THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD (ARMSTRONG)
Church of God (7th Day)?
Answer: In his writings of the history of the WorldWide Church of God, Armstrong states that he was
never affiliated with another organization. He was a member of the Church of God (7th Day). His wife
became a member first. He was given a license to be a minister in the church in the 1930's. He was per-
sonally known by many of the Church of God (7th Day) elders and worked in cooperation with them. In
the late 1930's, Mr. Armstrong left the organization to begin his own work, which was first known by The
Radio Church of God, later changing the name to the WorldWide Church of God.
Question: Why did Mr. Armstrong leave the Church of God (7th Day) to begin his own organization?
Answer: The observing of The Feast Days. He believed they should be observed today. The Church of
God (7th Day) believes they were for the Israelites to observe after they left Egypt. They are considered
ceremonial laws. To observe the Feast Days the Israelites had to go to Jerusalem yearly. On the way home
from such an occassion, Mary and Joseph could not find Jesus among the company. He was just 12 years
old. His mother Mary found him in the Temple preaching. Jesus kind of scolded her for not knowing he
was to be about his Heavenly Father's business.
The Church of God (Seventh Day) teaches that Christians are not obligated to observe the feast days,
and the annual Hebrew holy days of Leviticus 23. Here are seven reasons for this position:
1. The annual holy days were part of the Levitical law of the old covenant and were intimately linked to its
system of animal sacrifices. (Christ done away with the animal sacrifices by dying on the Cross.)
2. The annual holy days were neither Creation ordinances nor included among the Ten Commandments,
but they belong to a portion of law that may be called ceremonial.
3. The feast days were commanded to the nation of Israel and were to be observed where the Lord placed His name: Jerusalem.
4. The annual holy days have an agricultural framework, inextricably tied to the land, crops, and climate of
ancient Palestine.
5. The annual holy days were observed according to an ancient calendar that many thinks is impossible to
decipher from Scripture.
6. The purpose of the annual holy days were for the Hebrew nation to celebrate its own history and to
anticipate the greater salvation that would come through the Messiah.
7. Observance of the feast days often casts a shadow on the final work of redemption and grace that was
accomplished by Christ on the cross.
For a more detailed study of this topic, please request our booklet A Study of the Feast Days Given to
Israel. Go to the General Conference Website http://cog7.org.