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BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Birth, marriage and early career Most of the biographical information about Herbert W. Armstrong comes from his own writings. He was born in 1892 in Des Moines, Iowa , to parents of the Quaker faith. He dropped out of high school circa 1908, beginning a career in business sales and advertising. In 1917 he married his cousin Loma Dillon who died in 1966 . He married Ramona Martin in 1977 . That marriage ended in divorce in 1982 . Most of his early life until 1926 was devoted to selling Advertising services and copywriting. During this time he adopted a copy and layout style of presentation in which upper and lower case words were mixed within both headlines and text for emphasis and impact. This writing style became his own trademark which he never abandoned throughout his life. Early religious beliefs In his early life Herbert W. Armstrong abandoned the faith of his parents and professed Agnosticism . At some time around 1926 or 1927 when he was living in Oregon , his wife Loma became friendly with a neighbour, identified by Armstrong in his Autobiography (possibly inaccurately) as Ora Runcorn, who was a member of the Church Of God (Seventh Day) . He is said to have been converted to her beliefs after attempting to prove them to be wrong. He described it in interesting terms: That she "kept Saturday for Sunday," and that he would prove to her that the Bible taught somewhere that "thou shalt keep Sunday," indicating his total unfamiliarity with scripture at the time. Background to ordination This church traces its history from Pentecost in the Book of Acts, through the Ephesians under the Apostle John and the Smyrnaeans under Polycarp, etc. (the seven churches listed in the Book of Revelation 2 & 3) (see Dugger AN, Dodd CO. A History of True Religion, 3rd ed. Jerusalem, 1972 (Church of God, 7th Day). 1990 reprint. And Hoeh H. A True History of the True Church. 1959 ed. Radio Church of God). Some American history of this church involved the work of William Miller , who between 1831 and 1844 promoted the doctrine of a pre- Millennial return of Jesus . In 1842 Gilbert Cranmer became a convert to the teachings of William Miller. In approximately 1843 Rachel Oakes, a Seventh Day Baptist converted Frederick Wheeler, a Sunday observing Methodist -Adventist minister to observing Saturday instead and in so doing created a Seventh-day Adventist Church . In 1844 when the prophecies of William Miller fail to occur, the entire Adventist movement began to corving the Saturday Sabbath. In 1846 Ellen G. Harmon ( Ellen G. White ) married James White and they also began to observe the Saturday Sabbath. In 1849 William Miller died. In 1858 the Whites denied Gilbert Cranmer a license to preach for their own new group and as a result Gilbert Cranmer independently established several congregations of his own in Michigan . In 1860 Sabbath-keeping Adventists met at Battle Creek , Michigan and the group adopted the name Seventh-day Adventists. In 1863 the Seventh-day Adventist denomination was created and Gilbert Cranmer published the first issue of ''The Hope of Israel'' paper, which in 1872 changed its name to ''Advent and Sabbath Advocate and Hope of Israel''. Church Of God (Seventh Day) officially formed after Mr. and Mrs. White took control of the Church, changed its name to 'Seventh Day Adventists', and required that members accept Ellen White as a prophet and her teachings as inspired prophecy. It is those who would not go along with those changes that formed the organization now known as the Church Of God, Seventh Day) (these and other details are documented in the book History of the Seventh Day Church of God by Richard Nickels, Giving & Sharing, 1988). Though they separated in the 1850s and 1860s, groups from Michigan, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska eventually formed a new organization under the name of Church of God which in 1884 adopted Stanberry, Missouri as its headquarters with A. F. Dugger as vice-president. In 1892 Herbert W. Armstrong was born. In 1899 ''The General Conference of the Church of God'' was officially incorporated. In 1900 Gilbert Cranmer's paper changed its name again, this time to ''The Bible Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom'' and it would undergo yet another name change to ''The Bible Advocate''. In 1903 Gilbert Cranmer died at the Church of God Sanitarium in White Cloud, Michigan . In 1906 Andrew N. Dugger, son of Andrew F. Dugger, who died in 1910 , began his ministry and in 1914 became publisher of ''The Bible Advocate''. Ellen G. White died in 1915 .