Project in process...
To read Scene One, click here.
~*~
Why would anyone join a cult?
Final Scene: Six
I enrolled in The Way's Power for Abundant Living Foundational and Intermediate classes which, at that time, were combined as one class. The fee at the time was $100; a one-time, non-refundable "donation" paid to The Way International. New students had to attend every session and arrive on time; there were no make-up sessions. If a new student was late or missed a session, she would have to drop that class but would be able to attend the next class starting over at the beginning. Once a student completed the class, she could take it as many times as desired without further payment.
I drove a three-hour round trip, from Montreat to Hickory, to attend the fifteen three-hour audio sessions. The class was held in an apartment on a lower level. There were around thirty attendees; most were repeat students. Seven of us were first-timers. I was good friends with two of the new students, Janet and Gretta.
All students sat in folding, metal chairs which were arranged in straight rows; new students sat on the front row. The voice of The Way's founder and first president, Victor Paul Wierwille, with his Ohio accent played through the speakers from cassette tapes while a Way volunteer sat at the front of the class flipping eight-and-half-by-eleven inch sized charts provided by The Way, a visual to illustrate what Wierwille's voice was sharing. New students were not allowed to take notes. We each received a syllabus and Way books authored by Wierwille. We were instructed to write down any questions we had. If the questions were not answered in Wierwille's teachings over the fifteen class sessions, we could present them at the end of class.
I was rivetted by Wierwille's teachings. Finally, I was getting answers to many of the questions that plagued me. Apparent contradictions in the Bible were explained. I learned that scripture "interprets itself in the verse, in the context, and used before." I learned the importance of understanding biblical customs and mannerisms in order to allow the Word to interpret itself, and the importance of the precise usage of Greek and Hebrew words. I learned that I was righteous before God and that I had "sonship rights." I began to "retemorize" King James scripture verses, repeating them over and over and over in my mind, convincing myself of "the truth." I believed with all my heart that I was learning God's will for my life; it was all revealed in His "rightly-divided" Word.
In my college Old Testament History Class I wrote an answer in response to a test essay question asking to compare Old Testament faith with New Testament faith. My essay was based on Wierwille's research. I received an A+ with a handwritten note from my professor, Dr. Newton, "Excellent research. I have questions about some of your findings." Having been warned The Way was a cult, I felt too uncomfortable and insecure to approach him on the matter.
My prayer-group friends were concerned about me and staged a type of intervention. The six of us met in a small classroom. Some of the metal school desks had been arranged in a semi-circle facing the chalkboard. Matt, our group's leader, stood at the chalkboard and opened with prayer which included ridding the room of any demons. I was seated. The others sometimes sat and sometimes stood.
My friends took turns speaking at me, sometimes hollering perhaps in an attempt to wake me from what they considered my delusion, to save me from the "cult." They each tried to convince me that Wierwille was a false prophet. On the chalkboard Matt wrote scripture references trying to prove to me that Jesus is God. But their words, regardless of how loud they declared them, did not match my experiences with The Way nor what I saw as truth from the scriptures. Yet I also knew that the devil comes in sheep's clothing, Was I being deceived by The Way?
I left the room filled with self-doubt and fear, trying to weigh and sort out my different experiences, and asking myself, Was this the love of God?
Not long after the attempted intervention my college roommate, Grace, who suffered with mental illness, was found in the parking lot on her hands and knees trying to pick up "the sparkling diamonds" that twinkled in the pavement. She had also recently begun using the window, instead of the door, to enter and exit our college dorm room. My prayer-group friends blamed me for Grace's state of mind and bizarre behavior. I had tainted Grace causing her to get "possessed with demons," all because I was attending a Way class and fellowships. I was the only student at Montreat involved with The Way.
These were the people warning me The Way was a "cult." Their approach, for obvious reasons, sent me running in the other direction, to The Way, where my spiritual, mental, and emotional hunger was being fed. One of my favorite Twig Fellowship songs was, "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God..."
I mailed a handwritten letter to Dr. Wierwille whom I had listened to for over forty hours on audio tape. I shared with him what had happened with my prayer-group friends. I never expected to hear back. But I did. I received a typed letter in an envelope with a return address from "The Teacher" in New Knoxville, Ohio. He commended me for my bold stand and wrote, "When people throw dirt at God's Word, all they do is get their hands dirty."
I finished my first semester at Montreat-Anderson and then dropped out of college to study and serve with The Way. Jesus promised, "Seek and ye shall find." I had found.
I was still eighteen years old.
~*~
Click here to continue to Part 2, Word Over the World: Scene One.
June 2, 2020
May 22, 2020
Why would anyone join a cult: Scene Five
Project in process...
To read Scene One, click here.
~*~
Why would anyone join a cult?
