Herbert Armstrong

Herbert Armstrong was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 31, 1892, into a Quaker family. He regularly attended the services and the Sunday school of First Friends Church in Des Moines. He attended North High School, but never graduated. At age 18, on the advice of an uncle, he decided join the field of journalism and advertising and started with a job in the want-ad department of a Des Moines newspaper, the Daily Capital. He developed his skills further through on-the-job training at several newspapers and magazines and, in 1915, moved to Chicago, Illinois in search of career advancement.

On a trip back home in 1917, he met Loma Dillon, a schoolteacher and distant cousin from nearby Motor, Iowa. They married shortly thereafter (his 25th birthday on July 31, 1917) and returned to live in Chicago. His career in advertising began to take off (with his earnings exceeding the equivalent of USD 200,000/year in today's currency). On May 9, 1918, they had their first child, Beverly Lucile Armstrong, and on July 7, 1920, a second daughter, Dorothy Jane Armstrong. In 1924, after several unforseen business setbacks, Armstrong and family moved to Eugene, Oregon where his parents now lived. He continued in the advertising business despite the setbacks.

His wife, Loma, became influenced by Ora Runcorn, a member of the Church of God (Seventh Day). This small Sabbatarian church traced its history back to Stephen Mumford of Rhode Island, and from there back to the so-called "Lollards", "Waldensians", and "Paulicians" of medieval European fame (known to history by these nicknames due to their use by antagonists, who virtually alone provide historians with documentation), through Coneybeare and other sects. It is not unreasonable to surmise them to also have forerun Mumford's group in using the name of the church found in the epistles and Acts, "Church of God", in view of the occasional references to such in the historical record), and beyond them on down to certain early Christians, including Polycarp and Polycrates of Ephesus--who had contact with the apostle John in his latter years, and who had fought for the observance of Passover and against Easter--and ultimately down to the Apostles. Note that this church had no affiliation or connection with Ellen G. White, though many members had left the Church of God to join the Seventh-day Adventist Church she started.

Loma challenged Armstrong that the day of the celebration of the Sabbath on Sunday was not supported by the Bible. As his business was struggling against larger competitors, he had the time to take up the challenge and began a long study of the Bible to prove his wife wrong. Armstrong began what would become a life-long habit of exhaustive cross-referencing of scriptures combined with the study of the original Greek and Hebrew renderings; he soon felt God was inspiring this, opening his mind to “truths” that historical Christian churches had not found or accepted. Also at this time, as stated in his autobiography, he was challenged by a relative who told him that anyone who didn't espouse to the theory of evolution over special creation was ignorant; this issue became the foundation of Armstrong's conversion. Though not very religious at the time, he had always taken the existence of God for granted, and began to study evolution extensively (and would later write frequently and in detail about what he had uncovered, focussing on a scientific refutation of evolution). His studies on the Sabbath and evolution convinced him that his wife was right, and that the theory of evolution was false. Overall, this became the starting point of Armstrong's delving into the Bible, and for several months he devoted vitually all his free time in this pursuit.