--> Ordination and foundation of his own belief system By his own published admission, in 1927 Herbert W. Armstrong was Baptized by a Baptist minister, but continued as a member of the Church of God. On February 9, 1930 , Garner Ted Armstrong was born. In 1931 Armstrong was ordained by the Oregon Conference of The Church of God and in Chapter 24 of his Autobiography under the heading of ''Ordained to Christ's Ministry'', Armstrong explained his own thought process that formed the backbone of everything that he came to believe and put into practice. (Note that the upper and lowercase style of writing in the following abbreviated excerpt is in the original text which was the signature style of his authorship): First, Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry at about age 30. God took away my business ... inducting me into His ministry, when I was 30! Second, Jesus began ... training ... His original disciples for carrying HIS GOSPEL to the world in the year A.D. 27. Precisely 100 time-cycles later, in 1927, He began my intensive study and training for carrying HIS SAME GOSPEL to all nations of today's world. ... the significance of 100 time-cycles! God set the earth, sun, and moon in their orbits to mark off divisions of time on the earth. ... the earth, the sun, and the moon come into almost exact conjunction only once in 19 years. Thus 19 years mark off one complete time-cycle! ... Exactly 100 time-cycles later, after 3½ years of intensive study and training, Christ ordained me to preach this same Gospel of the Kingdom in all the world as a witness to all nations (Matt. 24:14). This ordination took place at, or very near, the Day of Pentecost, 1931. ... Christ started out His original apostles preaching the very Gospel of the Kingdom which God had sent by Him, and which He had taught the apostles, in the year A.D. 31. For exactly one 19-year time-cycle this preaching was confined to the continent where it started -- Asia. After precisely one 19-year time-cycle, A.D. 50, Christ opened a door for the Apostle Paul to carry the same Gospel to EUROPE! This was A.D. 50. Before A.D. 70, Roman armies besieged Jerusalem. From that time the Roman government stamped out the organized mass spreading of the Gospel of Christ. Soon a different gospel was being tolerated, later endorsed and then enforced by Roman government. It was Roman paganism now being palmed off under the new name "Christianity." ... For nearly 19 centuries the world has been rendered spiritually drunk on the wine of this counterfeit gospel! As prophecy foretold, ALL nations have been deceived. But looking into our time, just before the END of this age (Matt. 24:14), Jesus foretold that His same original Gospel of the Kingdom of God was to be preached and published (Mark 13:10) in all the world as a witness to ALL NATIONS! This was to immediately precede HIS SECOND COMING! TODAY THIS IS BEING DONE! Now consider this amazing parallel! God first opened a door -- that of radio and the printing press -- for the mass proclaiming of HIS ORIGINAL TRUE GOSPEL the first week in 1934! The exact date was January 7, 1934. Exactly one time-cycle later, January 7, 1953, God opened wide the massive door of the most powerful commercial radio station on earth, and RADIO LUXEMBOURG began broadcasting Christ's Gospel to EUROPE and Britain! In 1933 the Church of God group into which Armstrong had been baptized and ordained split into two factions. Armstrong followed the breakaway group which was led by A. N. Dugger who then formed the ''Church of God 7th Day'' with its U.S. headquarters in Salem, West Virginia and world headquarters in Jerusalem . On October 9 , 1933 , Armstrong took to the airwaves for the first time with a Religious program on radio station KORE in Eugene, Oregon where he pastored a church congregation. The broadcast over KORE gave rise to the name ''Radio Church of God''. In 1934 he began publication of '' The Plain Truth '' magazine which was an outgrowth of earlier attempts at publication. Credentials Herbert W. Armstrong received his ministerial credentials from the Church of God (Seventh Day). Elder John Kiesz of Denver, Colo. (1903-1996), an associate of Armstrong's in the 1920s and '30s in the Church of God (Seventh Day) wrote: "In 1931 he {Link without Title} was ordained to the ministry, and in 1932 he received his Ministerial License Certificate from the Oregon Conference of the Church of God, signed by O.J. Runcorn as President, and Mrs. I.E. Curtis as Secretary." Armstrong claimed that after documenting and explaining his belief that the Bible required true Christians to observe the biblical Holy Days as set forth in Leviticus 23 (and other places), the leadership of the Church of God (Seventh Day), told him that although some of them agreed with him, that this doctrine could not be taught as many members would be offended. Armstrong said he then decided he had to discontinue his association with that group. A few years later ( 1937 ) the Church of God (Seventh Day) revoked his ministerial credentials for doctrinal differences. Since he was no longer part of them, Armstrong continued working as he had been. To read more of what Armstrong said about his leaving and what the Church of God (Seventh Day) said about his leaving, please see the article Church of God (Seventh Day) As editor and publisher of ''The Plain Truth'' Armstrong received from Alger Hiss , Secretary General of the United Nations Conference On International