Herbert W Armstrong

   Many books have been written purporting to tell the story of the origin of the earth and of mankind upon it and yet their theories, their hypotheses, and studies fail to tell us why man is as he is, why he seems always to have his unsolvable problems. Why he seems always to be in trouble why humanity is cursed with so many evils. These questions are important. We need to know the answers and we can know.

   Now I have before me, two widely read books on this very problem. One is H.G. Wells' Outline of History. The other is an Encyclopedia of World History compiled and edited by William L. Langer. Both books have very wide acceptance. And so now first let me give you a few interesting quotes typical of all such histories, historians, and scientists in their writings are prolific with statements such as "we know little as yet, but there are many guesses" or you might hear the statements such as "we may well suppose" or "we are coming to believe thus and so."

   Well, here now are a few direct quotes from H.G. Wells' Outline of History, "scientific men have discovered the possibility of such and such" and then again, "astronomers and geologists and those who study physics have been able to tell us something of the origin and the history of the earth. They consider that vast ages ago, the sun was a spinning flaring mass of matter not yet concentrated into a compact center of heat and light. And that as it whirled, a series of fragments detached themselves from it which became the planets. Our earth is one of these planets.

   Astronomers give us convincing reasons for supposing thus and so" then a little further on, "we do not know how life began upon the earth. Biologists have made guesses about these beginnings" notice, we don't know there are guesses then "probably the earliest forms of life were small and soft, leaving no evidence of their existence behind them" probably. And how do we know there was no evidence? And then a little later on, "these first rocks must have solidified as a cake over glowing liquid material beneath such as cooling lava does they must have appeared first as crusts and clinkers. They must have been constantly remounted" they just must have done that according to this man's reasoning. And then "a little further on "speculations about geological time vary enormously. Estimates of the age of the oldest rocks by biologists and astronomers starting from different standpoints have varied between a billion, 600 million and 25 billion." Now, I give you these quotations, my friends to make it plain to you that so much of this so-called knowledge disseminated by historians and scientists is not fact at all, but merely speculations, guesses, suppositions, and theories.

   Now, here are a few quotes from an Encyclopedia of World History by Langer. They follow the same customary trend. Here's one quote, "prehistoric probably amounts to more than a million years" probably. And then under the sub-caption, "man's animal ancestors," "no remains have yet been found of man's immediate precursor, the primitive and more ape-like animal from which he is supposed to be descended" then there follow many such expressions among them are a few, I'll give you here "probably" and "believed to date from" again, "possibly in the very late Pliocene" and "again, entirely a matter of speculation" and "it is thought that such and such" "is likely to have taken place" and "we know almost nothing of" and "again, it is fairly safe to assume, however" and "which are supposed by some archaeologists" and another "but this is still a matter of dispute" and then finally listen to this, "it should be clear from the foregoing that at present we know a great deal."

   Now, of course, I didn't finish that latter sentence. And of course, there are many other words in between those that I have quoted. And when you read one of these presumably authenticated histories, you may not notice the continual admissions of ignorance, speculation, and guesses that I've just given you in these quotes. But listen, if you will take such a book and with a red pencil or pen in red ink underscore all such words and phrases as I've just read to you and then go back and read only what you have underscored. I think you will be surprised because that's precisely what I did with these books. And I just read that part of it to you.

   Now, when I first began an in-depth study of the biblical revelation about creation, I studied also the claims of the opposition theory of evolution. I researched the works of Darwin, Huxley, and Hegel Spencer, even of Lamarck and others that were before them. And then also I delved into the works of Chamberlain, Carl Vogt, and others. I wanted to consider carefully and without prejudice all of the facts, even the theories, the evidences, and purported facts on both sides. I sought the evidence on both sides of this two-sided question. I wanted the Plain Truth.