Scene Five
Fellowship meetings with The Way were tender and welcoming. They didn't involve the frenzied, spirit-filled confusion of some of the Charismatic gatherings. At Way Fellowships, which were called Twigs, I witnessed what I had read in sections of Acts and the Pauline epistles - "all things common," "decent and in order," "fruit of the spirit," "greet one another with a holy kiss."
Even though all Way believers speak in tongues, The Way is not Charismatic. At Twig, believers didn't speak in tongues all together out loud, like in the Charismatic gatherings. Instead, the Twig leader called on a believer to speak in tongues and interpret or to bring forth a word of prophecy. Always, the same person who spoke in tongues would then interpret that tongue. No one sang in tongues. No one laughed or danced or got slain in the spirit. No one raised holy hands nor prayed the spirit into the meeting.
At first, this made me feel uneasy; I was used to the spirit moving freely and spontaneously. How could a leader control the move of the spirit? But I brought to mind the questioning I'd had about how Charismatic, spirit-filled meetings operated. I Corinthians 14 states that if one speaks aloud in tongues that one should pray to interpret. That if the whole Church speaks in tongues together out loud, unbelievers would call us mad. That all things are to be done decently and in order. Charismatic meetings didn't follow those rules, but Twigs did.
Way believers, using Greek in the scripture, explained to me that the nine "gifts" of the spirit are not "gifts," but rather "manifestations" of the one gift, holy spirit, and that it was God's will for every believer to manifest all nine manifestations. The devil had twisted this truth, thus thwarting the power of God in a Christian's life.
Friends from my small prayer group at Montreat warned me that The Way was a cult. Phillip even accompanied me once to a Twig Fellowship. I thought he would see for himself the love of God that I saw, and the accuracy of the scriptures. But he saw deception and false doctrines; The Way was a messenger of Satan.
I considered my friends' warnings and read about The Way in the most authoritative book on cults at the time, The Kingdom of the Cults, written by Walter Martin. Martin mentioned Way missionaries being so poor they had to eat out of trashcans. I asked about that at Twig and was told the accusation was a lie from Satan, just like religious leaders in the time of Jesus had lied about him. The adversary is the "father of lies" and the "accuser of the brethren;" his aim always being "to steal, kill, and destroy," attacking the "accuracy of the Word." Even in the Book of Acts believers were accused of being a cult, the "sect of the Nazarene."
But Martin's main criticism was The Way's veer from mainstream Christian doctrine, especially the doctrine of the Trinity which teaches that Jesus is God and is deemed the cornerstone of Christianity. Until shortly after starting college, I never realized Christians believed that Jesus is literally God. Upon that discovery, I was stunned. People actually believe that a man can be God!?! Up until then, I thought the Trinity was more figurative than literal. When I voiced this to Scott, one of my prayer-group friends, his only explanation was, "You'll understand it later as you grow in Christ."
All this led me to read The Way's book Jesus Christ is Not God written by The Way's first president and founder, Victor Paul Wierwille. It was the first Way book I read, even before taking The Way's Power for Abundant Living class. Everything Wierwille shared in the book was backed by scripture. He explained the Greek words and the context. He included the history of the Trinity and its roots in Pagan religions. He shared his personal story of how he came to see that the doctrine of the Trinity was idolatry. What Wierwille wrote made sense to me and elevated Jesus even more in my heart.
I loved Jesus; he was my personal lord and savior. He obeyed the Father and gave the ultimate sacrifice. He was raised from the dead by God and was seated at God's right hand. But he wasn't God. He was the Son of God, not "God the Son." This I believed with all my heart.
Therefore, the main thrust of The Way being a cult because it was non-trinitarian didn't concern me, much.
~*~
Click here for Final Scene: Six.
To read Scene One, click here.
~*~
Why would anyone join a cult?
Scene Five
Fellowship meetings with The Way were tender and welcoming. They didn't involve the frenzied, spirit-filled confusion of some of the Charismatic gatherings. At Way Fellowships, which were called Twigs, I witnessed what I had read in sections of Acts and the Pauline epistles - "all things common," "decent and in order," "fruit of the spirit," "greet one another with a holy kiss."
Even though all Way believers speak in tongues, The Way is not Charismatic. At Twig, believers didn't speak in tongues all together out loud, like in the Charismatic gatherings. Instead, the Twig leader called on a believer to speak in tongues and interpret or to bring forth a word of prophecy. Always, the same person who spoke in tongues would then interpret that tongue. No one sang in tongues. No one laughed or danced or got slain in the spirit. No one raised holy hands nor prayed the spirit into the meeting.
At first, this made me feel uneasy; I was used to the spirit moving freely and spontaneously. How could a leader control the move of the spirit? But I brought to mind the questioning I'd had about how Charismatic, spirit-filled meetings operated. I Corinthians 14 states that if one speaks aloud in tongues that one should pray to interpret. That if the whole Church speaks in tongues together out loud, unbelievers would call us mad. That all things are to be done decently and in order. Charismatic meetings didn't follow those rules, but Twigs did.