Organization , full press credentials to cover the UN Charter Conference in San Francisco in 1945. He continued to have a variety of other press credentials until his death. Move to California On March 3, 1946 he moved his base of operations to Pasadena, California where he incorporated the Radio Church Of God : ... we, HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG, BASIL WOLVERTON, DAVID T. HENION, JAMES A. GOTT, ESTHER M. OLSON, and LOMA D. ARMSTRONG, have voluntarily associated ourselves together for the purpose of incorporating a hitherto unincorporated voluntary association in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, known as "Radio Church of God", under Title III, Article I of the General Nonprofit Corporation Law of the State of California ... On January 5, 1968 , Herbert W. Armstrong and one associate filed a Certificate of Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation of the Radio Church of God, which stated that the two individuals were the President and Secretary of the corporation and that as a result of a meeting of the board of directors it was resolved that: ARTICLE I of the Articles of Incorporation of this corporation be amended to read as As leader of the Worldwide Church Of God he began to be regarded by his followers as a modern-day apostle. He later used that term freely to describe his own office, and published a flowchart in a church newspaper that had a line of succession from "God" to "Jesus Christ" to "HWA," making him, presumably, third in line of authority in the church. BELIEFS Many, but not all, of Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings appear to have been influenced by Church of God ministers Andrew N. Dugger ( 1886 - 1975 ) and Clarence O. Dodd ( 1899 - 1955 ). Armstrong preached a Gospel that was quite different from that of mainstream Christianity because he did not primarily intend to attract members, but to serve as a base with which to warn the world of a timetable of coming events. The climax of those events, in his concept, would result in the return of Jesus Christ to Earth as King of kings and Lord of lords in order to establish the Kingdom Of God . Four major platforms of doctrine Although Armstrong always taught that faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the baptism of believers into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were central tenets of belief and practice for Christians, he also taught biblical practices that mainstream Christianity believes to be non-binding because of the New Covenant: # A belief that the Old Testament commandment to observe the seventh-day Sabbath, various Holy Days and abstention from proscribed animals and fish is still in effect. These requirements are not simply toward either Orthodox Judaism or Reform Judaism but rather requirements that were placed upon God's people, whether Jew or Gentile, because they had typological value and taught thereby God's plan of salvation for Mankind and the need for holiness. To this end he offered a booklet called: Pagan Holidays – or God’s Holydays -Which? # A belief that primarily the ". Although the Worldwide Church of God never supported anti-semitism and taught vigorously against racism (while citing Biblical texts to prohibit interracial marriage, and even dancing with a member of a different race at youth-group, college, and church functions), the British-Israelism belief system is primarily found in Christian Identity movements. # A belief that Armstrong had been given a commission to warn the world by print and broadcasting media before the end of the age would come about with a World War III brought on by a ''', which was written by Armstrong and illustrated by Basil Wolverton . As that date approached with seemingly very few developments suggesting the fulfilment of Armstrong's prophetic scheme, there was naturally a de-emphasis placed on that speculation. # A belief that the true Church of God was not Protestant as it could trace its history from the Day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts through present, and did not trace itself from the Protestant Reformation. Essentially Armstong taught that the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3 describe characteristics of the true Church that would occur in succession, and he specifically identified some of the groups that fulfilled these related prophecies. There were also many differences between the teachings of Armstrong and the Protestant reformer Martin Luther . Some of these are documented in an article The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert Armstrong . Other doctrines Among the most distinctive teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, (some held in common with the Seventh-day Church of God, and other Christian groups as well), were: #The true Gospel is the literal establishment of a world government, the Kingdom of God, with Jesus ruling as king and the glorified saints ruling under Jesus over all humanity. #The Church's primary responsibility is to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Secondarily, the church is to warn the world, especially the modern descendants of the tribes of Israel (the Anglo-celtic nations), of impending disaster prophesied to occur at the end of this age—soon!