Customer Reviews

Mystery of the Ages

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I clean windows for a living. If I really want to get the windows clean, I have to WANT to take the time and effort to really LOOK for the little spots and drips that would otherwise be very easy to miss or "accidentally" overlook. I have to open my mind to the possibility that I could have been mistaken when I first looked at that window and thought I had gotten it clean. In short, I have to WANT to get the windows clean, and be willing to admit that I may not yet have them as clean as they could be, or I will just do a half-way job.
The same principle can be applied in any area of our lives---if we truly WANT to change, to learn, to grow, or to just be the best we can be at any particular thing, then we will apply the effort necessary to accomplish that; and, we won't close our minds to the fact that we may not have gotten it quite right, yet. If we DON'T really WANT to, we will only give it a half-hearted effort.
I WANT to learn more about the Bible. I WANT to grow "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." I WANT to really understand the mysteries this book talks about. Because I DO want all of these things, I have found this book to be an invaluable aid.
Using the questions and proposed answers given in this book (please prove the answers to yourself using your own Bible), I have been able to critically examine the foundations of the beliefs I had blindly accepted from birth; beliefs that I hadn't taken the time to prove for myself, but had followed because my mother or father or pastor or someone else had told me were correct.
This book is not God's Word, and doesn't claim to be. It does, however, help a person to answer a lot of questions about God that they might not otherwise be able to; or, for that matter, that they otherwise might not even think to ask.
For what it's worth, by using my Bibles and study aids (and I have a fairly extensive collection), I haven't been able to find any errors in anything spiritual that Mr. Armstrong presents---and I HAVE tried.
Also for what it's worth, there are no references to Mormonism, Gap theory, or Jehovah's Witness doctrines in this book. Nor is it anywhere asserted that Christ (or anyone else) had to "qualify" for salvation. It plainly states that salvation is the free and undeserved gift of God. Everything the author presents is supported with Biblical proof for those who are willing to open it's pages and work to understand God's Word (Isaiah 28:9-16). Again, you have to WANT to know God to be able to really know Him. You have to be willing to let go of falsehood before you can replace it with truth.
I feel like those who have given this book bad reviews must, necessarily, fall into one or more of three categories:
1.) those who, for whatever reason, do not WANT to believe anything other than what they have always believed and been taught;
2.) those who simply cannot comprehend plain truth when confronted with it; or,
3.) those who KNOW this is the truth, but want to suppress it.
In any case, if Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong is correct, one day their minds will be opened and they, too, will have another opportunity to learn these spiritual matters---during the Great White Throne Judgment. If he is wrong, then mankind has very little hope.
I pray he is right; and, I pray that you will read this book with an open mind, asking God to give you His understanding and the knowledge of His revealed Truth.

In his 57-year ministry, Herbert W. Armstrong earned respect as an author, educator and theologian from laypersons and leaders around the globe. Mr. Armstrong often described the Bible as a jigsaw puzzle. The year before his death in 1986, he wrote this book summarizing his entire life's work that put the pieces of that puzzle together. He felt a tremendous need to get that book to "the largest audience possible." Mr. Armstrong never lived to see that goal realized. What's worse, after he died, the Church he founded abandoned his teachings, and Mystery of the Ages was removed from circulation. After an arduous six-year-long court battle, the Philadelphia Church of God-committed to the teachings contained in Mystery-now owns the copyright to it, and will send a free copy to anyone interested in this priceless truth(www.pcog.org). The PCG has taken on the battle cry of Herbert Armstrong: taking a book that unlocks the entire Bible to "the largest audience possible."

Please let me help you to want to read this book.You read it and make up your own mind.Within the pages of this wonderfully written book you will find that Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong has simply as possibly able made a summary of the most complex book in existence-The Bible.He has successfully explained the main themes of The Bible so a child can understand.You read it.You decide.

I have read this book a few times. If you have becomedisillusioned with the teachings of mainstream Christianity and arelooking for some truth based solely on the Bible and not the fables of men, then this book is a must for you to read. This book clearly puts God's plan of salvation for ALL mankind as revealed in God's Word clearly into perspective, something mainstream Christianity fails to do. A warning to you 'cult watchers' out there. If you don't agree with the content of the book, that is fine. But don't distort the facts about this book or its author. By the way I am not a member of that church so I don't have an agenda with this review. Richard Moore

Regarding Mystery of the Ages itself, I have to say that this book presents several merits. The author challenges the reader 1. to ask questions about life that we rarely ask and almost never answer, and 2. to prove each point from the Bible. "Don't believe me, believe the Bible," the author said. The book presents a practical approach accessible to those who may not be illustrious scholars, or even consider themselves "religious" at all.

Regarding the author, Armstrong presented a television program viewed on about 400 stations and served as chancellor for a liberal arts college with three campuses. He served as editor for the Plain Truth magazine, which circulatied to 8 million readers, presumably not all of whom were intellectually inferior or spiritually deficient.

Incidentally, Mr. Armstrong also met with several kings, prime ministers, and First Lady Reagan. President Reagan's letter of condolence upon Mr. Armstrong's death stated, "You can take pride in his legacy."

I personally recommend this book to those who recognize unfairness and hypocrisy in the world around them, even in religious systems, and feel like there has to be something more. Mystery of the Ages is presented as a tool not that replaces the Bible, but elucidates it and causes the reader to study scripture.

