judgement on. The WWCOG teaches that it is the only true church at present, because it has more "true teachings" than anyone else. Since their organization is little more than fifty years old, to get around the whole history of Christianity before this group, and still allow for the necessary continuity of existence of true Christianity, they do accept many churches from other denominations, as well as heretical movements, as having been part of "the true church." Often this is done on evidence of only one "true teaching," such as the Sabbath; however, now that the WWCOG has come into existence, no other Sabbath-keeping church is considered part of the "true faith." What arbitrary standards are used in determining who was and who wasn't "true" are never revealed. This is an area the church does not want questioned.1
Another thing they do not want members to think about is just what authority the Apostles had in shaping the new Christian faith, what authority they may have had to make decisions, or to make rules binding on converts, or release them from certain obligations -- certainly the WWCOG does not want members to think about what authority the Apostles passed on to their successors. The Worldwide Church of God goes on the assumption that no authority was given to do any of those things, since that would open the door to the idea that Christianity's development may have been legitimate in the eyes of God, and this would take away their "edge," which they claim is the early faith.
Yet another way they twist the truth into a lie is to lay too much emphasis on one thing to the detriment of others. Among the things they emphasize are Obedience, Sabbath-keeping, Tithing, the Submission of Women, and Serving the Church. Things not emphasized are Mercy, Justice, Forgiveness, and those God-given things which lend dimension to life, like humour and beauty. All the "harsh" virtues are exalted, to the detriment of the "soft" ones. As well, sin is spoken of at great length: virtue is barely discussed, beyond the details of particular Commandments. Morality is almost never spoken of. One would have to read other churches' writings to learn more about the nature of Courage, Temperance, Prudence, or Justice. Even the three theological virtues of Love, Hope, and Faith are not dealt with in any great depth.
7.2. Mystery Religion 101
Church services themselves appear to operate of a principle of "progressive revelation," a key legacy of the mystery religions, who carefully "initiate" their converts into various levels of revealing secrets. Thus, certain doctrines are not normally preached in church, ostensibly to avoid offending new people in attendance: third tithe, as well as church views on marriage, and other church customs, are often left for individual counselling sessions. Other teachings take on strange overlays of extra meaning to those in the know, so that what once appeared to be plain speech is shown to be in fact technical jargon the new convert is bound to misunderstand if he takes it at face value.
The church seldom puts into print its ideas about marriage. For example, a marriage solemnized before coming into the church is not, in some senses, considered "binding," because God has not really joined the couple together; nevertheless, the marriage cannot be terminated, even for adultery, and seldom for cruelty short of physical violence, regardless of whether or not the spouse fulfills any of the duties of a mate. Still, though people are considered bound to this extent, the marriage is considered a lower-class union: many of the church consider women with nonmember mates (or "unconverted mates") to be "spiritual widows," in company with single mothers and other women not considered to have a "real" husband. I know of no such attitude regarding men married to nonmembers. Of course, this idea does not take into account what St. Paul said about the family being sanctified and holy because of the one believer (I Cor. 7:14).
Church marriages, however, are so binding that a member initiating divorce is often disfellowshipped for it: even where the grounds are severe, and the member is allowed to remain, each partner is forever barred from remarriage, and they are subject to intermittent pressure to reconcile. Interestingly, when the founder, a widower, remarried, and his second marriage did not work out, he divorced his wife after only three years. How members who had stayed yoked together in misery felt about his easy out is not hard to imagine.
The "hidden" teachings of the Worldwide Church of God take time to learn, and are often only learned in the breach. The seventh commandment, against adultery, is interpreted to mean that not only should married people not dance with anyone but their mate at a church function, but even single people should dance only with their date for the evening -- to do otherwise is to invite a reputation for promiscuity. For those raised in cultures where dances are less adult-, and more family-oriented, with young and old dancing together, this comes as a shock and an insult. And nowhere is it taught.
Another hidden teaching is the answer to the question "who is my neighbour?"; the WWCOG's answer is quite different from the one Christ gave. To the Worldwide Church of God, your "neighbour" is your fellow church member: nonmembers can be gossiped about, treated cruelly, or deceived with impunity (ministers recommended you not tell a potential employer about the upcoming holy days, even if you were being hired the week before you had to leave).
Their literature seldom brings up their stringent teachings on faith-healing: even dentistry is often frowned upon. The sick are to ask for anointing by the ministry, then leave the illness in God's hands. Those not healed are seen to lack faith. Those needing operations would surreptitiously go to the hospital and hope not to be found out. One woman was made a public example of, in front of the whole congregation, because she had her wisdom teeth removed instead of being anointed; the ministry said her postoperative suffering was divine punishment for her lack of faith. That one gospel and the book of Acts was written by Luke, "the beloved physician," not ex-physician, makes this appear biblically unjustified.
Generally, when their magazines discuss history or world events, they do so fairly accurately. The magazine itself, having been started by an ad man who knew how to sell an idea, is an excellent product, and quite convincing. "Shocking truths" are their stock-in-trade: it works.