—just before the return of Jesus Christ. #Not all who call themselves Christian s are saved - only those in the spiritual Body of Christ: primarily, but not limited to, baptized members of the Worldwide Church of God. #Eternal life is God's gift and works do not save anyone - but the works one do show the faith they have (Jam. 2:18), which will determine their reward and level of authority and service in the Kingdom of God. #The Worldwide Church of God was the continuation of God's only true church #Herbert Armstrong was God's one and only end-time Apostle. #Those who do not keep the Sabbath are not true Christians. True Christians are identified as those who "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ" (Matthew 5:17ff, 19:17; Revelation 14:12). #Use of medicines and the medical profession for treatment of illness or disease is sinful and revealed a lack of faith. This teaching was later changed. #Divorce on grounds other than adultery is sinful, and, if a person had divorced prior to becoming a member of the Worldwide Church of God, that person had to separate from the later spouse. This teaching was later changed -- coincidentally, not long before Armstrong married a divorced woman. #Use of makeup by women is sinful. This teaching was later changed during Armstrong's administration. Armstrong later claimed that it had been changed without his knowledge or approval, and changed it back in 1981. It remained that way until his death, after which church leaders removed the restriction. #Those not called during this age have a part in the second resurrection wherein they will have the opportunity to learn God's truth. #That members of the Worldwide Church of God would be protected in an area such as Petra during the latter half of the Great Tribulation #The reward of the saved is not Heaven, but the Kingdom of Heaven with the Government of God set up on the Earth, for the first time since Satan 's rebellion, during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the Earth over those who survive the great tribulation. #Those called in this life receive salvation at the return of Jesus Christ and reign with Him 1,000 years as kings and priests over humanity. #After the 1,000 years, the Great White Throne Judgement period will occur, in which all who have ever lived will appear before the judgement seat of God and have the opportunity to learn God's way and do His will for the first time ever. This will happen after Satan the Devil is cast into the Lake of Fire so he can deceive the people no more. #The kingdom of God will eventually be handed by Jesus Christ to God the Father. #All who reject God wil be permanently destroyed in the Lake of Fire as opposed to being tormented forever and ever. Satan 's punishment is to last forever, and it will torment ''him''. #The Christian Godhead is a family made up of two personages, with the Father, whom Jesus revealed, and the Son, Jesus. However, the Godhead will later expand to billions of personages, as the destiny of humans, if they obey the Law of God and keep the faith of Jesus, is to be reborn as God-beings. #The Holy Spirit is not a third Person of the Godhead, but rather is the power that emanated from God the Father and Jesus Christ that can be in mankind making us one with them and enabling us to keep God's commandments as Jesus did. #Jesus Christ existed before he was in the flesh, as the Word. He was the God of the Old Testament . #A first, second, and third Tithe must be paid. The first tithe is 10% (tithe literally means {Link without Title} ) of a member's earnings, and is to be given to the Church (thought to be the modern day inheritor of the Levitical priesthood duty of Old Testament Israel). Members should save a second 10% to be spent on themselves when observing the annual holy days of the Old Testament. Although not required, any part of the second tithe not spent during the observance of the annual holy days could be handed in to the Church as an "offering" on the last day of the annual Feast of Tabernacles. A third 10% is to be sent to the Church every third year, which is used to help those in the Church who are in need. (Deut. 26:12) Third tithe is also used to pay the staff of the Church as they are considered spiritual Levites, since they are doing God's work. Additionally, members were to pay a "tithe of the tithe," meaning one-tenth of the second tithe should be sent to the church to pay the administrative costs of annual Sabbaths (renting the halls, paying for activities). This "tithe of the tithe" was an administrative decision of the Church, not a command of God, and it was to be taken from a members second tithe. #Those who do not pay God His tithes are robbing Him. #One is not born again until the resurrection. #Many of the old testament Holy Days were mandated to be kept as reminders of future events that were to occur. #Interracial Marriages were highly discouraged. The most extensive documentaion of the original doctrines of the Worldwide Church of God is contained in ''There Came a Falling Away'': {Link without Title} (this is a pdf) The list of 280 doctrines begins on page 44. The doctrines originally taught by the WCG are listed as "old teachings" or the first in the list. The rest of the book explains each doctrine in detail. Notes: 1. Armstrong was once a strong trinitarian; his views most likely changed due to exposure to 7th-day Church of God binitarians. 