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"Someday we’re going to find a manuscript that verifies this." "“We probably won’t find a manuscript in my lifetime that verifies this, but my spiritual awareness tells me what the original has to say.” Well, most people will look at this, if not through the lens of adoration of the speaker, and say that this is obviously an attempt by a person to disregard all the available evidence and claim something for which no evidence exists, allowing them to make ridiculous claims that contradict Scripture. When lcm said this stuff, his go-to phrase for pulling stuff out of his sit-upon was "You'd know this if you worked The Word on this." In vpw's case, it was the manuscripts that nobody's ever seen that somehow still support vpw's claims even if they have been read by nobody and there's no proof they even exist. Their existence is all predicated on the "spiritual awareness" of a plagiarizing rapist who lied and claimed to hear from God, who plagiarized the works of many others and still flubbed it often, who listened to conspiracy nuts then turned around and reported what they said and pretended it was Divine Revelation that told him, and got his "doctorate" from a degree mill. Once all that is known, what kind of credibility does the speaker have? That's right- none at all. It was all smoke and mirrors. But when we didn't know any better, that nonsense played a LOT better because we trusted someone untrustworthy and thought we could trust him. "I heard a complaint, circa 1977-78, about the research department from 2 associates or members of that department, just a month or two before they were kicked out of the 7th Corps. They told me that VPW was manipulating things and not doing valid research. " Sure sounds like what was just documented. It's remarkably straightforward. He appealed to the authority of what was written in IMAGINARY DOCUMENTS. That's "not doing valid research" to say the least. (To say the most, it's champion-level Bullshirting to pull that and get away with it.) "It all depends on what the goal of the research is. (A) If the goal is to FIND truths not yet known, using only methods of the senses and logic, then the known manuscripts must be recognized as the only evidence available to work with. Everything must be built on that known evidence." That's called "RESEARCH." That's how RESEARCH WORKS. "(B) If the goal is to VERIFY truths already known spiritually, then unknown manuscripts may be sought in that verification. Of course, method B is not recognized by academia at all. The possibility of spiritually knowing anything like this is denied there totally. In other words the students of the Bible forbid the Author from giving revelation to explain the Bible. They want to do it all themselves." There's no demonstrated difference between "truths already known spiritually" and "outright bullshirt" here, neither is there one in practice. vpw was looking for imaginary manuscripts that matched what he CLAIMED to know, and is ASSUMED he knew "spiritually" because he implied that, insinuated that, and (rarely) actually said it outright. All of it rests entirely on the credibility of the claimant- and he was proven to be a liar, fraud, plagiarist..... Academia doesn't recognize IMAGINARY MANUSCRIPTS. Nor should it. How would you feel if someone announced that everything you believed was now specifically disproven and forbidden due to an IMAGINARY MANUSCRIPT that MUST contradict you? Academia is based on what can actually be shown and entered into evidence, not things IMAGINARY. Revelation is fine, but is no substitute for actual manuscripts. This is easy for almost anyone to understand. "The fact that the devil was the one who cleverly obscured and scrambled the originals, does not daunt these academia students. They think they can match wits with the devil and win." The poor scholarship that can lead to statements like this are endemic to people whose lack of study led to cutting corners. vpw pulled this, and his sychophants follow along blindly- even though average students have no trouble understanding how false this is. This is the internet age, Anyone can find proof that the originals were not "scrambled", nor "obscured" nor "unreliable" nor "tattered remnants." Anyone looking through the Masoretic text and the Samaritan Pentateuch can see that the OT is remarkably well-preserved. Anyone comparing the contents of the Cairo Genizah to modern Texts can see that the NT is remarkably well-preserved- at least in Greek. (But not in Aramaic.) "In the early days of VPW's research he knew he had to start with senses approach, or method (A). But God's assurance to him was that when he did his best and was getting stuck, the revelation would be there to get him over the hump. " No, vpw plagiarized Bullinger and others, and made it sound as if he'd actually done research into the manuscripts. He NEVER studied them. He studied HOMILETICS, how to preach, which is an incredibly soft option compared to Bible history, Bible languages, study of manuscripts..... The "God's assurance" part is ASSUMED- based on the authority he claimed and the integrity of which he was bankrupt. We used to take his word for things before we learned it was worthless and lacked integrity. "As time went by, it became useful to "prove" these little leaps of revelation to others to help them in their believing. Occasionally finding a manuscript that verified what God had told him would make it easier to teach others. It would also help VPW's believing for the next round of research." No. As time went by, twi gathered people who could actually study the manuscripts. So, vpw- who lacked facility with them and even lacked real understanding of their contents- would occasionally send one of his in-house experts on a fools errand to find imaginary manuscripts that "must" exist- since he wanted some manuscript SOMEWHERE to say what he WANTED it to say. Furthermore, sending them to look over the manuscripts to see what they could learn could yield something valuable, something he could monetize, something he could claim God Almighty revealed to him. "There were a few other reasons for this kind of Verification Research being useful. Something to remember is this. Finding a manuscript that verifies what VPW already had committed to DOES NOT PROVE that VPW was right in that prior commitment. But it does help make it easier to believe. " It was a fools errand that did NOT turn up the imaginary manuscripts that agreed with vpw. He admitted as much in the previous quote. "There are ALL KINDS of manuscripts out there and hardly any ways to figure out how valid each one is. It is all guesswork. Sometimes it can be a well educated piece of guesswork. But without revelation, all Biblical research is really guesswork, especially when you factor in that the devil intelligently scrambled things for us." That's an astonishingly- ignorant quote. It's easy to prove otherwise now, between books easy to acquire, and documentation available online 24/7. There's entire fields of study, and how one manuscript is rated above another is clear- and it is hard work. That's what distinguishes vpw from the researchers in another way- vpw always skipped the hard work. But learning HOW manuscripts are rated is NOT hard. It is painstakingly done, and anything BUT "guesswork." All of that isn't terrible shocking from someone whose final word on things is "the limits of what vpw taught." vpw's notable IGNORANCE of the entire field was covered by his dismissal of the entire field. Seeing people STILL doing that is a shame, and they can avoid it easily. And most people do.

