Literature

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictums of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

—U.S. President John Adams

December 1770

Millions of people around the world are familiar with the expansive humanitarian and evangelistic work of Herbert W. Armstrong, even though he died more than 20 years ago.

Tens of thousands—mostly people affiliated with the Worldwide Church of God, which Mr. Armstrong founded—are aware of what happened to that organization after he died, when Joseph W. Tkach rejected his predecessor’s teachings, deserted his worldwide mission, and reduced the church to a small, mainstream Christian denomination with practically no work.

Very few, however, know what really happened behind the scenes during the Tkach transformation. And there is a scandalous reason for that.

Of course, no one in the church would have suspected the new pastor general of any maliciousness. The reality of the betrayal and how it came about was so stunning that most members of the Worldwide Church of God refused to believe it was even happening.

But the real reason most people are so fuzzy on what happened was the sinister fact that the new administration concealed its intentions from church members for as long as possible.