2. Armstrong did not "invent" the Wednesday Crucifixion Theory: he most likely adapted the theory from Ethelbert Bullinger's study bible or from a source influencing or influenced by Bullinger. See The Wednesday Crucifixion Theory. 3. Many adventist offshoots keep the "New Moon" feasts as well as the high holy days. Armstrong never gave a rationale for keeping the high days but not the new moons; in the history of Hebrew religion, new moon feasts were often considered the most important religious holy days. WRITINGS Herbert W. Armstong was a prolific writer and most of his works were stamped with his early style of advertising copy-writing that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s . He wrote many articles and booklets and a few books. However, shortly after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong disputes arose over the Copyright s to these works when the Worldwide Church of God withdrew them from circulation. Various groups then attempted to reprint and circulate the writings of Herbert W. Armstrong and this eventually led to a major and lengthy court case between the Worldwide Church of God and the Philadelphia Church Of God , which still largely accepts many Armstrong Doctrine s. Following mutual resolution of that case the Philadelphia Church of God gained legal copyrights to some of the most noteworthy works and these include:
CHARACTER AND REPUTATION Herbert Armstrong's reputation was called into question a number of times over the years by accusers. A letter by former church accountant and lawyer Jack Kessler is widely available through Internet search engines. In it he mentions numerous examples of egregious behavior on the part of Armstrong and other church leaders with whom he had worked. Kessler later returned to the fold and served as an elder in the church after its major doctrinal revisions in the 1990s. A published article addresses accusations against Armstrong, defending against several of them {Link without Title} . It is not known whether the author ever knew or worked with Armstrong personally, as Kessler did. In 1979 a State of California court placed the church into financial receivership to investigate charges of financial illegalities, based on notarized statements and financial documents accepted as sufficient evidence by the California court. Stanley Rader, Armstrong's personal confidant, CPA and attorney-in-law, was the architect of most of the legal and accounting strategies the Church used for decades. He arranged for a legal strategy to prevent the Church or Armstrong from revealing all financial information. A two million dollar bond was posted as security, pending outcome of appeals {Link without Title} {Link without Title} . Church members and Ambassador College employees were told not to cooperate with the court order. Los Angeles area riot police squads were summoned as Church families, including women and children, barricaded themselves in at Ambassador to prevent any access to church documents, income and expenditures, bank records, or computer drives. Fortunately, a direct confrontation was avoided. Rader then vigorously litigated in many venues against a receivership investigation. Utilizing various arguments, he appealed from the Courts of Appeal up to the California Supreme Court numerous times. He even litigated the receivership in the United States Supreme Court, where famed Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe tried to argue on behalf of the church to put an end to the receivership. The USSC , for a third time in a row, denied the church any relief from the Office of the Attorney General of California investigating the abuse of church funds. Frustrated by getting nowhere with his final legal appeals, and denied any legal relief from the pending financial investigation, Rader, as a last resort, lobbied the California state legislature for passage of a special bill exempting the Worldwide Church Of God from financial examination by the California Attorney General which, after passage, was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown . Note: many members of the WCG were accused of extreme child discipline. Armstrong frequently spoke of "spanking" and his version of the practice differed from the general recommendations of people like Jim Dobson. Additionally, further accusations of sexual misconduct with his daughter Dorothy have been leveled against Herbert W. Armstrong, claiming that in 1933, when his daughter was thirteen years old, he began a systematic sexual abuse