Kinda hypocritical of st vic considering he made his own counterfeit with the 1942 promise and snow on the pumps in September type stuff...what's the difference? I don't see a problem when false prophets disagree....they were both lying anyway.

The eight symptoms of groupthink include an illusion of invulnerability or of the inability to be wrong, the collective rationalization of the group’s decisions, an unquestioned belief in the morality of the group and its choices, stereotyping of the relevant opponents or out-group members, and the presence of “mindguards” who act as barriers to alternative or negative information, as well as self-censorship and an illusion of unanimity. Decision making affected by groupthink neglects possible alternatives and focuses on a narrow number of goals, ignoring the risks involved in a particular decision. It fails to seek out alternative information and is biased in its consideration of that which is available. Once rejected, alternatives are forgotten, and little attention is paid to contingencyplans in case the preferred solution fails. https://www.britannica.com/science/groupthink The two entries directly following groupthink are persuasion and brainwashing. So, I mean to use the term in the context of cult. --------- I don't think it is always best to put one's self ahead of the group. I usually put others before myself, to a fault. This is not groupthink. It's selfless generosity guided by something greater than myself or the group. Ostracism is a real threat when one has given away EVERYTHING to join a cult. --------- When I was in the corporate world, I saw groupthink as a liability, not an asset. Though I expected my team to to be aligned with certain top line goals and values, I challenged them to be creative and think outside the box to find solutions. "We do it that way because we've always done it that way" is a bullshonta, lazy cop out that I strongly discouraged. (I was the black sheep in a good ol boy culture, but I delivered results that couldn't be denied.) --------- I understand the need for a sense of belonging, but if one must sacrifice one's individuality, independence and free thought for the group, then one should reconsider belonging to that group.

The TWI bookstore had silly books because The Way drew in people who were easily "oooed" and "aaahhhed" and would rather be spoon fed horse pucky than do any real work.

Research Department at the University of Bologna LINK The Bologna Process for your education LINK Being full of Bologna, and in one Accord LINK Just pointing out that Bologna has higher standards and ethics than TWI Research.

No...I believe that's possible. Wierwille made many such alterations and even had books published to support his error.