Way believers, using Greek in the scripture, explained to me that the nine "gifts" of the spirit are not "gifts," but rather "manifestations" of the one gift, holy spirit, and that it was God's will for every believer to manifest all nine manifestations. The devil had twisted this truth, thus thwarting the power of God in a Christian's life.
Friends from my small prayer group at Montreat warned me that The Way was a cult. Phillip even accompanied me once to a Twig Fellowship. I thought he would see for himself the love of God that I saw, and the accuracy of the scriptures. But he saw deception and false doctrines; The Way was a messenger of Satan.
I considered my friends' warnings and read about The Way in the most authoritative book on cults at the time, The Kingdom of the Cults, written by Walter Martin. Martin mentioned Way missionaries being so poor they had to eat out of trashcans. I asked about that at Twig and was told the accusation was a lie from Satan, just like religious leaders in the time of Jesus had lied about him. The adversary is the "father of lies" and the "accuser of the brethren;" his aim always being "to steal, kill, and destroy," attacking the "accuracy of the Word." Even in the Book of Acts believers were accused of being a cult, the "sect of the Nazarene."
But Martin's main criticism was The Way's veer from mainstream Christian doctrine, especially the doctrine of the Trinity which teaches that Jesus is God and is deemed the cornerstone of Christianity. Until shortly after starting college, I never realized Christians believed that Jesus is literally God. Upon that discovery, I was stunned. People actually believe that a man can be God!?! Up until then, I thought the Trinity was more figurative than literal. When I voiced this to Scott, one of my prayer-group friends, his only explanation was, "You'll understand it later as you grow in Christ."
All this led me to read The Way's book Jesus Christ is Not God written by The Way's first president and founder, Victor Paul Wierwille. It was the first Way book I read, even before taking The Way's Power for Abundant Living class. Everything Wierwille shared in the book was backed by scripture. He explained the Greek words and the context. He included the history of the Trinity and its roots in Pagan religions. He shared his personal story of how he came to see that the doctrine of the Trinity was idolatry. What Wierwille wrote made sense to me and elevated Jesus even more in my heart.
I loved Jesus; he was my personal lord and savior. He obeyed the Father and gave the ultimate sacrifice. He was raised from the dead by God and was seated at God's right hand. But he wasn't God. He was the Son of God, not "God the Son." This I believed with all my heart.
Therefore, the main thrust of The Way being a cult because it was non-trinitarian didn't concern me, much.
~*~
Click here for Final Scene: Six.
May 20, 2020
Why would anyone join a cult: Scene Four
Project in process...
To read Scene One, click here.
~*~
Why would anyone join a cult?
Scene Four
The term Charismatic refers not to a denomination, but rather a movement within Christianity which teaches that the nine so-called "gifts of the spirit" listed in I Corinthians, Chapter 12 of the Bible, are still in use in the modern Church, and that these so-called gifts are separately given by God to individual believers as God so chooses. The English word for "gifts" in I Corinthians 12 is translated from the Greek word charismata. Speaking in tongues, also called "praying in the spirit," is the dominant "gift," but not all Charismatics speak in tongues. The other eight "gifts" are interpretation of tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles, and healings. In some Charismatic gatherings, believers also dance and laugh and "get slain" in the spirit. The term "spirit-filled," indicates that a believer has received the "gift of tongues" and is open to God controlling her/his life.
I chose a college in a community with Charismatic, spirit-filled, connections - Montreat-Anderson near Black Mountain, North Carolina - in the heart of Billy Graham country. It was a two-year college at the time. I thought that after graduation, to further my studies, I'd attend Wheaton College, an Evangelical Protestant school in Illinois. During my few months at Montreat, I faithfully attended the on-campus, non-Charismatic Presbyterian Church and off-campus Charismatic meetings in the local vicinity.
I became friends with a small group of five other students - Matt, Shirley, Joy, Phillip, and Scott - all spirit-filled and "older in Christ" than I. Matt, lean and tall, was the leader. We'd gather for our own private prayer meetings allowing others to attend only if they too were spirit-filled, or at least open to the idea.
At our tiny gatherings we would "pray the holy spirit into" our meetings. With our eyes closed and arms raised, the palms of our hands lifted toward the heavens, our bodies often swaying, we'd spontaneously begin to sing in tongues or speak in tongues. Some in a whisper; others more vocal. I was a whisperer.