of her. These allegations state that he did not actually achieve vaginal penetration on her until 1936, when she was sixteen years old. Former WWCG minister David Robinson first published these allegations in 1980, in "Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web." Although WWCG lawyers -did- attempt to halt the publication and distribution of this book, Herbert Armstrong himself never denied the allegations, and neither did his son, Garner Ted Armstrong. Ambassador Report #27 (April, 1984) stated the following: "Many readers will recall that when David Robinson's book appeared in 1980, it contained numerous allegations shocking to even some of HWA's long-time critics. No accusation was more startling than that found in the book's last chapter. There Robinson charged that HWA had maintained an intimate sexual relationship with the younger of his two daughters for a period of approximately one decade beginning in the early 1930's. The Armstrong organization, through surrogates, attempted to use the courts to block distribution of the Robinson book, but failed miserably (Ambassador Report, Sept 1980). It is most remarkable, however, that in attempting to stop distribution of the Robinson book, never once was it asserted that the incest allegation was untrue. Nor did Dorothy Mattson, HWA's younger daughter, ever come forth to deny the incest story (and she has repeatedly refused to respond to queries from the Report regarding the matter.) In spite of all this, it seems there are still some who prefer to believe that the incest story was fabricated. Let us briefly review the facts. In 1971 Garner Ted Armstrong paid a visit to his younger sister Dorothy. He had long been suspicious of the kind of relationship his father and sister maintained during his youth. They chatted over a few drinks and then Ted told her bluntly of his suspicions. She did more than admit the allegations. With candor she related detail after shocking detail. For a number of years GTA kept the information to himself. But Dorothy did not. She divulged the same information to many others including David Antion (GTA's brother- in-law) and Lois Chapman (who had been married to the late Richard Armstrong, Ted's older brother. Dorothy's story as related to Ted and others was that Herbert had begun fondling and heavy petting her in 1933 when she was thirteen years old - around the same time that HWA now claims God was using him to found the modern era of the only true church. But he did not begin to "go all the way" with her until three years later. One day Dorothy returned home from a date with a young bank teller to inform her father that she had just been "half-raped". To her surprise, Herbert was actually "elated" over the news. Herbert decided it was time to show her how it was really done. From then on Herbert went "all the way". The year was 1936; Dorothy was 16 years old. Strangely, Dorothy has claimed Herbert later went on to become a good friend of the bank teller. The incestuous relationship went on for years, but it was apparently not mutually enjoyable. Dorothy has related to friends how on one occasion in a hotel room she so strongly protested Herbert's abuse that the manager knocked on the door and asked what the reason was for all the noise. Herbert was quick to inform him that his "young bride" was a bit uncooperative due to inexperience. Satisfied with the alibi the manager left. Dorothy has claimed that Herbert then overpowered her, and after tying her to the bed and gagging her, proceeded to rape her. It's a pity Herbert neglected to include this incident in his book God Speaks Out On The New Morality. During those years, besides taking her on supposedly church or ministry-related business trips, it was not uncommon for Herbert to take Dorothy out dancing on Friday nights. On one such occasion she asked him if he ever worried that one of his church members would see them. He told her no, because, in effect, they were too stupid to be out dancing on Friday night and that he had them well-trained (in keeping the Friday sunset to Saturday sunset Sabbath). These incidents were but a part of the awful truth Dorothy related to Garner Ted and others. In spite of church upheavals, arguments with his father, personal emotional problems and considerable notoriety about his own sins, Ted said nothing about his father's shameful past. Not until 1978. That year, during a heated argument between GTA and his father, HWA threatened to "destroy" Ted through making public certain information about his personal life. But Ted responded in kind saying he could destroy HWA with the information he had. Ted charged his father in no uncertain terms, yelling: "You fucked my sister!" Herbert, shocked at Ted's knowledge of the incestuous relationship, could only reply, "Well - there have been times in my life when I have gotten far away from God." The conversation - overheard by GTA associate Benny Sharp - was the last face to face meeting between the two men. And Ted has since related how the hateful look he saw in his father's eye made him suspect