johnj

"One track crusader... poison against TWI... antidote..." sounds pretty strong. I think of myself a little like Dorothy's dog Toto in The Wizard of Oz, pulling back the curtain to find that there's no wizard in TWI, just a charlatan. I never had to do much except expose what was going on behind the scenes, out of the sight or knowledge of the average Wayer. I didn't have to make up stuff, just pass on info about what TWI leaders didn't know, or didn't want you to know. Although the TWI charlatans were doing much more damage to people than the Wizard was doing to Oz.

ButnowIsee: 1 Cor 14 speaks favorably of speaking in tongues in one's prayer life (as I do), and of public use when there is an interpretation. I think TWI was off on its teachings about SIT in a few ways: + not every believer must SIT. It's very common in the book of Acts, but the point of the illustration of the body of Christ is that not everyone has the same charismata. Just as each part of your physical body is different, so every believer in the body of Christ has different charismata + SIT is not incontrovertible evidence that a person is born again. Jesus said "by your fruits you will know them" not "by their speaking in tongues you will know them." The Bible frequently speaks of spiritual deception (wolves disguised in sheep's clothing, etc). If SIT is a failsafe way to tell true believers from false, deception would be impossible- SIT and you "pass," can't SIT and you fail + TWI was wrong to say people should be taught to SIT, prophesy, etc. The result was that many people were "manifesting" a human ability to mimic SIT, prophecy, etc. Even an unbeliever can fake these by babbling or by saying something that sounds like a Biblical prophecy. It can become very mechanical. You can't find any Biblical phrase that says that an Apostle "taught" someone to prophesy or SIT. + the idea that people can manifest on command makes the leader who commands someone to manifest the mover rather than the Spirit himself. It yields manifestations of human manufacture. I think many people who were in TWI either felt they were making things up as they went along or thought others were. John

I wrote the above article as a thoughtful attempt to answer questions people had after they left TWI and wondered what to do about all they'd learned or done there. It's important to consider this carefully as many of you have done. I think TWI did teach a "different Jesus, different Spirit" as 2 Corinthians 11 warns us about. Certainly TWI itself thought it taught a very different Jesus and Spirit from evanelical Christianity. And the Jesus/Spirit got different-er and different-er as years went by, as typically happens when you have a "Teacher" who has unquestioned authority in a group. TWI had a lot of corruption in both teaching and practice, some high profile like adultery, others lower. so my first principle is to be suspicious of whatever it taught or practiced, which I think is safer than assuming it was good. My second principle is that while manifestations are useful, things like SIT, prophecy, etc are not essential to a mature Christian life. There are many vibrant, mature Christians who don't do either. I do recognize that not everyone in TWI was screwed up (though its leaders tried...), esp in the 70s. However, in order to avoid the TWI corruption, I think it is the safer approach to go back to whatever practice people had before TWI- to SIT if they did so before TWI (as I did) or to not SIT if they began to do so in TWI. Other people have other opinions on this, but I think the more cautious one is wiser. I believe in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but not in the way TWI did/does. I think anyone who's read of the CES crisis about personal prophecy has come to the conclusion that there are counterfeits or false manifestations that are not from God... most of which are just human ("flesh"), failed attempts that in most cases don't have a bad motive behind them. John

Dear Friend, Sometimes people don't accept the historic teaching of the Church about Jesus Christ because they have honest Scriptural disagreement with it, and sometimes because they don't really unerstand it (or a mix of the two). The things you wrote lead me to believe that you don't really understand what the Church has always taught about Christ. The evangelical Church (and I) don't believe several iof the things that you say we beleive. We don't believe that Jesus Christ is God, but rather that he has both divine and human natures. Because he has a human nature he can be born physically, and because he has a divine nature he has always existed. This is something that VPW and many of his followers never seem to have understood- that Jesus can do what people do (like get tired, die) because he has a human nature, and that he can do things that only God can do (be worshipped, forgive sins on his own, have always exitsed, etc) because he has a Divine nature. His human attributes don't contradict his God-nature, they supplement it. We don't believe that Jesus is the Father, instead we believe there's a distinction bewteen the two. The Church has always thought that a few small groups like the "Oneness" Pentecostals (like the United Pentecostal Church) are wrong when they say that Jesus is the Father. We don't normally pray to Jesus, but to the Father in Jesus' name. This is the common NT practice. However, one basis for praying at times to Jesus as some do is John 14:14, "you may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it." This thread is probably not the place to debate teaching, but I just wanted to mention that misunderstandings are part of the reason ex-wayers have trouble with some evangelical Christian teaching. The other propblem is that many Christians don't explain their beliefs very well, which leads to misunderstandings. The point of my article "Is Jesus God?" was not to show that Jesus is God, but to tell Christians to be more careful in explaining things to people like ex-wayers. Saying "Jesus is God" leads people to misunderstandings, because it implies that Jesus was not a man also. It's better to say "Jesus was both man and God." John

