Authors: Gerald Flurry
Nevertheless, when we asked if printing and distributing the book was a “financial drain” for the church, Mr. Tkach Jr. said, “Absolutely.”
21
Why, then, had it not been a huge financial drain for the church before 1988? “Because the income was sufficient to—to go ahead and do that,” said Tkach. Later, even after realizing that the income in 1988 was actually one of the “peak years” for the church, Tkach stood by the “too expensive” excuse: “… expense was absolutely an
equivalent reason
to the errors that we first were aware of in ‘88,” he said.
22
Of course, Tkach
HAD
to say this or else admit that Larry Salyer misled the ministry in 1989. Yet, a quick look at the figures removes the smoke screen. The cost for printing and distributing
Mystery
was not exorbitant—not when compared to a 10-booklet equivalent—and certainly not for a multi-million-dollar organization at the peak of its income.
Near-Saturation Point
Writing in the
Pastor General’s Report
nine months before Mr. Armstrong died, Joseph Tkach Sr. referred to a sermon Mr. Armstrong had recently given in which he had mentioned
Mystery of the Ages
.
“I know this book,” Mr. Tkach wrote, “will prove to be another major step forward for God’s church and the spreading of the gospel
around the world.”
23
Mr. Armstrong’s vision for this book’s impact was also worldwide. “I candidly feel it may be the most important book since the Bible! … We want to reach the largest audience possible with this book.”
24
It is true that the church used nearly every means possible to promote the book once it was completed in September 1985—television, the church’s literature, direct mail, newspaper advertisements, bookstores, etc. Never had the church distributed so many copies of a single book so quickly.
But did it reach the “largest audience possible” in its short life span of about 2½ years? Is it fair to say that the church’s audience had nearly been saturated with offers for the book? Did it prove to be the major step forward in preaching the gospel
around the world
like Mr. Tkach said it would be in April 1985?
The main reason Mr. Tkach developed his “literature core” plan in April 1987 was because there were
fewer than a dozen booklets
available in
ALL
eight languages in which the church printed—English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish and Portuguese. And while English obviously had the most literature available, Mr. Tkach could not see the work really making a “coordinated worldwide” push unless all the church’s major literature was available in all eight languages. This is why he set the goal for 50 pieces of literature to be printed in all eight languages.
25
By the time
Mystery of the Ages
had been put on hold in mid-1988, the book had been translated and printed in at least six of those eight languages. The first translated version of
Mystery,
from what we found in the church’s newspaper, was the French version.
26
They distributed it to French-speaking brethren at the Feast of Tabernacles in 1987—two years after Mr. Armstrong first handed out the English translation of the book. The French version was later mailed to 1,900 people who had requested it. Their names had been put on a waiting list until a translated copy was available.
The Norwegian version of the book rolled off the presses sometime after that 1987 Feast, in the fall. The initial printing was for 21,000. Advertising for the book began in the March 1988 Norwegian
Plain Truth
.
27
The Italian and Spanish versions of the book were released on February 26, 1988. There is no mention in the
Worldwide News
of when the Dutch and German versions were printed. But judging by the length of time it took for the other four, mentioned above, to be completed, it was probably late 1987 or early 1988 before they were finished.
Which brings us to the point. Only
a few months
after these translated copies were finished and printed, Mr. Tkach put
Mystery of the Ages
“on hold” in
ALL
languages! They had
just completed
six of these translated versions, and then the whole project was swept aside because, according to Larry Salyer, they had reached
near
saturation point with their audience? That couldn’t possibly have been true for the foreign-language areas.
Two months before Salyer’s comments, when Bernie Schnippert told headquarters employees about the removal, he admitted,
We are all aware that this decision will have its greatest impact in the non-English areas which may not have as much of
Mystery
in print in other booklets as do we in English. This fact was considered very carefully before the decision was reached. But we believe that in time the further production of core booklets will increase all international inventories to the point that the essential elements of our teachings, if not the exact words used in
Mystery,
will be available in all areas.
28
The “exact words” of
Mystery
available in other literature?
At least he acknowledged the great impact this decision would have on the non-English areas. Schnippert continued, “This was a case where the need for a unified approach and considerations of accuracy had to take precedence over individual circumstances.”
29
Yet the whole purpose for the literature core was so the work could “realize a truly unified and coordinated worldwide media effort.”
30
And how could
Mystery
NOT
be considered a “core” publication?
Mystery of the Ages
is a magnificent summary of all Mr. Armstrong’s work and teachings. To have that book available in all eight languages, which it nearly was, would have been a major step forward for the work in spreading the gospel around the world. This was Mr. Tkach’s goal for the core literature initiative. But the English version is the only one that even got off the ground—and even then, it was short-lived.
According to Roger Lippross, the
WCG
’s literature production director at the time, the church distributed 1.245 million copies of the hardcover and softcover editions of
Mystery of the Ages
.
31
By comparison, the church distributed more than 3 million copies of
The Seven Laws of Success
and 6 million copies of
The United States and Britain in Prophecy
.
32
Mr. Armstrong wanted this to reach the “largest audience possible” and the book only went to less than half the number of people that received
The Seven Laws of Success
.
Yes, distribution of
Mystery
got off to a phenomenal start. Yes, it was the fastest-moving book the church had ever produced. But it certainly had not reached a near-saturation point. In fact, the
INCREDIBLE
response to the book for 32 months makes the decision to remove it that much more ridiculous!