they would never see each other again. As was covered in great detail in our 1977 issue, during the early '70s Garner Ted Armstrong became highly infatuated with an Ambassador College coed. The resulting affair caused great confusion in the higher echelons of the WCG. Former WCG evangelist David Antion recalls how, at the time, he discussed the problem with HWA. Antion was for years perplexed by the almost Freudian analysis offered. HWA told Antion that Ted was simply fantasizing the younger woman as being his own daughter. The statement made no sense to Antion until years later. (As an aside, it is interesting how Ramona has claimed that HWA has been, over the years, very jealous of GTA's supposed sexual prowess.) The last meeting between GTA and his father in 1978 was not the only time HWA confessed to the incest allegation. In 1980 Henry Cornwall, then an aide to HWA, read the Robinson book soon after it appeared and asked HWA directly if the chapter on incest was accurate. HWA told him it was. He then instructed Cornwall that his wife Ramona was not to see the book or learn of the incest story. Unfortunately for Herbert, Ramona already had a copy of the book and was in the next room listening to the Cornwall-HWA discussion. Shortly thereafter, she too confronted HWA about the incest allegation. And once again, HWA admitted it was true, but begged and pleaded with Ramona not to let this fact get in the way of their marriage. The cause of the problem, he said, had been Loma, his first wife. Considering the perversity of Herbert's past, is it any wonder Ramona's love would begin to wane? One can only speculate on how much Herbert's first wife Loma knew of what had transpired for ten years between her husband and her younger daughter. But some individuals who were then close to the Armstrong family did notice that toward the end of her life, Loma was not on good speaking terms with Dorothy and that during the last year or so of her life she appeared to have lost almost all will to live. She died in 1967 after an illness that many say could have been cured by medical science, had she availed herself of that help. It is interesting to note also that HWA's great preoccupation with world touring began right around that time. Ramona has reported to friends how the Robinson allegations preoccupied HWA's mind for a considerable period. She has also reported seeing a typed statement intended for Dorothy's signature. It stated that she (Dorothy) had never had a sexual relationship with her father. The document was, and we'd be willing to bet still is, unsigned. Dorothy undoubtedly knows that to sign such a statement would prove financially costly, removing any leverage she still possesses over her father. (On a recent trip to Big Sandy, Texas, HWA was quoted as saying his daughters show him very little affection and care only for his money.) Dorothy has stated that her sexual relationship with her father continued into the early forties. In 1943 Herbert officiated at the ceremony in which Dorothy was married to Vern Mattson, who soon afterward was to serve overseas in the U.S. Marines. We have no information that the incestuous relationship continued beyond that point. However, Dorothy has related to friends how, around the time of her engagement, Herbert told her that her marriage need not put an end to their own special relationship. Shortly after Vern's discharge from the military, Herbert was able to provide him with employment within his growing organization. Although Dorothy drifted away from her father's church by around 1951, Vern continued his association. He was the organization's business manager before the Albert Portune era. What caused him to leave the Armstrong corporation? Was it then that he discovered the awful truth about his wife and father-in-law? The following quote taken from the transcript of one HWA deposition provides a clue (Ramona's lawyer is asking about Dorothy's house being sold to the WCG): Q Did she sell it to the church? MR BROWNE: Objected to as being irrelevant and immaterial and constitutionally impermissible. Transactions between third parties and the church are none of anyone's business in this particular case and instruct you not to answer. THE WITNESS: I refuse to answer. MR DECKTER: Okay. Where did you provide her with living accommodations? A. I provided her with living accommodations ever since, on and off ever since - Now, wait a minute until I think of the year. Let's see, I don't know. Began back in the 1950's, ever since Vern Mattson resigned from being business manager of the church. Before leaving the subject, one other deposition excerpt is worth quoting. Ramona's lawyer was asking HWA some background questions concerning his health: Q And do you suffer from any other diseases or chronic problems other than what we've discussed? A Not that I know of.... I have had difficulty sleeping for the last, oh, let me see, ever since 1933. That was the year HWA began abusing his own daughter. Is it any wonder he hasn't slept well since?" (From Ambassador Report, AR27, April 