Dot- Most everyone feels afraid at least to some degree about going to a new church, because most of us feel hesitant to walk into any room full of strangers not knowing exactly what will happen there. But for sure people who had bad experiences in cults or cult like groups are most sensitive of all. I don't know much about BG Leonard. But his newsletter had a warning IN BOLD PRINT as though he was shouting (not actually shouting, but very, very firm) that bsically said "you'd better not plariarize me!!!" I assumed it was because he knew about VP plagiarizing him, was angry about it and didn't want anyone else to think they could do the same.

"Sodom and Gomorrah... ashen remains discovered.... Raiders of the Lost Book... Pharoah's chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea... Zechariah's Thermonuclear War!... The Jonah Code!" Rood's titles read like the National Enquirer or any other tabloid magazine. He learned while on the Prophecy Club circuit that sound teaching doesn't sell CDs and win followers and money, spectacular claims do. Hence his outfit (drss like a rabbi), which is an attention getter too. His wild claims have little or no basis in fact. But it doesn't matter, because he has a "new and improved" claim every year. Every entertainer needs a hook.

Ex- I'm sure my site's been called worse than "judas priest!" By the way, it's a sad irony that "Judas" is a name attached to betrayal. The name "Judas," "Jude" and "Judah" are just variant spellings of the same name. (The "s" ending is a Greek ending, while the "h" ending is a Hebrew ending, and "Jude" seems to be a compromise between the two.) Most Judah/Judes in the Bible are quite honorable, esp the Lord's brother who wrote the epistle. (Church history also says that the Lord's brother was called up by a Roman official, and Jude showed that he was not rich, and worked his land like every other farmer, supporting himself as he was a leader in the church.) Marsha's story was one of the first sex stories we published. It was a hard decision to make, for a variety of reasons. There is the general problem of making such accusations in public, but also the specific problem of trying to ascertain if any particular story is contrived in some way. But since then (including on this forum) several people had corraborated Marsha's story in various ways, and many readers have found it to be eye-opening and healing. By the way, if some of you still think publishing such stories is a bad idea, check out my "Editor's Statement on Sex Stories" at www.abouttheway.org for a sketch about why I went ahead and published them. The sad thing is, there are scores, if not hundreds, of women who could have written similar ones about their expeirneces with TWI leadership. John

for Dot, nyunknown, dmiller, pawtucket, act2, exwaycorps, rascal, nottawayfer, excathedra, theHighWay, Thomas Loy, TheEvan, Mr Hammeroni, seth, and others who've shared kind words and thoughts about my work and our interactions over the years... thanks so much for your kind words and compliments. I'm honored to have been a part of your lives, and for you to have shared some personal or important parts of your lives with me. Web sites are by nature largely distant and impersonal. You don't see people face to face or hear their voices. So it's an encouragement to me to hear that the articles and emails have been helpful to you. The most encouraging thing of all is to hear of people who've left TWI largely behind and have established a healthy spiritual and emotional life outside TWI. I hope that's not as rare as it sometimes seems to me, since TWI seems to have left very deep, lasting scars in a lot of people. Although I've written most of the 100 or so articles on abouttheway.org there are probably over a dozen people who have written articles. While I haven't kept track of details, I'm sure that the testimonies of ex-wayers are heavily read. In that sense the site is a team effort. And even my own articles are due in large part to people who have sent me material, shared their experiences with me, or asked questions. Many people have been helpful in many ways, and I am sort of a "front man" for them.

Before I took the class I'd found PFAL book in a bookstore and read it. As you know, the book is roughly the first four (or so) sessions of the class nearly ver batim, so I had a general idea of what to expect in the class. No, I didn't consider becoming involved in TWI and was very pleased for my sake that they dropped the price back to $40 from $200. Although for others' sake it probably would have been good to keep it at $200 since I'm sure they reduced attendance.. A few things impressed me about the PFAL book. First, it had some basic stuff everybody in the world knew about (such as interpret a passage in its context- verse, paragrah, etc). Second, that most examples he used for the principles were exotic, since the real purpose was not to illustrate the principle, but to show how utterly fantastic VPW was that he alone along all the people in the world knew the true interpretation of many passages (like "why have you forsaken me"). Third, that portions were very sloppy. Fourth, that portuions were intentionally deceptive. Deception, sloppiness and implicit desire to show yourself as the One Source of Truth Today are all bad characteristics in teachers. PS: I've also visited the home of VPW's "Pike's Peak Bible Seminary," an ordinary house on a hillside, and have a photo of it on our web site.

