Common Beliefs Between the Christian Identity Movement and the Worldwide Church of God

April 19, 1995 -- on the Anniversary of the Waco tragedy -- a Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City was bombed. Over 800 people were injured, and168 people were killed. This act of terrorism was committed by people involved with the Christian Identity movement, who opposed the way the Branch Davidian cult was dealt with at Waco. In fact, the bombers attended a Christian Identity church in Scottsbluff, Nebraska; not just too far from where I grew up in America.

"What is Christian Identity?" I asked myself, while doing a report on the bombing when I was in college. This started a line of research which changed my life, forever.

The Christian Identity movement is closely related to the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi skinhead groups. They believe in Anglo/British Israelism; meaning, they believe that the British (and Americans, the colonial descendents of the British) are the lost 10 tribes of Israel. They believe that the Anglo-Saxons are 'Gods Chosen People,' and use this belief to justify their racist acts.

When I first discovered this information, I was shocked. You see, I was already familiar with Anglo/British Israelism; I remember my Grandfather teaching me about it as a very young child. It was one of Herbert W. Armstrong's core beliefs, and thus essential doctrine of the Worldwide Church of God. In truth, I had considered Anglo/British Israelism to be prejudiced from the age of 12 or so. However, I didn't know it was the same belief that the Ku Klux Klan used to justify racism and hate crimes.

The difference between Christian Identity's interpretation of Anglo/British Israelism and what was taught in the Worldwide Church of God is only a matter of extremity. In 'the church', we were taught that interracial marriage was a huge sin. Christian Identity churches teach the same, but take it a few steps further. They insinuate that 'God's Chosen People' (whites) have been given the right to punish people who violate 'Gods Law'.

Christian Identity also seems to direct a lot of hatred at Jews. I do not remember anyone in 'the church' directly preaching hatred of the Jews or non-white people. However, I do remember being told that 'Gods Chosen People' will rule over the people of the earth in the 'World Tomorrow' when Christ returns. And I do remember wondering as a child, "Who exactly will we rule over?"

Did Herbert W. Armstrong truly preach racism? I was determined to find out. Of all the research I have done to answer this question, the most incriminating evidence is found within the books that Armstrong himself wrote. Discovering such a close connection between the 'church' I grew up in and the neo-Nazi Christian Identity movement was the first step I took in accepting that the Worldwide Church of God was in fact a bible-based cult*.

"God does not reveal in the Bible the precise origin of the different races. It is evident that Adam and Eve were created white. God’s chosen nation Israel was white. Jesus was white. But it is a fair conjecture that in mother Eve were created ovaries containing the yellow and black genes, as well as white, so that some of the children of Adam and Eve gave rise to black, yellow, as well as white. The one man God chose to preserve the human race alive after the Flood was perfect in his generations—all his ancestry back to Adam was of the one strain, and undoubtedly that happened to be white[...]

Mystery of the Ages; H.W. Armstrong; pg. 147

These words are undoubtedly racist. Where in the Bible does it say Jesus was white? The statements are not scriptural, it is merely the racist opinions of Armstrong. If the Bible did state that Adam, Eve or Jesus were white, Armstrong would have included the scriptures to 'prove' his point. Below I have included quotations from two of Armstrong's books: Mystery of the Ages and The United States and Britain in Prophecy. Both of these passages deal more directly with Anglo/British Israelism; the beliefs that both the Ku Klux Klan and Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God have in common.

"So now again we come to the question, Why did God raise up this special Hebrew nation as “the chosen people”? [...] One point to notice here. The probability is that these people were all—or nearly all—of the white racial strain, unchanged since creation."[...]

"Here was a people of almost clear racial strain, and the God believing heredity of Abraham, Isaac and Israel."[...] "The nation Israel under Moses was one race—very little interracial marriage had marred their racial nationality. The Promised Land was then called Canaan. Canaanites, racially dark, had settled in the land. But God had given this land to the racial descendants of Abraham by promise! It did not belong to the Canaanites or other races settled there."[...]

"This nation Israel was God’s nation. But they were a physical, not a spiritual nation. Yet God gave them his Church, as well as national government and religion. God intended to keep them physically separate from other nations—both nationally (racially) and religiously. For them to intermarry with other races would result in two things: It would interbreed them into other races, and mix them into other idolatrous religions!"

Mystery of the Ages; H.W. Armstrong; pg. 166- 172

"The world has never known what became of them [the lost ten tribes of Israel]. The world in general, mistakenly, has considered that all Israelites were Jews. But in the Bible, the term Jew applied only to the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi. The Levites had joined the kingdom of Judah when they were expelled by Jeroboam. [...]