At any time, someone might speak in English interpreting another's message in tongues. Sometimes we might all begin to "laugh in the spirit" - big, hilarious belly laughs. One of us might pray aloud in English, making our petitions known, thanking Jesus and the Father. Sometimes a couple worshippers would get "slain in the spirit," collapsing to the floor. I never did interpret, nor get slain in the spirit. During one of our small gatherings I had to leave because I felt like I was on a bad psychedelic trip; I felt paranoid and dirty.
Montreat-Anderson's on-campus Presbyterian Church would invite well-known Christian leaders to speak. Montreat was a small college, so students were able to easily meet and interact with guest speakers. Jackie Buckingham was one of those guests. She and her husband, Jamie, were personal friends with Nicky Cruz. Jamie was the co-author of Nicky's book, Run Baby Run. As Jackie shared some of the miracle stories, my heart burned within me longing to know God and His power like she described.
Another guest was Ruth Graham, the Reverend Billy Graham's wife. On one of her visits she held a small gathering in the girl's dorm. I was one of around twenty girls who attended. We met in an informal living room setting attired with a few upholstered chairs for seating with the rest of us sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was comfortable, warm, inviting. I asked Mrs. Graham questions about speaking in tongues and gifts of the spirit. Her answer was that she simply didn't know the answers. I thought to myself, If Ruth Graham doesn't know, who does?
I was not finding satisfactory answers to my questions. And the same insecurities and shame that I had experienced previously in the Baptist Church began again to haunt me.
During this time is when I found The Way International. It was September, 1977.
I was still eighteen years old.
~*~
Click here for Scene Five.
To read Scene One, click here.
~*~
Why would anyone join a cult?
Scene Four
The term Charismatic refers not to a denomination, but rather a movement within Christianity which teaches that the nine so-called "gifts of the spirit" listed in I Corinthians, Chapter 12 of the Bible, are still in use in the modern Church, and that these so-called gifts are separately given by God to individual believers as God so chooses. The English word for "gifts" in I Corinthians 12 is translated from the Greek word charismata. Speaking in tongues, also called "praying in the spirit," is the dominant "gift," but not all Charismatics speak in tongues. The other eight "gifts" are interpretation of tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles, and healings. In some Charismatic gatherings, believers also dance and laugh and "get slain" in the spirit. The term "spirit-filled," indicates that a believer has received the "gift of tongues" and is open to God controlling her/his life.
I chose a college in a community with Charismatic, spirit-filled, connections - Montreat-Anderson near Black Mountain, North Carolina - in the heart of Billy Graham country. It was a two-year college at the time. I thought that after graduation, to further my studies, I'd attend Wheaton College, an Evangelical Protestant school in Illinois. During my few months at Montreat, I faithfully attended the on-campus, non-Charismatic Presbyterian Church and off-campus Charismatic meetings in the local vicinity.
I became friends with a small group of five other students - Matt, Shirley, Joy, Phillip, and Scott - all spirit-filled and "older in Christ" than I. Matt, lean and tall, was the leader. We'd gather for our own private prayer meetings allowing others to attend only if they too were spirit-filled, or at least open to the idea.
At our tiny gatherings we would "pray the holy spirit into" our meetings. With our eyes closed and arms raised, the palms of our hands lifted toward the heavens, our bodies often swaying, we'd spontaneously begin to sing in tongues or speak in tongues. Some in a whisper; others more vocal. I was a whisperer.
At any time, someone might speak in English interpreting another's message in tongues. Sometimes we might all begin to "laugh in the spirit" - big, hilarious belly laughs. One of us might pray aloud in English, making our petitions known, thanking Jesus and the Father. Sometimes a couple worshippers would get "slain in the spirit," collapsing to the floor. I never did interpret, nor get slain in the spirit. During one of our small gatherings I had to leave because I felt like I was on a bad psychedelic trip; I felt paranoid and dirty.
Montreat-Anderson's on-campus Presbyterian Church would invite well-known Christian leaders to speak. Montreat was a small college, so students were able to easily meet and interact with guest speakers. Jackie Buckingham was one of those guests. She and her husband, Jamie, were personal friends with Nicky Cruz. Jamie was the co-author of Nicky's book, Run Baby Run. As Jackie shared some of the miracle stories, my heart burned within me longing to know God and His power like she described.
Another guest was Ruth Graham, the Reverend Billy Graham's wife. On one of her visits she held a small gathering in the girl's dorm. I was one of around twenty girls who attended. We met in an informal living room setting attired with a few upholstered chairs for seating with the rest of us sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was comfortable, warm, inviting. I asked Mrs. Graham questions about speaking in tongues and gifts of the spirit. Her answer was that she simply didn't know the answers. I thought to myself, If Ruth Graham doesn't know, who does?
I was not finding satisfactory answers to my questions. And the same insecurities and shame that I had experienced previously in the Baptist Church began again to haunt me.
During this time is when I found The Way International. It was September, 1977.
I was still eighteen years old.
~*~
Click here for Scene Five.