   Honestly, now my friends, isn't it a shame that almost universally today, students in the colleges and universities absorb only what is taught them in our schools and universities? The guess is the speculation. The theories on one side of a two-sided question only. Now, that's not true of course, of all colleges, certainly not of Ambassador College. But it is overwhelmingly the case, these theories come to be accepted as if they were established fact, which emphatically they are not. And so, I think it might prove enlightening and eye-opening and even perhaps shocking as well as interesting to glance over at the other side of this basic question, this basic question of beginnings of how the earth came of how man came to be on it and why. I think that a short, short condensation of the biblical claims for creation might open some eyes and perhaps a few minds who never viewed these positive claims before.

   The Bible is the most up-to-date book ever written. Now, that's just about as far away from what you suppose as I could get it, isn't it? Even in this latter half of the 20th century? It is a new book. It is a now book. It's for today and for tomorrow because it's a book of Truth and Truth is always the same. It never gets old.

   I ask you just to compare these biblical claims with those of the evolutionary doctrine, judge for yourself, which appears the more logical, reasonable, rational. You may be surprised to see that these biblical claims actually make sense. Very few, even among theologians realize all that the Bible reveals in this amazing account of our earth and our human race. And so you may expect surprises.

   Now, the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis first chapter and the first verse says (Genesis 1:1), "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Now, it doesn't say may have or it may well be supposed that or some religious people have a theory that this or that happened. It is simply a plain statement as a fact as if it is made by one who knows the facts and is not guessing. It is a statement authoritatively expressed.

   Herbert W. Armstrong will return right after this message. One question that has bothered man for centuries probably has bothered you too. Average men and great philosophers alike have struggled with this monumental problem. And it's a question that needs answering. The question is, does God exist? And if so, how can you prove it? Whether you feel that organized religion is ritual or reality? The question still remains the free booklet, Does God Exist?, offers tangible information that will help you answer this timeless question. You learn how matter intelligence and design prove the literal existence of a creator God. There is no greater question that means so much to your own daily life and peace of mind. Does God Exist? Now, you can know beyond any doubt, request your free copy of, Does God Exist? Send your request to Herbert W. Armstrong Post Office Box 111 Pasadena, California 91123. That's Herbert W. Armstrong Post Office Box 111 Pasadena, California 91123.

   It does not say when God created the earth, neither here nor elsewhere in the Bible. So far as revealed knowledge is concerned, it could have occurred anywhere from 6000 years ago on to several millions or billions of years ago because it just doesn't say. But Moses wrote those words in the Hebrew language. Now we read them today as translated into the English language. And of course, the Bible has been translated into nearly all of the different languages in the world. But I'm reading it in English.

   Now, the Hebrew words in which Moses wrote imply a perfect creation, not one in a state of chaos and confusion. The Book of Job, for example, shows God talking to Job about this very creation in the 38th chapter. And there God is quoted, speaking of a perfect creation, when the angels sang together and shouted for joy at the completion of the earth's creation. It is significant that humans are not mentioned in this connection as of that time, but angels are. It may come as quite a shock or a surprise to those who do not understand the Bible that other passages in the Bible indicate that originally the earth was populated by angels and not by humans.

   Now notice in Jude verses six and seven because there's only the one chapter of Jude and the angels that kept not their first estate but left their own habitation. He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under the judgment of the Great Day, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, unquote. Now, these angels as attested also by other passages, became demons on sinning and becoming perverted. The estate that they left was this earth. I'll explain why they left it a little later. But notice now these angels sin.

   Next notice II Peter, the second chapter in verses four through seven (II Peter 2:4), "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus. Now that word Tartarus is a Greek word used only that one place in all the Bible and it's translated in the English language and the word hell, but it doesn't mean the kind of hell most people think of. So I prefer to use just the Greek word. It's a place of restraint for demons and delivered them into chains of darkness, which means error or perversion to be reserved unto judgment. And now secondly, spared not the old world but save Noah, the eighth person, the preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. And now third, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly and delivered just lot".

   Now notice the time sequence, the sin of the angels was prior to the Antediluvian world. And the Antediluvian world began with Adam and carried on to Noah. It extended from Adam to Noah. This time sequence places the sin of the angels prior to that world or prior to the world that began with Adam. Now notice first the angels then after that the Antediluvian world from Adam to Noah and then later Sodom and Gomorrah that of course, had not been even built until after Noah. All three of these sinned and physical destruction came to that area of the earth where the universal sin occurred, in the case of the latter too.

