VII. EGO INTEGRITY VS. DESPAIR

The Plain Truth reached the one million mark in 1967, the year of Loma’s death. In the nineteen years left to him, Herbert Armstrong reached some of his greatest heights and suffered public reverses that would have crushed a lesser man. In this last stage of his life, Maturity, as listed by Erikson, the essential task is “consolidation,” “a post-narcissistic love of the human ego – not of the self – as an experience which conveys some world order and spiritual sense, no matter how dearly paid for.” Daniel Levinson says of the male subject in this stage: “He must arrive at some appraisal of his life. The developmental task is to gain a sense of the integrity of his life – not simply of his virtue or achievement, but of his life as a whole…Finding meaning and purpose in his life, however imperfect, he can come to terms with death.” 45

In the years from 1967 to 1986, Herbert Armstrong must have felt, at times, as if he were a walking fulfillment of Matthew 13:57, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” The “Christ Against Culture” reaction reached its climax for the WCG in the 1970s. There were public accusations of scandal and financial irregularity all through the decade. For Herbert Armstrong there was a failed remarriage attempt begun in 1976. There was the cruel public and messy separation between him and his son, Garner Ted in 1978. Both were forced to experience the harrowing indignity of having their personal letters to each other printed in Time magazine for all the world to see. Finally, a Receivership imposed by the State of California on the strength of a flimsy lawsuit filed by disgruntled ex-members dominated church attention from 1979 to 1981. 46

“[T]he possessor of integrity is ready to defend the dignity of his own life style against all physical and economic threats,” Erikson noted of Stage Eight. The hopeful task here is wisdom and renunciation. “Passing the baton,” became a famous WCG metaphor as Armstrong lingered in sickness throughout the fall and winter of 1985. At his death in January, 1986, the evidence is good from sources close to him that Armstrong was quite ready – perhaps even relieved – to face his Maker. If the eyewitness testimony is to be believed, he sat in Loma’s favorite chair and waited for the end. Indeed, he passed from this life as he had lived it – writing, lecturing, letting his thoughts on life and death be known. On December 9, 1985, a few weeks before his decease he wrote to the WCG: “This illness has inpressed heavily on my mind, more than ever before the uselessness of this present evil world.” The exocentric sectarian was centered at last.

ENDNOTES

45 Daniel Levinson, The Seasons of a Man’s Life (New York: Ballantine Books, 1978), page 37.

46 The WCG eventually won the battle. The church was supported throughout its court fight by such groups as the NCC, the NAE, the ACLU, etc. See Stanley R. Rader’s Against The Gates of Hell: The Threat to Religious Freedom in America (New York: Everest House, 1980).