Worldwide Church of God: history and teaching

Abstract

The Worldwide Church of God (WCG), originally Radio Church of God and now Grace Communion International, is a millennial sect founded and associated in the personality of Herbert Armstrong. Although it has never been one of the largest in the USA sects, however its development and presence in the world of media has been great, so much so that it has been described as "the Armstrong empire". Its history, its teaching, its influences, and its latest developments have made it a subject of concern for many researchers. Already while Armstrong was alive and much more so with his death, dozens of new offshoots came from the movement, which essentially have in common his teaching, a phenomenon known in the literature as armstrongism. Thus, despite the changes made by the movement after Armstrong's death, his teaching remains a multitude of small movements. WCG sometimes in the literature is part of the Sabbath Adventism, other times it is a whole category in itself. However, Armstrong is now considered to have contributed to the formation of an entire category, namely the group of sects that derive from him (Armstrongites).The theory of Dispensationalism, especially through Scofield, influenced Armstrong and his movement. This has been widely reported in the literature, however we believe that we have entered into a deeper examination of the aspects of the connection between WCG teaching and the broader theory of Dispensationalism. We also highlight further influences from other perspectives, something that has been relatively recently promoted by research. We also distinguish between WCG positions and Dispensationalism theory. The Bible was the focus of the WCG's life and teaching. However, its interpretive principles were different, not only from Orthodox theology, but even from Protestantism. The dominant image that Armstrong presents for the Bible is that it is a puzzle that has been deconstructed, so it needs to be restored, reinterpreted. Although the basic principle remained the sola scriptura, more and more extra-biblical teaching was produced through movement. The WCG dualistic or binary theology of degradation of Holy Spirit, also Christological degradation, has sometimes been controversial in recent decades. However, after Armstrong's death and the reform of the movement, the leadership clearly acknowledged the above. At the same time, it became increasingly clear that the ambiguity of the above heterodox teachings, like that of all the other WCGs, was due in part to the popular, unsystematic, sectarian form of its preaching. One such characteristic was the anthropomorphic dimension of God. Christology included heretical teachings, such as the denigration of the full deity of Christ and the questioning of the bodily Resurrection of Christ. Pneumatology also includes the degradation of the Holy Spirit, who was not regarded as a Person, but with various vague meanings.Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή αποτελεί μία προσπάθεια συστηματικής έρευνας της αίρεσης της Παγκόσμιας Εκκλησίας του Θεού (Worldwide Church of God, αρχικώς Radio Church of God και σήμερα Grace Communion International) και περιλαμβάνει την ιστορία και διδασκαλία της. Εκπονήθηκε στο Τμήμα Κοινωνικής Θεολογίας και Χριστιανικού Πολιτισμού της Θεολογικής Σχολής του Αριστοτέλειου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης. Η αίρεση της Παγκόσμιας Εκκλησίας του Θεού, παρά το μικρό σχετικά με άλλες αιρέσεις αριθμό των μελών της, είχε μία σημαντική παρουσία στον κόσμο των μέσων μαζικής επικοινωνίας. Η διάδοση των μηνυμάτων της υπήρξε ευρεία μέσω του ραδιοφώνου και έπειτα της τηλεοράσεως. Συγχρόνως η οικονομική δυνατότητά της ήταν ιδιαίτερα μεγάλη. Ο ιδρυτής της, Herbert Armstrong, υπήρξε ένας πολύ γνωστός θρησκευτικός κήρυκας ("τηλευαγγελιστής") και συνάμα γνωστός αιρετικός στους προτεσταντικούς κύκλους των ΗΠΑ. Η διδασκαλία του επιβιώνει μέχρι σήμερα μέσα από διάφορες ομάδες, ένα φαινόμενο γνωστό ως αρμστρονγκισμός (armstrongism). Η παρούσα διατριβή αποτελεί την πρώτη προσπάθεια έρευνας της αίρεσης με βάση την ορθόδοξη θεολογία, και υπό το φως των ολοένα νέων ερευνητικών υποθέσεων και διαπιστώσεων για τη συγκεκριμένη αίρεση. Το περιεχόμενο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής αφορά σε μία αιρετική κίνηση για την οποία η ελληνική θεολογική βιβλιογραφία είναι ανύπαρκτη, ιδιαιτέρως μετά την μεταρρύθμιση της αίρεσης που θεωρήθηκε από αρκετούς ερευνητές του προτεσταντικού χώρου ως εντυπωσιακή