Raising the Ruins (47 page)

18. On page 170 of
Mystery of the Ages
, Mr. Armstrong wrote, “
Everything
God has done, since the creation of the first humans, has been another progressive step in God’s overall supreme purpose!” The phrase “first human[s],” by the way, appears nine times in
Mystery
, in reference to either Adam or Adam and Eve.

On page 75, Mr. Armstrong explained that Genesis 1 (except for the first verse) actually describes a
re
-creation of the Earth’s surface, not the original creation. “What is described from verse 2 on, in the supposed creation chapter of the Bible, did occur, according to the Bible, approximately 6,000 years ago. But that could have been millions or trillions of years after the actual creation of the earth described in verse 1!” He offers further explanation about Genesis 1:1-2 on page 99.

These teachings all rest on the foundation of another critical doctrine explained in Mr. Armstrong’s book: “God set apart a
7,000-year period
to complete his original supreme purpose of reproducing himself through man. It was a masterminded master plan for working out the purpose here below” (page 143). Once scholars suggested that “modern forms of human life may have existed long before 4,000 b.c.,” as the Personal Correspondence Department later explained, it all but obliterated God’s 7,000-year master plan as taught by Mr. Armstrong.

19. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report,
August 2, 1988, 1.

20. Ibid.

21. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), 265-70.

22. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, December 9, 1985, 1.

23. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), 1.

24. Ibid., 25.

25. Ibid., 140. On this page, Mr. Armstrong wrote, “Jesus Christ, through the Church, built three colleges—two in the United States and one in England. The three campuses, in material beauty, have mutually excelled each other, as a high character physical setting for the development of God’s righteous character in students. The beauty of godly character in these students has excelled the physical beauty of the campuses. … These campuses are an example of what mankind should have done, and a modest foretaste of the beauty that will blossom forth over the whole earth after Christ and his saints in his kingdom are ruling the earth in the wonderful world tomorrow.”

26. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, November 22, 1988, 1.

27. Ibid.

1. Literature Coordination Report 21, December 2, 1988, 1.

2. Literature Coordination Report 5, May 13, 1988, 1.

3. Literature Coordination Report 21, December 2, 1988, 1.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Mail Processing Center Procedures 566, December 22, 1988, 1.

7. Ibid., 4.

8. Larry R. Salyer,
Pastor General’s Report,
January 31, 1989, 4; Joseph W. Tkach, ÒPersonal,Ó
The Worldwide News,
February 20, 1989, 1.

9.
Pastor General’s Report
, December 19, 1989, 6.

10. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, January 3, 1989, 1.

11. Ibid.

12. Matthew 17:11.

13. Matthew 17:13.

14. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, January 17, 1989, 1.

15. Ibid.

16. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), 131.

17. Larry R. Salyer,
Pastor General’s Report
, January 31, 1989, 3-4.

18. Ibid., 4.

19. Deposition of Joseph Tkach at 127,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-JSL (C.D. Cal. April 20, 1999).

20. Dexter Faulkner, Interoffice memo to Joseph Tkach, April 18, 1988.

21. Deposition of Joseph Tkach at 127,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-JSL (C.D. Cal. April 20, 1999).

22.
Id
. at 128.

23. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, April 19, 1985, 1.

24. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, September 12, 1985, 1.

25. “Literature editors meet to form literature core,”
The Worldwide News
, June 13, 1988, 1.

26. “Update,”
The Worldwide News
, December 21, 1987, 8.

27. Ibid.

28. Literature Coordination Report 21, December 2, 1988, 1-2.

29. Ibid., 2.

30. “Literature editors meet to form literature core,”
The Worldwide News
, June 13, 1988, 1.

31. Declaration of Roger Lippross at 2,
Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God
, No. CV-97-5306-JSL (C.D. Cal. April 20, 1999).

32. Richard Rice,
Pastor General’s Report,
June 24, 1987, 12.

33. Richard Rice,
Pastor General’s Report
, July 8, 1986, 11.

34. Larry R. Salyer,
Pastor General’s Report
, January 31, 1989, 4.

35. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), 94.

36. Larry R. Salyer,
Pastor General’s Report
, January 31, 1989, 4.

37. Ibid.

38. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, February 14, 1989, 1.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid., 2.

42. Ibid.

43. Ibid., 1.

44.
Pastor General’s Report
, September 19, 1989, 3.

45. Paul Kroll, E-mail to Aluko Michaels, June 30, 2003.

1.Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 23.

2. Ibid., 67.

3. Joseph W. Tkach, Sermon, Pasadena CA, April 30, 1994.

4. Joseph W. Tkach, Commencement exercises at Ambassador College, May 20, 1994.

5. Joseph W. Tkach, “The true Church: what and where is it?”
The Worldwide News
, May 17, 1994, 7.

6. Joseph W. Tkach, Sermon, Pasadena CA, November 12, 1994.

7. Joseph W. Tkach, Sermon, Washington DC, December, 1994.

8. David Hulme, Resignation letter to Joseph Tkach, April 17, 1995, 1.

9. Ibid., 6.

10. Joseph W. Tkach Jr., Letter to Dennis Leap, April 20, 1990, 1.

11. Ibid., 3.

12. Ibid., 2.

13. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, June 7, 1985, 2.