Interestingly, this book was the center of a lawsuit between a church that wanted to use its own copyright to suppress it, ironically enough, and another breakaway church that wanted to print it and distribute it for free. Amazon.com offers a book covering that history called Raising the Ruins, which I also rate highly.

These, I feel, are the merits.

The United States are notorious for spawning strange and idiosyncratic versions of Christianity. The Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science come to mind. Some curious Christian groups of foreign origin have also established themselves firmly on US soil, thereby becoming associated with the American religious theatre. The Moonies and the entire spectrum of Rapture-believing premillenial dispensationalists are examples of those.

And then there's the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Or rather was. During its heyday, the WCG were as well-known as the Moonies, the Witnesses and the Mormons, at least in the United States. Here in Sweden, nobody has heard of them. I therefore read Herbert W. Armstrong's "Mystery of the Ages" with considerable interest! Armstrong was the founder of this church, but after his death, it changed most of its doctrines and turned evangelical. A veritable maze of splinter groups still uphold all or part of Armstrong's original teachings.

Armstrong's message is original and innovative, and yet strangely familiar to students of new religious groups. The explanation is simple: Armstrong combined ideas from several different sources, and then marketed the new blend as his own invention. The avid reader will recognize influences from Mormonism, Adventism, British Israelism and Charles Russell. Perhaps he was also influenced by the later Jehovah's Witnesses? The gap theory is thrown in for good measure, and Armstrong also wrote another book about "the seven laws of success". I haven't read it, but here's a wild guess: Christian Science!

Armstrong believed that God, although an invisible spirit-being, nevertheless has the shape of a human. After all, how could he have created man "in his image" otherwise? And how could those who have seen the Son also have seen the Father? The Son came in the form of a man. Therefore the Father must look like a man. This crudely anthropomorphic concept of God can also be found among Mormons and Russellites. Indeed, it's probably taken from the Mormons, since Armstrong also says that Father and Son are a "God family" and that saved believers will eventually become part of this family. In other words, those who believe the WCG's message will become gods themselves, and will then populate all planets in the universe. This is vintage Mormonism.

Armstrong further taught the doctrine of soul-sleep, the idea that the soul dies with the physical body, and that both are resurrected simultaneously. Thus, he denied the automatic immortality of the soul, and hence any intermediate state in which the disembodied soul consciously awaits the final judgement. This is also the Adventist and Russellite teaching. The Church, according to Armstrong, does not attempt to save all of the world. Christianity was never supposed to become a majority religion. Its function is to organize a spiritual elite, a small group of people who will rule the future Millenium together with Christ. Eventually, this small group will become part of the "God family", as already mentioned. The rest of humanity will be resurrected after the Millenium, at the Great White Throne Judgment. They will be given a second chance (or in many cases, a first chance) to embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ and his saints. This division of humanity into a small elite group and a large majority, which will nevertheless be given another chance, is probably taken from Charles Russell, although the details differ.

Armstrong's description of the Millenium is almost ridiculously detailed. Unless I'm mistaken, the chain of command will look like this: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will rule over both Israel and the Gentiles, with Moses and Elijah as their assistants. Several times, Armstrong hints that *he* is Elijah, so presumably he will be in charge of "all organized church, religious and educational activity" during Christ's millennial reign. Next in command is David, ruling the twelve tribes of Israel. The nations descended from Ephraim and Manasseh will have a special leading role. The Gentile nations come further down in the hierarchy, being presided over by Daniel and Paul. (The Jehovah's Witnesses became notorious for similar speculations. I'm not sure whether Russell had any ideas about it.) The size of the oceans will be made smaller, and all deserts will become habitable, in order to solve the problem of overpopulation. Everyone will speak the same language, although Armstrong doesn't reveal which one, and there will be a new era of good art and literature. Also, all taxes and interest rates will be abolished, except tithes to the Church. There will also be a fixed gold standard! Armstrong waxes really eloquent when he does away with democracy, political parties and "wasteful" election campaigns. A more peculiar feature of this Christian Millenium is that Jewish feasts and festivals will be celebrated. (Like the Adventists, Armstrong was a Sabbatarian.)

Armstrong's British Israelism is one of the more controversial tenets of his teachings. However, I can't say that Armstrong sounds particularly racist. British Israelism is simply another curious twist to his message. In Armstrong's interpretation, the United States is the tribe of Mannaseh, Britain is the tribe of Ephraim and the other lost tribes of Israel are represented by the nations in northwestern Europe, including Sweden.

The WCG were, of course, accused of being a cult. An entire website devoted to exposing Armstrong and his followers exists. As already mentioned, the new leaders who took over after Armstrong's death actually steered the group into main-line evangelicalism, but many hard-line Armstrongites still remain.

"Mystery of the Ages" is an interesting read for those fascinated by new religious movements and strange forms of Christianity. Recommended, in a way.

I just finished this book last night and overall I think this book is awesome! I was in tears at the end. I now want to get out and tell people all about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

This is not the original Book Written By Mr. Armstrong, After Mr. Armstrongs death The rights to his original Book were Past on To outright False Ministers and False prophets. They Have altered This Book to go along With There "New from Thin Air" Beliefs. Which Mr Armstrong Would have never had a part in or Taught.

Geat book and full of 'true' material. Everyone should read and heed, as we are in the end time now and should be prepared for what is coming to our country and our world.

I bought this book sight unseen. It is a 1985 book. I knew it was used. It came in wonderful condition and I am very greatful and pleased.