Mike I see how this line of logic can be appealing to people with a propensity for conspiracy theories. The Hebrew language interpretations have always been pretty stable and similar as they have the jot and tittle markings as what they use in computers as a “checksum” marking to verify the truth of the artifact. Greek is a little more free form. It is the basis for math and some other science is a little more precise in some ways and it’s been subject to interpretation. The problem with the extremist isolationist fundamentalist view you are pursuing is that you discount God working in other Christians to preserve the text and working in them to understand the text. So like VPW who made a big deal about burning his commentaries and only reading scripture not his contemporaries who are Christians also basically went the isolationist conspiracy theory route. As his life progressed that became more and more evident in the Advanced class where eventually the statement was made that all the denominations heads were seed of the serpent. I don’t think so. I don’t think the Pope positions have been seed of the serpent men. I think my brothers and sisters in Christ are just that, including the deluded isolationists.

Here we go Corps their latest idea. Scripture reference Ruth. Dispensation OT. Context - land baron survival. Message - stick to the people in the ministry that “taught you the Word”. Ignore context, truth, and present some guilt tripping. No it is not a calling initiated by God it is a program run by man. And by the numbers a largely unsuccessful program as well over 95% of the people who have gone through it no longer support or endorse it. It is a means to use emotional bribery and sketchy Biblical research methods to try and produce some kind of emotional hype. Maybe the guy producing it is secretly not so excited about not having any education in the area he is serving. Look buying into hogwash and running off a cliff like a lemming has nothing to do with God or Jesus Christ. But it does have to do with how important that position you are in is. To clarify God Christ and His Word is worthy of dedication. “The ministry that taught you the Word”. Now wait a second I thought the Word interprets itself. So at best you “gave people keys” not “taught them the Word” right? Oh but those minor details mean nothing when vying for someone’s whole life. What an entitled piece of garbage. The discipline in my life is to identify the error in your doctrine. Not to sluff off true research for a nostalgic feeling and run on a hamster wheel as an indentured servant magnifying those at the top of the cult not Christ.

There really is not a better way to describe the “okie research” that I was getting at than this. It was learned from the master. In reality the field has all sorts of reference checks in it. A manuscript found in South America has different scribe copy errors than a known codex so it can be verified and checked. Known first century other writings are available for comparison - historians like Josephus and others. It is a whole field. People in TWI have zero training in this field other than self reading books. It is the blind leading the blind basically in the field. This field is also how they easily refute the Mormons. At cesletter.org some of the unanswerable questions are like “why does this supposed direct dictation from the angel Moroni have these 12th century scribe errors copied exactly?” Without knowledge in the field the uneducated refer to superstition. Like the “cargo cults” they invent stories and rituals to bring the prosperity. There are two whole separate cults - the Mormons and the Jehovahs Witnesses that have special people dedicated to “feeling” the “Holy Spirit” s direction to lead them to their version of truth. They are called Q15 and the Watchtower society. In TWI they are called the BOD.

Twi is nothing but a one-trick pony. When I look at this postcard there are several things that jump out at me.... Why is it time to come home? Impersonal and presumptuous..... they have NO IDEA where my life is today. What is the benefit for me at this time? Once again, it reeks of a self-serving agenda to attract those who'd already had their minds grooved with cult-indoctrination rather than go out and find NEW PEOPLE. Plus, the non-subtle agenda of desperation attempts to increase revenue flow. Maybe they consider it "home"..... but I don't. That type of juvenile loaded-language has long lost its appeal. Wierwille used these types of deception when he referenced "Uncle Harry." Old man Harry was NOT my uncle.... nor was I one of wierwille's "corps kids." With attained critical thinking skills, these tricks of deception NO LONGER WORK. Is this picture of wierwille's burial site supposed to trigger nostalgic memories? Again, this is such juvenile marketing 101 that tells us more about them than they realize. Whether its been 10, 20 or 30 years since exiting that place.... most all have discarded memories and trashed those books from that abusive cult. In fact, I would wager that most have connected the dots to see how wierwille/twi conned them into years of indentured servitude. And further, doesn't every corporation have a burial site to showcase their product? Knowing what I know today about signs and symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder ... wierwille was a prime example. Was he so consumed with this disorder that he perceived himself as some "Egyptian Pharoah" entombed *front-and-center* at the entrance of twi-property for ALL TO SEE? Was he expecting his legacy to pass from generation to generation? Yes. This postcard reeks of deception, manipulation and exploitation.... just like wierwille's tactics and policies. Donna and Rosalie are simply running on the railroad tracks that brought twi to this point in time. It's just the latest form of redux manipulation sent to those who might fall for it. P.S. This tactic is similar to wierwille's corps letters. .

