DIFFICULT SCRIPTURES is an authoritative guide to recent doctrinal controversy & change in the Worldwide Church of God. Drawing on over 35 years of personal experience as a WCG minister, teacher, & former presenter on The World Tomorrow telecast, Dr. David Albert chronicles events in the lives of now-deceased Pastor Generals Herbert W. Armstrong & Joseph W. Tkach leading to sweeping change. The author examines original writings & teachings of Herbert Armstrong on Old Testament dietary laws & sacred days concluding that, despite Armstrong's protestations to the contrary, these were derived from the laws of Moses & are therefore not required of Christians today. Albert treats early New Testament church history, particularly the Jerusalem Conference of Acts 15, in considerable detail & contends that the apostolic decision to loose Christian converts from the law of Moses was not fully understood in the Worldwide Church of God until recently. Fully supportive of recent changes, Albert concludes that literal interpretations of the "national/ceremonial" ideal of the Old Covenant work against the New Covenant character ideal found in Christ.

Partly autobiographical, DIFFICULT SCRIPTURES is well illustrated with anecdotes revealing the human side of crisis & change in a church striving to free itself from legalism. Order from Tyler House, Box 132327, Tyler, TX 75713; 903-636-2377.