Yes, Armstrong, Dave Daniels, Chip Estes. They run Geer classes and help support him. I don't know many details, which is why I am asking for more.

It's been interesting to hear y'all talking about me (John Juedes)... a little like overhearing a conversation about you gong on in the room next door. Here's a few clarifications... Pawtucket was my PFAL class coordinator when I took PFAL back in about 1982. It's interesting that we met back then and end up being in the positions we are today. I'm a PFAL grad and been to some twigs, but never was a bonifide leaf on the Way tree. But I have been a few places... at a Palm Sun am service at the BRC with VPW presiding (where I got a photo of the TWI police car), treated to a fruit lunch at Emporia where they sang me a nice visitor song (back when people actually were pretty welcome at The Way), toured Gunnison with a Corps resident, seen the gas pumps (no snow), visited Rome City, and more recently was interrogated by a pseudo cop at New Knoxville (you're definitetly not welcome at The Way today). I've seen VPW a couple of times but never conversed with him. My degrees are legit: a Masters of Divinity from Concordia Seminary St Louis and Doctor of Ministry at Fuller Seminary, Pasaena CA (Ministry and Divinity is the same thing under a different name-- it includes classes on Bible teaching, exegesis, church history, and practical ministry, with emphasis on ministry. Before starting seminary you have to take at least 2 years of Greek and 1 semester of Hebrew).They have both regional and ATS accreditation, which is above average for seminaries. While wayers look down on seminaries, they teach some very good things that keep you from falling into traps like those in TWI. My first article on TWI was published in 1980. The articles at www.abouttheway.org make a serious effort to include facts and information, not just opinions as in a blog. I think that even most people who disagree with the conclusions at least acknowledge that there is a lot of information there, not just opinion. Sometimes I get hate mail telling me to be more loving. I think a good deal (not all) of that is an emotional reaction to the info on the site. When people see the info they're pushed to make a choice for or against TWI. To chose against TWI includes major Losses... people have to admit to themselves that a lot of what they devoted themselves to over the years is false, deception or damaging, and that teachers they idolized are in some cases plagiarists, sexual predators and manipulators. This is an emotionally taxing (sometimes devastating) change. To be sold out to TWI and then leave after seeing its errors is very gut-wrenching for many people. I don't hate anyone in TWI, and don't have a vendetta against it. But I have heard from a lot of people who've been very much hurt and damaged by it, and hope our articles help heal them and help them make sense of the change, and keep others from being likewise injured. I've heard many more stories from people who were damaged byTWI in some way (including more instances of sexual abuse), but haven't published them (I consider all email to me private and only publish letters with explicit permission from the writers). Some of these directly confirm stories we have published. Others confirm the general thought that many TWI leaders hurt their followers in various ways. Sometimes I hear from people whose names everyone would recognize. (And probably have heard from some others who didn't sign their real names) It's especially heartening to hear when some of these not only have left TWI but have found satisfying and dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ outside TWI and its splinters. Our web site is not meant to be a newspaper which presents both sides of a situation without taking a stand. It is meant to persuade people that TWI and its offshoots aren't healthy spiritual places to be. But we do try to present objective evidence for this, not just opinion or allegation to give readers reason for what we say. (People have made other allegations we haven't published.) Sometimes when I write an article I give "the other side" a chance to see it and respond before I publish it (for example, I forwarded my article on crisis in CES to some of the principals in the controversy before publishing, tho not all responded). I actually don't spend much time on TWI, comparitively speaking. I'm the full time pastor of a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church (more conservative Biblically than some Lutheran bodies), and teach leadership classes for leaders from various nearby churches. But since I've been writing about TWI for 28 years, I have an accumulation of material and a historical perspective that is unusual. I intentionally don't teach Lutheranism on abouttheway.org but instead point ex-wayers to the core of the Christian faith (represented in the Nicene Creed which is accepted by all Christian churches around the world). My intent is to represent evangelical Christianity not Lutheranism nor "my" ministry. John

