RAISING THE RUINS; The Fight to Revive the Legacy of Herbert W. Armstrong

It is the Most Astonishing Story in Modern Religion

What happened to the global humanitarian empire of Herbert W. Armstrong, one of the foremost religious leaders of the 20th century?

Here is the shocking, gripping untold story of the doctrinal hijacking and spiritual destruction of the Worldwide Church of God after the death of its founder.

It is the story of a cabal of leaders who destroyed Mr. Armstrong's work, sold the church's assets and hoarded the money.

It is the story of the life-and-death, six-year court battle that ensued when a faith-filled few held fast to his mission and sought to defend his legacy by Raising the Ruins.

Herbert W. Armstrong was the world's leading televangelist and one of the most prominent religious leaders of the 20th century, watched, read and followed by millions worldwide. But his legacy of Bible-based humanitarianism came under attack after he died. The cabal of leaders who took control of the church he founded, after pledging to "follow in his footsteps," methodically destroyed all he had built. Those who would stop them were silenced or excommunicated.

Had it happened in the corporate world, the CEOs and executives responsible for hijacking a corporation and robbing its investors would have been fired, if not prosecuted in a court of law.

Never before has this shocking story been told in such riveting detail. Drawing upon official reports, internal memos, court depositions and personal interviews, Stephen Flurry exposes the depth of corruption and deceit that was "Tkachism" - the administration of Joseph Tkach, who succeeded Mr. Armstrong as pastor general of the Worldwide Church of God.

In this book you will learn:

*How Tkach's men altered doctrines under Mr. Armstrong's nose even before he died.

*How the Tkach transformation was driven from the start by an agenda that even shocked most of the top ministers.

*How early on, Tkachism brazenly denied its radical changes before the church members.

*How Tkachism slashed media operations under the pretense of "wise stewardship"--while income soared at a record $1 billion in five years.

*How Tkachism shamefully forced out the very members whose contributions had built the multi-million dollar empire.

*How Tkach's men told church members the message of Mr. Armstrong's magnum opus, Mystery of the Ages, was still official, while they secretly trashed 120,000 copies of the book.

*How Tkach Jr. considered it his "Christian duty" to stamp out Mr. Armstrong's writings.

*How Tkach Jr. nearly achieved that goal in a six-year legal battle, but then, for fear of being exposed, surrendered.

*How the marvelous wonder of Mr. Armstrong's work is being raised from the ruins.

Worldwide Church of God leaders today present themselves to the mainstream evangelical world as a band of courageous truth-lovers who sacrificed everything to follow Jesus Christ. The stubborn facts of what they did, however, tell a far more sinister story - a story they have done their utmost to keep buried. This book exhumes those facts and exposes them to the furious light of day, as they should have been all along, for your scrutiny.

Stephen Flurry is executive editor of the Philadelphia Trumpet newsmagazine and president of Herbert W. Armstrong College in Edmond, Oklahoma. He served on the Philadelphia Church of God's legal team in its battle against the Worldwide Chuch of God over copyrights to Herbert W. Armstrong's literature. He lives in Edmond with his wife and two children.