7.3. Tossed To and Fro
I attended Worldwide Church of God services from January 1978 to August 1984: this particular 6½-year period was one marked by extreme change. I entered the church and was baptized at the tail-end of the phase that was perhaps the most marked for individual freedom in the organization's history, and left at a time that was fast approaching the strictness of its most Draconian period, where a woman's hair had to reach to a particular vertebra in the neck, and when second marriages were routinely broken up in a cruel attempt to reinstate the earlier marriage (a practice expressly called an "abomination" in the Bible: Deut. 24:4).
The phase I entered in was later to be called "the liberal years," or "the liberal 70's" -- this was the Garner Ted Armstrong era, when the Worldwide Church of God lost most of its cult-like isolationist trappings, and began approaching the status of a regular Christian denomination; the phase in which I left had several names: it was, at first, "getting the church back on track," later, "cleaning up the church," and, later still, "pushing forward," "purging the church," and "putting The Work first."
While actual church doctrine changed little, minor matters were more strongly emphasized and strictly enforced, for example, celebrating birthdays, and gift-giving at the fall festival, both previously left to members' judgement, were once more expressly forbidden; cosmetics of any kind, even to camouflage blemishes, were not allowed; children's fairytales were suddenly forbidden as "demonic"; bit by bit, movies and books were scrutinized and censured.
For all the outward annoyance of having to satisfy so many petty rules, the major change in the church was attitudinal. I personally experienced this as a shift from interest and joy to a greater and greater sense of guilt, fear, inadequacy, and depression, a shift that was very noticeable in others, particularly those most dedicated to the church as a personal religion. Those dedicated more to the organization as a thing in itself blossomed in the ever-increasing flurry of demands on their time, which allowed them to escape their own lives.
In the earlier part of these 6½ years, the church was actually in the phone book, and one could come to services without invitation or screening, though one had to phone to find out where the church was meeting. Baptism was based on ministerial assessment of an individual's attitude and understanding, and could be as immediate as the baptisms of the apostles. Later, the ministers were required to hold at least three counselling sessions with a potential convert; this absolute minimum became, in practice, months, or more than a year, so that there developed a virtual caste of catechumen, halflings neither members nor nonmembers, but people "in counselling."
These people could not date members (or anyone else), and were expected to take on more church tasks than previously expected of members, in order to prove themselves and get in. Absolute obedience, although always imperfectly realized, was the goal of this new breed of zealots.
This shift in the Worldwide Church of God was, as long-time members told me, more typical of the church's history than the brief window of freedom through which I entered, and this tightening was the greater part of the period I knew and saw in detail, and is the basis of this article. From reports since I have left, and the fact the organization is now run by a council of old-time conservative administrators, I doubt the WWCOG has become any less strict after the death of its founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. Whether it has shifted again, however, is hardly the point: members must be prepared to shift with it, much like the citizens of Orwell's 1984.
7.4. The Unpardonable Corporate Sin
While its isolationist tactics, its threats of the Lake of Fire, and the social impact of the unemployment and the tithes and offerings bringing many to poverty, are all important sociological evils that come with the Worldwide Church of God, from a religious point of view, the organization is guilty of an even greater sin. In setting itself up as a thing to be obeyed and feared, it causes a virtual worship of itself in place of the worship of God, and, in effect, sets itself up as an idol -- an evil it has often accused the Roman Catholic Church of (probably because the WWCOG has always maintained that there are only two serious contenders for the identity of "The True Church," itself and Catholicism). Like other destructive organizations, this church rails most strongly against the evils it is guilty of itself.
In every way, the organization makes a true and responsible, personal relationship with God exceedingly difficult. It seduces its members into giving in to their fears, and abdicating their own spiritual responsibility before God, and handing it over to the church. No great maturity or spiritual growth can occur so long as its members do not take the risks of living their own life before God. Rather than building character in the congregations, the church infantalizes its people. It is no wonder, then, that it sees the fruits of the selfishness, cruelty, and narcissism you would expect to find in people allowed to indulge their childish nature.
Because very few of the members are truly that callous, being part of this culture causes a great deal of psychic pain hard for them to identify: their conscience hurts, they feel guilty, but they don't know why. The church has ready-made answers, but none of its "solutions" put the member's conscience to rest. Finally, questioning too much, unsure whether to stay or to leave, many voice their confusion to the ministry, and are then suspended or expelled. Kicking people out just before they are ready to leave adds further confusion, and makes their recovery take longer. It leaves them longing to return, making it harder for them to come to terms with what had so deeply bothered them in the first place. In time, if they cannot come to terms with it, they may pine, and return, like the dog to its vomit (Prov. 26:11).
1
The new teaching is that the Worldwide Church of God is among many groups that contain "the body of Christ"; however, considering that, until recently they did not have open meetings, and still do not like members to date non-members, or even visit other church services, and other such attitudes, this does not appear to be more than lip service for the sake of being accepted by the general Christian community.