WhiteDove- Thanks for some of the details you mention above. There is a difference between facts and specualtion, as above. But my article distiinguishes between the two, by using "probably" for an inference based on certain other facts (namely, he doesn't use Greek much, several of VP's books mangle some Greek passages, and most Corps were not competent in Greek, tho a few were). There's nothing wrong with including both facts and inferences in articles, as long as you identify them accordingly. If I read your post correctly (correct me if I'm wrong) I take you to say that Geer does not have capability in Greek (if he was capable, he wouldn't even need to consider using Cummins to help him). So my "probably" appears to be correct. If he is capable in Greek, please tell me and I'll take that line out. Is he? The article doesn't appraise all of Word Productions material, just WIGP. No doubt Geer does have some different takes on some things than VP did. Whenever somebody moves to "the top" as Geer did in WP, he's going to make some changes or additions. I'm looking thru the table of contents for WIGP right now. Out of the 58 chapter topics and 3 appendices, I don't see any that Greasespot readers wouldn't read and say"hey- I heard/read that in PFAL!" I've heard that Chris Geer teaches summers at The Ranch in Meridian Idaho. Can you tell us anything about it?

Could you give some examples of the erroneous facts and implications? I think it's important to correct these kinds of things so that the info is accurate and true. Thanks...

The Messianic/ Hebrew Roots movement is very broad and varied. It can be said to include everything from Rood, who in essence seems to have no place for Christ and grace at all, all the way to evangelical, Christ & grace-centered Christians who have a "Christ in the Passover" Seder occasionally. One handy guide is "The Messianic Movement: A Field Guide for Evangelical Christians" published by Jews for Jesus, which attempts to describe philosophical differences and various groups. It is heartening that the group you were associated with had a zeal for Christ. I think the central question is this: is Sabbath/ Law observance required, neccessary and essential-- or optional? If it's required, then you are no longer under grace. Are those who keep the Law righteous, while those who do not are not considered righteous before God? Is a person who observes the law any more admirable in God's eyes than those who do not? Paul's biggest argument was Abraham. He knew nothing of the law of Moses. But he had everything that pleased God- namely faith. Faith was credited to him as righteousness even before he was circumcised. So nothing in the law of Moses (Sabath observance, Law obedience, keeping of the feasts, circumcision, kosher laws) contributes to people's righteousness- Christ is totally sufficient. If the group in any way looks down on those who don't keep Mosaic law, then they've left grace behind. If you sometimes feel you "should" keep parts of the law of Moses, that suggests that the group was in some way leading people to believe that it "should" be obeyed, which is adding law to grace. John PS: The end result of legalism is usually nit-picking. Jesus spoke of this int he Pharisees. If you want to see where leglism ends up, take a look at the Haredi Jews in Israel (a step beyond orthodox Jews). There is constant conflict between them and the rest of Israel. One example: they forced airlines to change their flight path in taking off because the path took planes over cemetaries (at several hundred feet), which would render unclean the Jews on the planes and desecrate the graves. I think most of the people atracted to Rood are Christians who get excited by the elements of Judaism such as the feasts which do have a great deal of meaning and beneficial ceremony. But in time the legalism will choke them. It is startig to already, because Rood insists that you are violating the Sabbath and feasts unless you follow his timetable, which defines the sunset on particular days down to the minute. Are you a minute or two off? You've broken the law. It's a burden "neither we or our fathers have been able to bear" Peter rightly said.

There are a goodset of articles about Rood at www.abouttheway.org I sat through a 6 hour seminar Rood gave (the classy photo of Rood above I took at that time). What struck me most is what he left out-- Jesus Christ. He did have a novelty teaching about the geneaologies of Jesus (if you remember-- this is stolen directly from Wierwille). But it had nothing to do with teaching the nature, work, and redemption of Jesus Christ. Christ was hardly mentioned, and that only in passing. The Messiah Yashua (to use his prefered pronunciation) means essentially nothing to him. The "punchline" of the whole night is that everyone MUST obey the law of God, particularly the kosher diet, OT festivals such as Passover and Succoth, and Sabbath oberservance. What is more, it is impossible to do this correctly unless you use Rood"s timetable which is available only one place in the entire world (guess from whom... only one guess!). In essence, Rood has Moses but not the Messiah. Without the Messiah (Jesus Christ) you certainly have no New Testament faith in any sense of the word. There are several things Rood got from Wierwille. First, they both claimed to teach by direct revelation from God, and use this tactic to get followers and sell books. They both said that people can find the true truth only from them, a very cultic attitude. Both of them loved to try to get followers by promoting curiosities (whether inhaling the spirit, 4 crucified, athletes of the spirit, timetable of OT festivals, genealogy of Jesus or whatever). It's a place to go if you want the yoke of the law which is too great for anyone to carry, as Peter said (Acts 15:10). But there is no life or freedom there.

