…and at the end of part 2, Charlene has this note:
“Note from Charlene: Anyone who ever worked in The Way’s Biblical Research Department, as I did, knows the truth about Wierwille plagiarizing from others. We used to rationalize this by saying, well, he never said he taught anything original, he said he took what he learned from others, put it together (like a puzzle), and “made it accurate.” Really? Accurate according to whom?”
The fact that the Bible clearly shows lying and stealing are both no-no’s makes plagiarism a double whammy – since plagiarizing is stealing the work of others and claiming it is your own work. One of the first lies I stumbled across was when I found out wierwille lied about taking correspondence courses from the Moody Correspondence School. see letter from Moody Correspondence School
That led me on a long journey of mind-expanding questions. Like what else did he lie about?
What is a lie? It’s a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive. What happens when a liar starts believing the lies they tell to others? At some point we’re probably talking about a serious delusion.
Looking back over my years of involvement with The Way International, I sometimes wonder what the intent behind his deception was. Maybe he started out with good intentions and just wanted a shortcut to becoming a person of influence who could help others… I dunno. But good intentions don’t guarantee good results. Well…if the proof is in the pudding – the end result of his efforts was the establishment of an abusive, ever-more-entangling and exploitative organization (The Way International) based on his delusion of greatness. As devoted followers many of us bought into that delusion and believed we were doing great things for God.
wierwille’s lies had a subtle way of promoting himself as a trusted leader/teacher, and at the same time encouraged followers to use his products (PFAL, other classes, programs, books, magazines, etc.) because they were based on “the accuracy of The Word”. Perhaps as a smokescreen to conceal plagiarism wierwille even claimed that God said (in an audible voice! ) he would teach the Word to wierwille like it hadn’t been known since the first century if he would just teach it to others…sorry to say I bought into that lie too…Lies upon lies.
One definition of a cult is a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. What comes to mind are some of the things I’ve heard during my years of involvement – here’s a few choice ones: referring to wierwille as “our father in the Word”, “PFAL is God’s epistle to the 20th century”, and “remember who taught you the Word”. All in all, great respect and even reverence was always heaped upon wierwille …oh and don’t forget his teachings on “the accuracy of The Word”. A cult figure and object indeed!
The propagation of lies helps develop a certain mindset in followers. The lies are somewhat like malware. Malware is malicious software – which refers to all types of threats like viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, etc. These computer programs are designed to infiltrate and damage computers without the user’s consent…The TWI mindset is basically intellectual malware that’s full of lies. It’s a mindset that cannot see the invisible walls of its own mental prison. Devoted followers never saw wierwille’s works as plagiarized material because of a rationale based on lies. As Charlene said in the note above “We used to rationalize this by saying, well, he never said he taught anything original, he said he took what he learned from others, put it together (like a puzzle), and “made it accurate.” …maybe it's the old hidden-in-plain-sight trick: plagiarism goes unnoticed because of all the attention that's given to how "accurate" it supposedly is.
Jesus said the truth will set you free (John 8:32). On the flip side – maybe it’s lies that keep us in bondage...Behold the sneaky intellectual malware! It starts out in PFAL, where we heard from wierwille things like the battle of the senses versus revelation faith – basically insinuating you can’t trust the five senses or even your logic when dealing with spiritual matters. We were expected to just trust “the teacher” he’ll lay it all out for us - as far as what is true and real. Malware is transmitted to its target anytime there are vulnerabilities in the system – in this case the student’s critical thinking skills. wierwille’s insidious teaching of Genesis 3 was effective enough to convince a lot of folks that doubting, questioning or in any way challenging his teaching on “the accuracy of the Word” was equivalent to how the serpent tricked Adam and Eve out of "the Word" – and that’s the road down – you question or doubt something wierwille taught and you're skating on thin ice - you could trip out of “The Word”! Oh horror of horrors!
