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Armstrong was born into a Quaker family in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1892. At 25, he and his third cousin, Loma Dillon, were married in a Baptist church, and from that union four children were born. In those years, financial success was his driving vision, but his work in advertising sales was plagued by financial reverses.

It was during one of these reverses that Armstrong, prodded by Loma, began looking into the issue of Sabbath (Saturday) worship. "And so it was that in the fall of 1926—crushed in spirit from business reverses not of my making—humiliated by what I regarded as wifely religious fanaticism, that I entered into an in-depth study of the Bible for the first time in my life."

This was the beginning of Armstrong's religious pilgrimage—a pilgrimage that took him from wanting "to accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior" to leading a vast religious empire.

Soon after his conversion he joined the Oregon Conference of the Church of God, by whom he was also ordained. He compared his preparation for ordination to that of Jesus, who, like himself, had gone through "three and a half years of intensive instruction and experience" before "sending out the original disciples into the ministry." Three years after his ordination, Armstrong took to the airwaves, and the Radio Church of God was born. The broadcast The World Tomorrow featured prophecy based on biblical texts and current events and quickly turned Armstrong into a minor celebrity. Soon he was publishing The Plain Truth magazine, which provided the radio audience his prophetic speculations in print.

By the late 1940s, with a loyal following contributing financially to his ministry, Armstrong moved to Pasadena where the stage was set for a media outreach that would expand worldwide in the decades that followed. Then, in 1968, the name of the movement was changed to reflect that expansion—the Worldwide Church of God. In the years that followed, Armstrong, with the assistance of sophisticated financial advisers, turned what had been a small-town religious broadcast into a vast media empire. With an advance team initiating photo opportunities, he traveled the world shaking hands with heads of state. These journeys served as the backdrop to cover stories in The Plain Truth and features on The World Tomorrow—always with a prophetic twist.

At home in Pasadena, Armstrong held tight reins over his diverse empire. His authority was unquestioned by most church members, whose loyalty was indicated by their financial support. A triple tithe was the standard: 10 percent for regular giving, 10 percent for benevolent support of needy members, and 10 percent to cover the expenses of the annual Feast of Tabernacles.

Armstrong's initial focus in religious matters had centered on the Sabbath. But as time went on, Sabbath-keeping became the least controversial of his biblical and theological "discoveries." From the earliest years he viewed himself as the apostle for this age and his movement to be the "true" church—uniquely designed to represent God's kingdom in the end times.

As the leader of the true church, Armstrong saw himself as a messenger—in the company of only two others—uniquely chosen by God: "Jesus chose Paul, who was highly educated, for spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. He later raised up Peter Waldo, a successful businessman, to keep His truth alive during the Middle Ages. In these last days. … Jesus chose a man amply trained in the advertising and business fields to shoulder the mission—Herbert W. Armstrong."

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March (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45