14. Joseph W. Tkach, “God restored these 18 truths: How thankful are you for them?”
The Worldwide News
, August 25, 1986, 5.

15. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, February 9, 1988, 3.

16. Joseph W. Tkach Jr., Letter to Dennis Leap, April 20, 1990, 3-4.

17. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, March 19, 1981, 5-6.

18. David G. Hunsberger, “What the Church teaches about Malachi and his message,”
The Worldwide News
, June 24, 1991, 4.

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 181.

22. Ibid., 182.

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid., 182-83.

25. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to Donald Wheatley, former member of the Worldwide Church of God, October 10, 1994, 1.

26. Joseph Tkach Jr., Interview with Pat Robertson for
The 700 Club
, March 6, 1998.

27. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
, (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), 51.

28. Herbert W. Armstrong,
The Missing Dimension in Sex
(Worldwide Church of God, 1981), 29.

29. Philip Stevens, “Who Was Jesus’ Father?”
The Good News
, November-December, 1990, 10.

30. Michael A. Snyder, Letter to Craig Branch, March 5, 1991, 2.

31. Michael A. Snyder, Phone interview with Watchman Fellowship, April 12, 1991.

32. K. J. Stavrinides,
Reviews You Can Use
, January/February 1991.

33. David Hulme, Presentation to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1991.

34. Joseph W. Tkach, “How Do You React to Change?”
The Worldwide News
, July 22, 1991, 4.

35. Ibid.

36. Ibid.

37. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to Glen Myers, November 12, 1991, 5-6.

38. Joseph W. Tkach, “Personal,”
The Worldwide News
, December 23, 1991, 1.

39.
God Is …
(Worldwide Church of God, 1992), 15, 41.

40. Joseph W. Tkach,
The Worldwide News
, August 25, 1992.

41. Joseph W. Tkach, “Personal,”
The Worldwide News
, August 3, 1993, 3, 6.

42. Joseph W. Tkach, “Personal,”
The Worldwide News
, August 17, 1993, 7.

43. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, March 16, 1992, 5. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

44. Ibid.

45. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 137.

46. Ibid., 138.

47. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, March 16, 1992, 5. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

48. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 96.

49. Ibid., 16.

50. Ibid., 19.

51. Ibid., 24.

52. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, March 16, 1992, 8. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

53. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 119.

54. Ibid., 126.

55. Ibid., 21.

56. Ibid., 52-53.

57. Ibid., 54.

1. Joseph W. Tkach, “Personal,”
The Worldwide News
, May 21, 1990, 6.

2. Ibid.

3. Joseph W. Tkach, Co-worker letter, part 2, January 16, 1986, 2.

4. Joseph W. Tkach, “He Remembered You,”
The Plain Truth
, November/December 1986, 1.

5. Ibid., 1, 4.

6. Joseph W. Tkach, “Personal,”
The Worldwide News
, May 21, 1990, 6.

7. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to Glen Myers, November 12, 1991, 2.

8. Joseph W. Tkach, Video to be played in all church areas, November, 1992.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. Worldwide Church of God, “Behind the Work,” Fall Festival Film, 1985.

12. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, September 12, 1985, 1.

13. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, November 25, 1985, 1.

14. Joseph W. Tkach Jr., Letter to Dennis Leap, April 20, 1990, 1.

15. Worldwide Church of God, “Behind the Work,” Fall Festival Film, 1985.

16. Herbert W. Armstrong, Letter to
Mystery of the Ages
recipients, 1985.

17. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, September 26, 1990, 1. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

18. David G. Hunsberger, “What the Church teaches about Malachi and his message,”
The Worldwide News
, June 24, 1991, 6.

19. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, March 16, 1992, 4. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

20. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, September 14, 1994, 5. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

21. Ibid., 5.

22. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 126.

23. Ibid., 184.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid., 107.

26. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, March 16, 1992, 3. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

27. David G. Hunsberger, “What the Church teaches about Malachi and his message,”
The Worldwide News
, June 24, 1991, 6.

28. Worldwide Church of God, “Behind the Work,” Fall Festival Film, 1985.

29. Joseph Tkach Jr., Letter to a former member of the Worldwide Church of God, March 16, 1992, 3. The individual’s name was redacted from the letter.

30. “Herbert W. Armstrong Tribute,”
The World Tomorrow
television program, January 26, 1986.

31. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 184-85.

32. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, September 12, 1985, 1.

33. Herbert W. Armstrong,
Mystery of the Ages
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985), xii.

34. Joseph Tkach, “Forgive Us Our Trespasses,”
The Plain Truth,
March/April 1996, 1, 26.

35.
Transformed by Truth
advertisement,
The Plain Truth
, July/August 1997, inside cover.

36. Joseph W. Tkach, “Local churches to benefit from evangelical associations,”
The Worldwide News
, February 18, 1997, 1.

1. Joseph Tkach,
Transformed by Truth
(Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), 165.

2. Ibid., 182.

3. Ibid., 184.

4. Ibid., 186.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid., 188.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid., 72.

9. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, December 16, 1986, 3.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid., 1.

12. Herbert W. Armstrong, Co-worker letter, May 16, 1985, 2.

13. Joseph W. Tkach,
Pastor General’s Report
, December 16, 1986, 3-4.