It's not hard to figure out, is it? I'm always interested in firm numbers rather than broad estimates. When you put together enough numbers, the broad estimate gets more precise and less subjective. This is what I've seen on forums: So Cal (recent) - 2-3 fellowships (~ 15 people) San Diego 2002, 7-8 fellowships So FL - 2 fellowships in whole branch A mid-west branch - 20 people total FL 2004 - "1/3 of previous size") If any of you can add particular branches or cities to this list, please do. Then do the addition for yourself.

likeaneagle- What is the newsletter called? Where does it come from? Is there an address on it (there must be a return address if it's mailed, or emailed)

Javajane- What branch was that? Can anyone else give specific numbers for specific branches in recent years?

Where's Chris Geer and what is he doing? Have you heard anything about "the Ranch?"

Question- about how many people would you say were at the CA limb meeting?

Chapter 1 of JCNG wasn't written by VPW- it was written by one of his "researchers." Surprisingly, he is actually named in the forward, tho it's phrased in a way that doesn't give him as much credit as he deserves. One of the most entertaining parts of the chapter is the line that says that the council of Nicea was held in what is now "Nice, France." That's off by several hundred miles, because Nicea was in Asia Minor, not France. It's one indication of how poorly he knew the topic. They managed to change that after the first printing. But even so, the chapter reads like a high school paper. But it's still better than The rest of JCNG. Most of the rest of JCNG was not actually written by VPW. He first gave it as a verbal treaching, probably at the BRC. I think it was tape 295. It's disgusting to listen to the tape. VP is obviously shooting from the hip on the verses, having done apparently no reseach whatsoever beforehand, just making up offhand his rebuttals to passages that are used to show that Jesus Christ had a divine as well as a human nature. To treat such an important topic in such a shabby way is disgusting. The tape was transcribed and cleaned up probably by an editor who didn't have either the research ability or the permission to actually add some substance to it. VP's idea that JCNG came from the same place his ideas about "athletes of the spirit", multpile sexual relationships for the MOG, etc came from. 2 Tim 4 says that people will not put up with sound doctrine, but instead will make up whatever their "itching ears" want to hear. VP loved whatever seemed different, radical, out of the prdinary, partly because then he could get people to follow him, saying that he alone had "the truth" not known since the first century. If he had lived longer (he never got close to the "fourscore" the Psalm mentions) I don't doubt that his teachings would have gotten crazier and crazier (much like the Mormons did in the 1800s and David Koresh did int he 1900s).

Most people remember that Wierwille usually used the phrase "literal translation..." But he actualy started out using the word "FREE translations..." The older editions of RTHST all call them "free" translations, while the newer ones always called them "literal." But the "translations" themselves did not change from the earlier to the later editions. They actually were "free" - meaning that Wierwille took a lot of liberties with the text, adding, changing and subtracting words whenever he felt like it. They were not literal or accurate. The "free" thinking led him to write "translations" that left out major phrases that were in the Bible, and mangle them. He contradicted himself in several verses by giving "literal" translations that were wildly contradictory. Here's an example of him mangling the text: Philippians 3:7-14. In The New Dynamic Church, Wierwille quoted Philippians 3:7-14, altering and correcting parts of the King James Version. However, he let verse nine stand as printed, implying that it is accurate: "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." (pg. 179) However, years later Wierwille offered a radically different "translation" in the article "The Knowledge of God'' (The Way Magazine, March-April 1983, pp. 5-6). There Wierwille asserted that verse nine "properly reads:" "That I may be found in Christ, having the believing action that Christ Jesus made available, which is God's righteousness in and to every born-again believer." This free translation deleted the whole phrase "not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law'' and adds the phrase "in and to every born-again believer," which Paul never included in the verse. Wierwille also expanded "faith of Christ'' to "believing action that Christ Jesus made available'' and replaces some other words. Wierwille then quoted verse 10, inserting his explanatory words into the King James text within parenthesis (The New Dynamic Church, pg. 180): "That I may know him (experientially as my Savior) and the (inherent) power (the dunamis) of his resurrection, and the fellowship (of His death, burial, resurrection) of His sufferings, being, (therefore, we are) made comformable (like He was) unto His death." Wierwille again interpreted the text as he ''translated" it, for instance, limiting his sufferings to "His death, burial, resurrection," though this may not have been the apostle's intent. In "The Knowledge of God,'' Wierwille produced a free rendering of verse 10 radically different from either the Greek text or his previous attempt: "The last part of verse 10: ...the fellowship of his sufferings, being made comformable unto his death.' It would be tremendous to translate it literally according to usage as Being made as he was so we might renew our minds, being conformed to being as he is.'" (pg. 6) This "literal translation" deleted the entire phrase "fellowship of his sufferings." Furthermore, Wierwille inaccurately converted the phrase "his death" to ''being as he is.'' This "translation" is not literal, nor is it according to the usage of the Greek (or even Aramaic) words. Rather, Wierwille forged a new text solely on the basis of his desire for it to read differently. When he wrote, "it would be tremendous to translate it..." he inferred how excited he was at the possibility of rewriting the verse in a way that didn't contradict his notions anymore, even though his rewrite is inaccurate. They were just an excuse for mangling the text and making it say whatever he wanted, which produced false teachings and made his words supercede the apostles'. An article about his "free translations" is found at www.abouttheway.org in the "Biblical research & teaching" section.

