Tara and I received a free subscription to “Plain Truth”, a Christian magazine. We had never heard of the magazine, but the articles were interesting. There were certain topics the editor seemed to like to constantly revisit, but the magazine as a whole had a reasonably broad, balanced and current coverage of topics.<\/p>\n
In the last few issues, some of the articles started getting a little strange. They argued unconventional views more strongly than in the past. We began to look at Plain Truth Magazine as interesting, but possibly dangerous. Then we received a notice from the publisher that prompted me to do a bit more research…<\/p>\n
In the 1930s, there was a man named Herbert W. Armstrong who had a popular radio ministry. He started as a member of the Church of God (Seventh Day) requiring observation of the Sabbath on Saturday. But his teachings went too far to stick with that church. He split from them and began calling for believers to observe the Jewish holidays<\/a>, shunning doctors in favor of divine healing<\/a>, teaching that Great Britain and the United States were the new Israel<\/a>, anticipating the Tribulation by 1972<\/a>, etc. Mr. Armstrong (calling himself an “apostle”) named his radio broadcast the “Radio Church of God” as he had started his own church (a cult), preaching over the airwaves. His sincerity and zeal attracted many to his “church”. His message expanded to print in a magazine titled “The Plain Truth”.<\/p>\n In 1968, the cult’s name was changed to the Worldwide Church of God. During the 1970s, the church survived the apparent rescheduling of the 1972 apocalypse, as well as moral and financial scandals. During the 1980s, the church enjoyed significant growth until Armstrong died in 1986. At its peak, there were 145,000 members worldwide.<\/p>\n After Armstrong’s death, Joseph W. Tkach took over his position. He and a few others from the leadership of the church (including the church’s Media Director, Greg Albrecht) began changing the church’s doctrines. Some of Armstrong’s works were removed from publication and others were edited. Over the next few years, they gradually cast off the extreme views and converted the cult into an evangelical church. 1<\/a><\/sup> 2<\/a><\/sup> By Tkach’s death in 1995, the church had been accepted into the National Association of Evangelicals, and about half of its members and ministers left the “apostacy” of Tkach and his fellow leaders. Spin-off churches adhering to Armstrong’s teaching include the Philadelphia Church of God<\/a>, the Living Church of God<\/a>, and the United Church of God<\/a>.<\/p>\n Armstrong’s magazine, “The Plain Truth” was handed over to an organization created by Greg Albrecht named \u201cPlain Truth Ministries<\/a>\u201d. He also began broadcasting a radio program “Plain Truth Radio”. Albrecht preaches against legalism on the radio and in the magazine. He calls his message “Christianity without the Religion”. Albrecht seeks to help others scarred by religion.<\/p>\n It seems that for Greg Albrecht, the pendulum swung the other way. He went from following Armstrong’s unconventional legalistic doctrines to promoting his own unconventional anti-legalistic doctrines. Much as Armstrong’s ideas became the church’s doctrines, so Albrecht determines his ministry’s message. Greg Albrecht recently published a book “Revelation Revolution” which interprets Revelation as already fulfilled. Plain Truth magazine then included an article (by another writer) which used a little numerology and some well-chosen verses to advocate the same view.<\/p>\n