Q: Why did Mr. Armstrong state that "independents" would not be in the marriage supper of the Lamb?

Published: September 30th, 2005

We addressed this issue, to an extent, in the Editorial, "An Independent Mind," in Update 208. In the Editorial, we quoted some of Mr. Armstrong's statements about "independents," as follows:

"This is what Mr. Armstrong thought about independents: 'What about a single member, "a joint, or part," going off by itself--or following a man instead of the Church of God that is in direct continuous succession from the apostolic Church founded by Christ, in A.D.31? He is like a joint or a piece of wood or stone, entirely outside of, and therefore no part of the body of Christ that shall marry Christ' (The Incredible Human Potential, ed.1978, pp.123, 124-125)."

Q: Who is the bride? When the Bible speaks of the “bride,” is it only in reference to the saints who will be in the first resurrection?

Published: November 17th, 2006

The answer is that the bride will ultimately involve many more than those who are given eternal life in the first resurrection. A review of this topic will reveal just what the Bible means when it refers to the “bride.”

First of all, Jesus Christ is presented as the bridegroom in many examples. Even at His appearance as a human and before His death, Jesus spoke of Himself as the “bridegroom” (Luke 5:34-35). In this account, Jesus taught that He would be taken away and that no “marriage” would be consummated at that time.