Many have asked
us for a statement of our beliefs. At the bottom of this page is the “legal” statement of our fundamental beliefs.
It is patterned largely on the 1948 Radio Church of God Fundamentals of Belief, with the exception of a few additions at the
end to bring it up to date to where we are living today, near the end of the Laodicean era of God’s Church.
Almost every
"Church
of God" website you visit today has a "statement of beliefs" listed on
their homepage or website. To some degree they are all the same, but they all have their own brand of "flavor" that they incorporate.
They all list these beliefs out, some may even include "the 18 truths" restored by Mr. Armstrong. Then they usually add their
own interpretation of what the Kingdom of God
is, or what the True Gospel is, plus the "mission" or "goal" of their group
Simply put,
we in the Church of God
believe ALL that Mr. Armstrong was teaching at the time of his death in 1986. He spent the last 7 to 9 years of his life putting
the Church back on track, and indeed it was at the time of his death. So we hold to those truths and doctrines, ALL of
the doctrines whether they be so-called "minor" as well as the major ones. I used that term: "minor" because many today feel
that some doctrines are less important than others and therefore it's not necessary to hold on to some of them.
But in the eyes of God, ALL of His doctrines are IMPORTANT and they each are placed into His Church for a REASON. So
in reality- ALL doctrines are MAJOR!
We (in the
Church of God)
should all know by now what those doctrines are, as well as the judgments or directives
that were put into place by Mr. Armstrong. This website will occasionally post information on some of these subjects, that
so many "scholarly" men in the "Churches of God" today feel are insignificant or not important. But they must have been important
to God because He inspired His apostle to make decisions on them which believe it or not are STILL BINDING today.
Christ teaches
us through His Word, and Mr. Armstrong taught us through his writings and sermons, that only APOSTLES have the authority to
bind and loosen doctrine within God's Church. More is covered on this subject elsewhere in this website.
This simple
truth, if truly BELIEVED and heeded by the splinters and offshoots of the WCG today, would begin to help heal the breach that
has occurred since the death of Mr. Armstrong. The prophesied great falling away has happened and it has literally resulted
in a "spiritual" abomination of desolation within the Church
of God today. How sad! But prophecy is being fulfilled.
This is a major
reason why none of these groups, or the Church as a whole, speak the same thing. They fail to "see" the root cause
of the division.
Notice what
Mr. Armstrong writes in the "Incredible Human Potential", on page 121-122 (hardback edition). He states:
"How does God
infuse His TRUTH into His Church? Not through each individual separately - but through the apostles, and other ministers under them."
So we can observe
at least two things here. FIRST, there must be an apostle present for "new truth" to come. And SECONDLY (if) there is any
new truth to come through a minister, that minister must be UNDER the apostle! Today there is no apostle alive, so no
new truth or doctrines should have come since the death of Mr. Armstrong. But what we see today in Laodicea is quite the contrary.
Further down
the page, Mr. Armstrong writes:
"In the time
of the first apostles - first century - the Bible was not yet completely written. God used a very few prophets, through
whom He communicated. The prophets gave the message to an apostle. Today the Bible is complete. God has
used no prophets in the Church in our time.
"However, the
laity of the first century Church recieved their teaching and instruction from the apostles. The original twelve
had been taught by Christ in person - and so also had Paul. Jesus Christ was the personal Word of God. The Bible
is the written Word of God. It's all the precise same truth and teaching,
whether from Jesus in person, when on earth, or from the written Word of God. God's apostle for our day was taught
by the written Word of God - the SAME IDENTICAL TEACHING!"
A little further
down on page 122, Mr. Armstrong writes:
"And all
in the Church are commanded to speak the same thing - and it MUST be what Christ, either in person, or by
written Word, has taught His apostle."
There is a
lot of information in that little excerpt. Please go back and read it again and again. If ALL of us in this Laodicean era
would heed this today, things would begin to change quickly! But what do we see instead? We see men trying to "duplicate"
what Mr. Armstrong already did such as preach the gospel to the world as a witness to all nations. This is fulfilled prophecy.
But some are still trying to do it anyway, and in a sense by their own actions, are saying that God did not do the job, or
do it "good enough" through Mr. Armstrong! Do they not realize that this is an exercise in futility? And do they not realize
that this is in essence "thumbing their noses" at God, and slapping Mr. Armstrong in the face? Think about it!
So suffice
it to say, that in general, this is what we believe as our "statement of beliefs". Our beliefs ARE the Bible, and the
writings and sermons and teachings of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.
But for those
who need the long or legal version, the below link will take you to our statement of fundamental beliefs.