Nearly a year after
Mystery of the Ages
had been released—after being distributed to all church members, offered on the television program and to
Plain Truth
readers—Richard Rice wrote in the
Pastor General’s Report,
The comments we continue to receive about
Mystery of the Ages
show that it is
STILL
having a powerful impact on the lives of many. Readers consider this book the apex of Mr. Armstrong’s writings. The brethren often say they have never seen God’s plan unfold as clearly as in the pages of this book.
Many people who were never interested in religion before have been moved to ask for ministerial visits after reading it. …
Mystery of the Ages
continues to be an effective tool in spreading the gospel.
33
Implying that the book had run its course, nearly saturating the church’s audience, while it was still flying off the shelves, is patently dishonest. The reason the Worldwide Church of God retired its most popular piece of literature is because they believed it had so many doctrinal flaws that it simply could not be revised without turning it into a completely different book.
Not Completely Accurate
Larry Salyer offered this as an example of why
Mystery of the Ages
wasn’t “completely accurate theologically”:
In chapter 2 on page 70 (page 59 of the softbound edition), we find the following statement: “What was God’s ultimate objective for the angels? Beyond question it is that which, now, because of angelic rebellion, has become the transcendent potential of humans.” The impression may be perceived by some to be that God was initially going to reproduce Himself through angels and, since they failed, the opportunity was given to humans.
34
Actually, Mr. Armstrong was quite clear in his book that
because of angelic rebellion,
God set out to reproduce Himself through man. He wrote,
To fulfill his purpose for the entire vast universe, God saw that nothing less than himself (as the God family) could be absolutely relied upon to carry out that supreme purpose in the entire universe. …
God then purposed to reproduce himself, through humans, made in his image and likeness, but made first from material flesh and blood, subject to death if there is sin unrepented of—yet with the possibility of being born into the divine family begotten by God the Father. God saw how this could be done through Christ, who gave himself for that purpose.
35
Mr. Armstrong
repeatedly
made the point, and backed it up with scriptural passages like Hebrews 1:1-8, that God never offered this potential to angels.
What Tkachism had a problem with in the above quote is the fact that God enacted His purpose through man
because of
angelic sin. They had no problem accepting that God initially created a pre-Adamic, animal-like man with architectural skills. But how dare Mr. Armstrong teach that man was created on Earth to succeed where the angels failed!
Mr. Salyer said, “Another area of concern is the sensitivity surrounding any discussion of the races.”
36
Of course, much of what Mr. Armstrong had to say on the subject of race had already been edited out of the softbound version. So this seems picky.
Outside of the above quote and the sensitive statements made regarding race, the only other inaccuracy Salyer addressed was how Mr. Armstrong “quoted freely” from Alexander Hislop’s
Two Babylons.
37
In actuality, Mr. Armstrong referred to Hislop on two occasions and does not quote him once.
These all, taken at face value, would have to be considered minor points that could have been easily fixed (assuming, of course, that they are even errors in the first place). But remember,
Mystery of the Ages
was “on hold” for more than six months, awaiting the chance to be revised, before Mr. Tkach decided it would be retired permanently.
Mr. Tkach Finally Speaks
Nine months after he directed Bernie Schnippert to put the book on hold, Mr. Tkach finally broached the subject of
Mystery’s
status. He addressed the ministers first in the
Pastor General’s Report
and the membership one week later in the
Worldwide News
. Mr. Tkach began his column by saying, “It is critically important that God’s church never be in a position of continuing to put out what may be misleading or inaccurate material once we have become aware of it. God expects us to continually be growing in understanding and knowledge. Mr. Armstrong often reinforced that concept.”
38
To that point, that’s about as close as any of them got to the real reason for removing the book. It contained “misleading” and “inaccurate” material. But in removing these supposed errors, Mr. Tkach said he was only following Mr. Armstrong’s example. This excuse would be used repeatedly in the years that followed—
Mr. Armstrong made changes and so do we—what’s the big deal?
Mr. Tkach then downplayed the significance of the errors in
Mystery
.
“The fundamental truths of God’s Word are contained in
Mystery of the Ages
. But we must realize that some of the peripheral or incidental points it contains give occasion to critics to fault the whole book, as well as inadvertently misleading readers on a few points.”
39
But it was the Tkaches who were misleading people! Everyone close to them knew how they felt about
Mystery of the Ages
:
I
T WAS “RIDDLED WITH ERROR
.” Yet, in telling the brethren why it was discontinued, he talked about “incidental” points that could give critics the wrong impression.
Mr. Tkach did not elaborate on any of the “peripheral or incidental points” that needed changing. Instead, he devoted much space to explaining how much of the church’s literature had become “dated.”
Mystery of the Ages
—Outdated?
“We must … face the fact,” Mr. Tkach wrote, “that literature written in the early to late 1950s does not always have the same impact today as it surely had then.” He continued,
Mr. Armstrong was explaining the truth to different audiences with different kinds of understanding than we face today on the brink of the 1990s. It behooves us now, as God leads us, to present the truth of His Word in a format that will reach people in a world that has traveled 30 to 35 years down the road of secularism and spiritual ignorance, and that is looking beyond into the last decade of this century.
40