"The so-called Lost Ten Tribes—the kingdom of Israel—continued into western Europe and Britain. [...] Ephraim and Manasseh journeyed on into the British Isles. They became a colonizing people, and according to prophecy they were to lose their first colony."

"Let who grow into this promised multitude? Let whose descendants become that numerous seed, which shall number into billions? Not Judah, the father of the Jews—note it!—but Ephraim and Manasseh! [...] Who, then, according to your Bible, is the real Israel (racially and nationally) of today? Ephraim and Manasseh! Ephraim and Manasseh together received the right to the name Israel. It was to become the national name of their descendants. And their descendants were never Jews!" [...]

"Thus it is that many of the prophecies about “Israel” or “Jacob” do not refer to Jews or to any of the nations that are today the descendants of the other tribes of Israel. [...] Together the descendants of these two lads, Ephraim and Manasseh, were to grow into the promised multitude—the nation and company of nations. These national blessings are poured upon them jointly. These are the collective blessings which the lads together received—but not the other tribes!"

The United States and Britain in Prophecy; H.W. Armstrong

Waco's Branch Davidian Cult and the Worldwide Church of God

When I first found out that the Branch Davidian cult (gunned down by the US government in Waco, Texas) was a schizm of the Seventh Day Adventists, I was shocked. I knew that the Worldwide Church of God also split off of the same religious sect.

At that time, I had not fully accepted that the Worldwide Church of God was a cult*. I found myself compelled to research the history and beliefs of the Branch Davidian cult, to compare it with 'the church' that I grew up in. First, I'll go over the beliefs both the Branch Davidian cult and the Worldwide Church of God had in common:

• Both believed that Christ would return in the immediate future.
• Both kept the Sabbath on Saturday.
• Both kept dietary laws.
  
• Both kept all of the Jewish Feasts; including the Feast of Tabernacles, Passover, Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, Feast of Unleavened Bread (etc.)
• Both believed they were 'God's one true church.'
• Both groups believed they were the 'Philadelphia church' mentioned in Revelation 3:7
• Both believed their respective leaders were 'God's end time prophets.'
• Both believed in a 'Place of Safety', where members would be called to during the impending apocalypse.

There are a few other similarities between the Branch Davidian cult and the Worldwide Church of God. For instance, they both had compounds in Texas; the Branch Davidians at Waco, TX and the Worldwide Church of God at Big Sandy, TX; both groups recruited new members by radio programs. Also, both organizations were investigated by the US government. Now I'll go over some differences between the two groups (which are important to note for balance.) For instance:

• The Branch Davidians believed they would have to physically fight off the demons of the apocalypse with weapons.
• Worldwide Church of God members awaited the day when trumpets would call them to their 'Place of Safety' in Petra, Jordan. There, 'the church ' would build a great city, and start a new civilization.
  
• Many Branch Davidians already lived in their 'Place of Safety' (Waco, TX) and stock-piled gun in anticipation of the apocalypse.

Below is a time line, tracing the Branch Davidian cult and the Worldwide Church of God back to the same parent group; the Seventh Day Adventists.

1863: The Seventh-day Adventist Church becomes an official body. Ellen G. White, who was considered an end time prophet, played a big part founding the church. She taught that, when the apocalypse came, Jesus will gather all those who are worthy and take them to a kingdom in heaven. [1]

1884: Some Seventh-day Adventist members did not believe a woman (Ellen G. White) could be a prophet. These members broke away and formed the Church of God (7th Day). [2]

1929-1931: Victor Houteff (a minister of the Seventh-day Adventists) believes he is an end time prophet. He began teaching that God will create a place of safety on earth when Christ returns (ruled by Jesus and the "Antitypical David.") The Seventh-day Adventist Church disfellowshipped him for these teachings. Houteff starts his own church, the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. [3]

1938: Minister Herbert W. Armstrong was disfellowshiped by the Church of God (7th Day), for preaching about the Feast of Tabernacles and Anglo/British Israelism**; the belief that Anglo-Saxons are the true descendants of the ancient Israelites. Armstrong formed his own church, called the Radio Church of God (later re-named the Worldwide Church of God.) Armstrong claimed to be God's end time prophet. [4]

1955: The Davidian Seventh-day Adventists are split when their end time prophet Victor Houteff dies. Houteff's wife is appointed leader, but Minister Benjamin Roden claims to be God's new endtime prophet. Roden forms the Branch Davidians. [3]

** [It is important to note that Anglo/British Israelism was a belief preached by the Ku Klux Klan. ]