   Now, the sin was over the whole world in the Antediluvian age and there was a flood over the whole world destruction came to the whole territory and in Sodom and Gomorrah, the sin was limited to those cities and it was those cities that were destroyed. Now did not then the sin of the angels which occurred worldwide also bring physical destruction to this earth. Well, we shall see. Now, of course, it is not intellectually fashionable today to believe that angels exist.

   But we're now examining the biblical account to see what it does say and how it compares with all of these guesses and theories and suppositions and hypotheses. And the Bible does say a great deal about angels and demons. In many pagan religions, demons have been worshipped as gods. The Bible clearly states that angels though separately and individually created are composed of spirit and not material substance like humans are that they are beings of great intelligence, endowed with free moral agency just as humans are. That is the power of making free choice.

   Now, what was the sin of the angels who became demons then? And why did they leave their original habitation of this earth? The prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel explained that and they add a great deal more beside. So now notice first, the passage in Ezekiel, it's in Ezekiel 28 and beginning with verse one (Ezekiel 28:1), the human Prince of Tire is referred to as one who is wealthy, verse five, surrounded by perfect beauty saying in his vain heart, I am a God and I sit in the temple of God.

   That's in verse two. This Prince of Tire is pictured as the human type of the super-evil one whose servant and representative he actually was that is of Satan, the devil. Then the human type suddenly lifts to the satanic antitype in verse 12 where it says, "Son of man, take up a lamentation or that is a dirge upon the king of Tire and say unto him thus saith the Lord Eternal. Thou seest up the sun full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering the workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes indicating music was prepared in the day that thou wast created."

   Now notice this is not speaking of the human Prince of Tyre but of the superhuman king. He was a created being. God would never say of any human that he seals up the sum total of wisdom and perfection and beauty. What then was this great created being originally? Let's continue verse 14, "thou art the anointed Carib that covereth and I have set thee soul". That's God's answer. And in Exodus 25 verses 17 through 20 (Exodus 25:17-20), you will find the description of the very throne of God in heaven from which he rules the entire vast limitless universe on this throne are two Cherubim super archangels whose wings spread out and cover the throne.

   This personage then is the former Lucifer who had previously been stationed at the very throne of God of the universe, the government of God. He was thoroughly experienced in the administration of the government of God. But here he is pictured as being on earth. So now continue, "thou was upon the holy mountain of God. Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways. From the day that thou wast created till iniquity, which means lawlessness or rebellion was found in thee". Then God attributes to him violence, sin, corruption, perversion, saying that he is perverted in all of his ways, even his music that he became proud, filled with vanity, his heart lifted up because of his beauty. And in verse 17, the immortal spirit anti-type descends once again down to the human type of the human prince of Tyre.

   Now, this same former Archangel is referred to also in the 14th chapter of the book of Isaiah. And here, beginning with verse four (Isaiah 14:4), is a taunt song against the king of Babylon. And so notice this amazing explanation of the origin of Satan the devil. Then as in Ezekiel 28 in the 12th verse (Ezekiel 28:12), the human type, the human king of Babylon lifts up to the antitype. The one who became Satan, "how art thou fallen from heaven? O Lucifer, son of the morning". Here, his original name as a perfect Archangel is given the name Lucifer means bright morning star or bringer of light and truth or shining star of the dawn. And so continue, "how art thou which didst weaken the nations cut down for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars or angels of God. I will set also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the cloud. I will be like the Most High," or perhaps a better translation, "I will be the most high I will be God," now unquote.

   Notice this former archangel had been placed as a ruler over the angels to administer the government of God over the earth. After it was first created, he was thoroughly experienced in the administration of that government. But he said "I will ascend into heaven". So, he was below the heaven and he was here on earth. He had a throne, but it was here on earth. And he said, I will exalt my throne above the stars or angels of God. Now his throne already was exalted above the angels that were here on earth. Those that had entered his war of aggression and rebellion with him. Now he was going to exalt his throne above God's angels up in heaven. He was going to invade God's heaven, knock God off the throne of the entire vast universe and he was going to make himself God and rule the whole universe. He wasn't satisfied with just this little earth only.

