I think it's great that people can look up things on the internet. I would encourage all believers to learn greek, hebrew and whatever else will help them to learn the bible. As far as the "mansions", I looked up the Ambassador Bible College Correspondence Course
. The version I'm quoting from is the one copyrighted in 1954 and 1965. This of course is the course that was required of all new members of the Worldwide Church of God. Concerning "mansions" it says:
COMMENT: "Mansions" -- rooms -- in the "Father's house" -- God's Temple in the Old Testament times -- were occupied by God's priests. These ROOMS represented POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY.
WHEN Jesus will have returned to this earth, as King of kings, RULER of all nations on earth, THEN He will say to the saved: "Come, ye blessed ... INHERIT THE KINGDOM, prepared for you." The Kingdom of God is the divine, ruling FAMILY of God. It will rule all nations, here ON EARTH! The saints will HAVE POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY in that Kingdom. To enter into -- to INHERIT -- the divine Kingdom of God is a destiny of such marvelous GLORY that your mind cannot grasp it now! And our inheritance, as divine members of the very GOD FAMILY, shall be the earth for an EVERLASTING POSSESSION.
I can't be sure what you heard. Perhaps someone in your church said something like that. If so, they were wrong and it's a shame that you've been laboring under that misconception for so long.
Lord that it is more important who one believes rather than what they believe about all the intricacies of someone's pet theories . . and that PERSON had darn well be JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD . . and it had darn well better be that He is believed fully well enough to OBEY HIS WORDS and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.
I couldn't agree more if I tried. :-)
I don't know, and I'm not the judge of Garner Ted Armstrong, Christ is the ultimate Judge (unless Herbert has deemed that scripture naming Him the Judge a mistranslation as well) . . but if I remember correctly, he did not ultimately believe Christ (evidently) enough to keep his nose clean. I hope he got straightened out, but, frankly, I felt like I had wasted God's time reading and listening to his stuff on radio and in that magazine.
I was never a member of Worldwide Church of God so I didn't live through that. I do know that there were many rumors of Garner Ted Armstrongs problems with women. If true, it's too bad he muddied up the message with his personal problems.
I can't remember any scripture that states that if we do not toe the WWCoG line, our salvation is down the tubes.
Nor do I.
"Wikipedia" has interesting entries on the whole foundational dysfunction of this organization. I realize it has evidently regrouped under another Armstrong, but it is still built on failed prophecies (per "Wikipedia"), Garner Ted's immorality and SIN - or "personal problems" as you stated - and is not anything I personally could waste a moment pursuing.
I don't like getting into religious "arguments" (and don't intend to) with people who have it all figured out; but I do know what I READ, not heard from some "enemy" of Armstrongism. It appears to me that you are recruiting (for some reason) for Armstrongism, and I think anyone considering it, reading the "Wikipedia" entries before proceeding would be a good move.
As you well know being a Bible scholar, when a "prophet" gives a prophecy that sets dates for specific events and the prophecies are FALSE and do not occur, then that prophet is a FALSE PROPHET - and that is what this sounds like.