Thanks for stopping by, Seth - sounds like a fascinating journey…sorry to hear about your Dad passing…never figured you for a cat-person. Got our daughter a cat 3 years ago and I’ve always been a sucker for cats anyway …so I’m like a cat valet now - I usually clean the litter box, and he lets me know when he wants a door or window open…hope to see you around more!

Hey, Seth. Good to hear from you again. Like the saying goes, "Don't be stranger." Or, was that "Don't be a stranger"? Anyhow, good to see you again.

Your GSC avatar makes you seem a LOT younger than your FB profile pic does.

By brainwashed you mean? Idealistic driven and drawn to utopian imagery?

You're describing confabulation via confirmation bias. You literally decide anything you want, because of your narcissistic paranoia that your adversary is "out there", and decide that whatever you like is evidence. That's how revelation you describe works. You've given no test that might disprove your claims. You've lowered the basketball hoop and invented a new move. Growth does not happen in the real world without repeated failure and pain. You've provided a painless safe-space for yourself. Enamoured by the faux-intellectual reasoning, you're blinded to the real world. When tested against reality you can't see failure. You live in a fantasy. Your research produces nothing of value to anyone but yourself. When VPW received "revelation" he was lying to cover his own cowardness. He was too weak to compete against more competent individuals. So he used "revelation" to f_ck with the heads of overly trusting others. His leverage did not stand on its own. And neither does yours.

The more I consider these myriad of tactics, the more examples come to mind. Understandably, the more one is isolated and immersed in this realm of control.... the higher the levels of abuse. That's why the corps program was the ultimate stronghold wierwille utilized to attain his narcissistic power and control over others. Everything about the corps program gave wierwille and corps coordinators access to twist and mold young minds. When you signed on the line to "be corps"... you entered the door of bait-and-switch. Generic terminology of the corps commitment was an accelerated *mission creep* bonanza. Young, committed minds surrounded by cunning leaders and peers was pressurized. Those who fell short were publically castigated for all to witness. The cult held absolute control over the daily schedule and could change it at any time. Keeping corps off-balance stripped individuals from any control over their daily lives or future. Edgy and dangerous exercises.... colon cleanse, hitch-hiking at dark, safety at work projects. Death came early for some....even then, wierwille did not adjust or change course. Some young corps girls were selected for wierwille's sexual delight and predatory nature. Resistance to wierwille's "advances" was enough to give her the bum's rush off twi-property. Corps were disposable. Dreams of "serving God" were dashed by one act of disobedience. Isolation, immersion, idolization breeds a world of absolute control over others. Twisted teachings like "the lock box" and "salt covenants" were weapons of control. Corps were used as slave-labor at Camp Gunnison and Tinney, New Mexico (and roa). L.E.A.D. replaced T.F.I. in California. Wierwille stripped John Svmmerville of his authority. Purging those who challenged vpw was evident throughout twi's history. Wierwille did NOT lead by example.... he flaunted his position to smoke and drink at will. By 1977, 1978.... dozens of elder corps were moving towards the exit doors. What's a cult leader to do? Change? LOL. Nope, move younger guys into those vacated positions. Damage control, damage control. Twi was a one-trick pony. Decades of carnival tactics for 8 years (1973-1981) of power and control. Even when transitioning to lcm and stepping down (1981).....wierwille detested giving away power. Wierwille wanted his son, Don, to lead the ministry.... but Don's teaching prowess was lame. So, martindale was chosen because he ALWAYS obeyed wierwille. Nothing about being God's servant. Twi was built on a man of the flesh and remains ungodly to this day.