   Now to recapitulate, we have now covered the biblical account of prehistory that is before the presence of man upon the earth. The earth was created according to the Bible, it was created by the creator who is God. It was a perfect creation. The angels shouted for joy. The earth was then populated by angels. There was government, it was the government of God at first and there was a throne on which God placed the great archangel Carib Lucifer, there was happiness, there was world peace, there was joy filling the whole earth as long that is as God government was administered. Now, we don't know how long that was. But the Great Lucifer allowed his beauty and his perfection to fill him with vanity, desire for self-glory, self-desire, self-exultation. He became jealous, envious of God's greater power over the entire universe. He came to resent God's authority over him. He plotted with his angels to organize an invading army to swoop on up and to invade the very throne of God and take over the government of the universe.

   My friends, do you see here the origin of human nature, vanity, self-seeking, resentment of authority, jealousy, envy, hatred, the competitive instinct concern only for self, none for others? Lucifer was no longer a bringer of light and truth. He now was an adversary, a competitor and that is the meaning of his present name, Satan. His angels became demons, perverted in attitude and knowledge and thinking. Satan is the author of perverted music that is now flooding this earth.

   Now just continue back in Genesis one and verse two (Genesis 1:2), and the earth was, that is, it now became "without form and void." Now, the Hebrew words mean chaotic and in confusion. In six days, God reformed the face of the earth. Now over in Psalms 104 and verse 30 you read (Psalms 104:30), "thou God renews the face of the earth."

   Now, this same exciting foundational knowledge of the purpose of human life will appear in more detail and I've been able to give it to you here on the air in the Plain Truth magazine. It's absolutely basic, the missing dimension and knowledge. You need to read it. Some time ago, the Encyclopedia Britannica people sent out a letter telling about the bewildering knowledge explosion. It stated that man's sum total of scientific knowledge had doubled during the period from 1948 to 1960. Now other sources tell us that the world's fund of knowledge doubled in the single decade of 1960 to 1970. But the world's troubles and evils doubled in that same decade. You need to understand the frightening reason, my friends.

   I have stated many times how newspapers, other magazines, radio, and television news and documentaries, report the news, describe the happenings and the conditions, but they fail to give you the understanding, the why, the reasons, or the solutions. That is the knowledge gap, my friends, that the Plain Truth has come forward to fill. You need the Plain Truth. There is no other magazine that is like it, it brings you eye-opening facts that may mean life or death to you.

   Because the big problem before us today is the question of survival. Only the Plain Truth gives you the real meaning, the understanding, the answers, the solutions, and the reassurance that you need. Our sources and our resources are worldwide. Our offices in major cities around the world are staffed with our own experienced regional editors, researchers, writers, photographers.

   We draw not only on the three major press services, the Associated Press, UPI, and Reuters, with teletypes bringing us the news as it happens 24 hours around the clock, just like in newspapers and radio studios. But also, we send our own skilled news teams to all parts of the world to bring our readers the on-the-spot, vital fact and full-color pictures, the real meaning exclusive to Plain Truth readers.

   These world problems, social problems, family and personal problems are increasing frightfully and yet the answers are outside the fields of science or of government. No one can understand the real meaning of these frightening, rapidly accelerating trends without understanding the purpose that is being worked out here below, the purpose for which this earth was put here, the purpose for which mankind was placed here upon it, my friend. You get that whole story in the Plain Truth.

   So all you have to do is just send your name and address and requesting the Plain Truth there's no subscription price whatsoever. We'll send it to you immediately. Just send your request to Herbert W. Armstrong Post Office Box 111 Pasadena, California. That's Herbert W. Armstrong Post Office Box 111 in Pasadena, California. So until next time, goodbye, friends.

   You have heard the World Tomorrow with Herbert W. Armstrong sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God, for literature offered on this program. Send your requests along with the call letters of this station to Herbert W. Armstrong Box 111 Pasadena, California 91123. That's Herbert W. Armstrong Post Office Box 111 Pasadena, California 91123.