1984, pp. 7-8.) THE ERA OF STANLEY RADER Following a series of scandals involving Garner Ted Armstrong which began shortly after the dawning of the 1970s and coinciding with the failure of the second 19-year timecycle Garner Ted Armstrong was finally removed as second-in-command of the church and replaced by attorney Stanley Rader , who had enjoyed a long relationship with Herbert W. Armstrong. From the early 1970s until approximately 1979 , Stanley Rader created and directed another organization funded by the church called the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation . This development sparked a public relations war between the younger Armstrong and Rader, for continuing influence with the now elderly Armstrong regarding present financial dealings and who would inherit the future legitimate control of his wealthy church college. (See article on Stanley Rader for further detail.) Following a climax when the church was placed into involuntary financial receivership by action of the State of California, legal battles to the USSC , California state legislature, with a major '' 60 Minutes '' segment on CBS , Stanley Rader retired with a large cash bonus from Armstrong, followed by a substantial Pension . It was during this era that Herbert W. Armstrong, widowed when his first wife Loma died on April 15, 1967 , surprised church members by marrying a woman nearly 50 years his junior, Ramona Martin, in 1977 . She lived in Tucson, Arizona . Armstrong found it convenient to move to Arizona during the California financial receivership and orchestrated most church affairs from his temporary base in Tucson. Herbert W. Armstrong, 90, filed a petition for divorce from Ramona Armstrong,44, in April, 1982. They were divorced in Tucson, Arizona a year later 1983 , after a lengthy, drawn out legal battle totaling more than 3,000 pages of testimony and documents disputing various aspects of the matter. Upon divorce, Armstrong moved back to the college he founded in Pasadena. DEATH AND AFTERMATH On January 16 , 1986 the death of Herbert W. Armstrong was announced. Prior to his death, Armstrong ordained Joseph W. Tkach as succeeding Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God. In the years that followed Tkach commenced a doctrinal review process that led to a change in many of the central beliefs and doctrines that the church had developed under Herbert W. Armstrong. This process included a decision to withhold from further circulation all previous publications that had been authored by Herbert W. Armstrong. A dissenting splinter church that had spun off of the Worldwide Church of God during the doctrinal changes began republishing Armstrong's books, a practice that the Worldwide Church of God challenged on copyright grounds. The splinter church eventually paid damages and purchased additional rights to several more of Armstrong's publications from the Worldwide Church of God for three million dollars, effectively ending the copyright ownership dispute. Following the major changes in doctrine and practice by the Worldwide Church of God, many members left the organization (See 'The Church Today'), resulting in a dramatic fall in church donations. Joseph W. Tkach Sr. died in 1995. Just as he had been Armstrong's hand-picked successor, he chose his son Joseph Tkach Jr. to assume the office of Pastor General and control of the Worldwide Church and its affiliated Ambassador College. Under the direction of Tkach Jr., the church closed its affiliated Ambassador University in Big Sandy, Texas . '' The World Tomorrow '' broadcasts were terminated and '' The Plain Truth '' magazine was spun-off to an affiliated organization which shared few of the doctrinal positions held by Armstrong. The church's Ambassador Auditorium , located at the Pasadena campus, was mothballed and eventually the entire Pasadena headquarters of the church was sold off in parcels. The Worldwide Church of God announced plans in 2005 to move its administrative offices to a building in Glendora, California some time in 2006. The WCG also announced that it was contemplating a name change for the denomination. The Church Today Because of the dramatic changes in doctrine by post-Armstrong leaders of the Worldwide Church of God, many members who disagreed with the changes left the church. Dozens -- some say hundreds -- of splinter groups formed, but a few main groups became the most prominent. These churches and organizations include the United Church of God , the Living Church of God , the Restored Church of God , and the Philadelphia Church of God . The Organization The organization called the Worldwide Church of God today considers itself to be and is mostly viewed as a part of the greater Christian community today. In 1997 the Worldwide Church of God was accepted as a member of the National Association Of Evangelicals . See Worldwide Church Of God for more of its own timeline of change in recent years. The organization today shares few if any of Armstrong's doctrinal positions. EXTERNAL LINKS
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