over the years I've gotten hundreds of emails from people to my web site, and most have been anonymous. Regardless of whether they're signed or not, I try to answer them all carefully, with thought and consideration. But at the same time, a few people use anonymity to be cruel, and say things they wouldn't say to a person face to face, with no thought of actually having a dialogue about something. So If that is the kind of response John Lynn imagines, I can see how he wouldn't be interested in hearing such comments. Perhaps it serves as an indirect reminder to be kind in comments and posts.

Some writers seem to misunderstand what "public domain" means. It means that you can reprint another's writings without their permission and without paying them royalties. It does not mean that you can reprint another's writings with your own name on them. For example, you can reprint "King Lear" by Shakespeare with Shakespeare's name on it as author, but you can't print it with your name on it as author. It may be that doing so would not be illegal according to criminal law, but there may well be a case for civil action on the basis of fraud. But even if it is not prosecutable, it would certainly be unethical and sinful. Probably 95% of sins are legal, including most of the 10 commandments. Christians, particularly Christian leaders, should be striving to live ethical and moral lives according to God's laws, not civil law. Christian leaders are held to a higher standard yet (see qualifications for an elder in Timothy and Titus). One of these is to be of a good reputation. Even nonChristian society considers plagiarists to be of bad reputation (eg NY Times' Jason Blair and several other recent examples; he was fired and others had their books removed from market by their publishers). This and other moral failures (such as adultery and treating women as sex objects rather than as sisters) disqualify VP from being a Christian leader. If people followed NT commands, VP would have been removed from office and not allowed to teach years before his death. However, since TWI was authoritarian, with VP as Pres and his brother and friend as the only other trustees, he wouldn't have let himself be removed. PS: I never met Stiles, but I did meet his son who is also a minister. He does not teach people to inhale the Spirit as his father did (something that VP took from Stiles), and considers it to be unnecessary if not silly.

VP had only 2 qualifications for strange people he used and/or plagiarized: 1. They had to use initials, not whole names, like VP did... KC (Pillai), EW (Bullinger), EW (Kenyon), JE (Stiles), etc 2. They had to teach / claim something that was odd, out of the mainstream, etc- something VP could use to claim that he knew and taught the word as it had not been known since the first century (except to him, "The Teacher.") VP fit what the Apostle Paul warned about: "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great numbwer of teachers to say what their itcbing ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) VP's ears itched his whole life. If he had lived another 20 years, I have no doubt that TWI's teachings would have gotten more and more strange, much like Mormons did during founder Joe Smith's lifetime (they added- God used to be a man, you can become a god over your own world and have thousands of wives to bear children for your own planet, polygamy, the founder having sex with followers' wives is God's will, etc). I remember a tape of Cummins teaching on athletes of the spirit. You can hear VP cheer approval in the background- he was getting all psyched by his itching ears getting scratched again. And more people bought the myth just because "The Teacher," "Doctor," was selling it. PS: another strange source was Albert Cliffe, who the PFAL bio credits as a source of VP's teaching. Cliffe was a medium (spiritist, or to use a more contemporary term- channeler), which as you know was a real no-no in TWI.