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It was one of the unlikeliest good-news stories to hit Christendom in years -- the Evangelical Christian Publishers' Association called it "the top religious story of the decade." The Worldwide Church of God, long contemptuous of evangelical Christianity and resolute in its arcane heresies, had renounced the teachings of founder Herbert W. Armstrong and embraced evangelical theology. At no time in recent Christian history had an unorthodox Christian sect ever turned voluntarily from its ways.
In Transformed by Truth, Joseph Tkach, current pastor-general of the church and caretaker of reforms initiated by his father, gives his first-hand account of the WCG's bumpy trek into orthodoxy. It's a fascinating peek behind the formerly closed doors of a group that once proclaimed the Saturday Sabbath as the test of salvation, taught doctrines like "Anglo-Israelism," and denounced all other Christians, even the most conservative evangelicals, as the "harlots of Babylon." Today, from the same office, Tkach embraces his "brothers and sisters in Christ."
Those looking for bitter denunciations of Herbert W. Armstrong, his son Garner Ted, or even of antireformist leaders will leave Transformed by Truth sorely disappointed. Anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at a sea-change within a once insular, theologically inbred institution, will find this engrossing reading. It's the story of how over time, a church begun with good intentions, yet sown with seeds of heresy, can be led by God toward a knowledge of truth, and be embraced by fellow brethren in the process.
Unfortunately, it's also the story -- retold without bitterness and with a generous helping of grace -- of how some other evangelicals hindered that journey home through meddling, lack of forgiveness, and plain old grudge holding.
In fact, the greatest surprise about Transformed by Truth is how, as the story unfolds, the WCG begins to look like so many other evangelical groups plagued by legalism and turned inward upon themselves. In the process, the book's account of renewal through the Holy Spirit becomes a hopeful story for us all. God can lead us out of error and an unforgiving heart -- and the prodigals may show us the path.
Mark Olsen is a freelance writer and author in Colorado Springs, CO.
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