By the time I got in the way corps this idea was strongly reinforced by a teaching wierwille gave from John 13:30 where Judas left Jesus and it was night. The essence of how wierwille applied that verse to our commitment with TWI was to say if you trip out from the ministry that taught you the accuracy of the Word your only option is oblivion...malicious lies upon lies that can ensnare your very soul...this bears repeating: the truth will set you free – lies keep you in bondage.
So…where to go from here…One of the things I use on the journey of mind-expanding questions is an idea from I Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good…My PFAL books are in a box in the attic - why? well, besides plagiarizing he was also incompetent when it came to the biblical languages, being inconsistent with principles of interpretation and using goofy logic - it's difficult to sort through his hodge podge of twisted theology - - and frankly I just don't trust the liar.…however I still keep some of Bullinger’s stuff handy on my bookshelf – The Companion Bible, How to Enjoy the Bible, and Figures of Speech in the Bible. And I don’t agree with everything Bullinger said either…that’s the freedom I now enjoy since I left TWI.
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T-Bone
Thanks for the link - - and here is link to the 2nd part part 2 of vpw and plagiarism
…and at the end of part 2, Charlene has this note:
“Note from Charlene: Anyone who ever worked in The Way’s Biblical Research Department, as I did, knows the truth about Wierwille plagiarizing from others. We used to rationalize this by saying, well, he never said he taught anything original, he said he took what he learned from others, put it together (like a puzzle), and “made it accurate.” Really? Accurate according to whom?”
The fact that the Bible clearly shows lying and stealing are both no-no’s makes plagiarism a double whammy – since plagiarizing is stealing the work of others and claiming it is your own work. One of the first lies I stumbled across was when I found out wierwille lied about taking correspondence courses from the Moody Correspondence School. see letter from Moody Correspondence School
That led me on a long journey of mind-expanding questions. Like what else did he lie about?
What is a lie? It’s a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive. What happens when a liar starts believing the lies they tell to others? At some point we’re probably talking about a serious delusion.
Looking back over my years of involvement with The Way International, I sometimes wonder what the intent behind his deception was. Maybe he started out with good intentions and just wanted a shortcut to becoming a person of influence who could help others… I dunno. But good intentions don’t guarantee good results. Well…if the proof is in the pudding – the end result of his efforts was the establishment of an abusive, ever-more-entangling and exploitative organization (The Way International) based on his delusion of greatness. As devoted followers many of us bought into that delusion and believed we were doing great things for God.
wierwille’s lies had a subtle way of promoting himself as a trusted leader/teacher, and at the same time encouraged followers to use his products (PFAL, other classes, programs, books, magazines, etc.) because they were based on “the accuracy of The Word”. Perhaps as a smokescreen to conceal plagiarism wierwille even claimed that God said (in an audible voice! ) he would teach the Word to wierwille like it hadn’t been known since the first century if he would just teach it to others…sorry to say I bought into that lie too…Lies upon lies.
One definition of a cult is a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. What comes to mind are some of the things I’ve heard during my years of involvement – here’s a few choice ones: referring to wierwille as “our father in the Word”, “PFAL is God’s epistle to the 20th century”, and “remember who taught you the Word”. All in all, great respect and even reverence was always heaped upon wierwille …oh and don’t forget his teachings on “the accuracy of The Word”. A cult figure and object indeed!
The propagation of lies helps develop a certain mindset in followers. The lies are somewhat like malware. Malware is malicious software – which refers to all types of threats like viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, etc. These computer programs are designed to infiltrate and damage computers without the user’s consent…The TWI mindset is basically intellectual malware that’s full of lies. It’s a mindset that cannot see the invisible walls of its own mental prison. Devoted followers never saw wierwille’s works as plagiarized material because of a rationale based on lies. As Charlene said in the note above “We used to rationalize this by saying, well, he never said he taught anything original, he said he took what he learned from others, put it together (like a puzzle), and “made it accurate.” …maybe it's the old hidden-in-plain-sight trick: plagiarism goes unnoticed because of all the attention that's given to how "accurate" it supposedly is.
Jesus said the truth will set you free (John 8:32). On the flip side – maybe it’s lies that keep us in bondage...Behold the sneaky intellectual malware! It starts out in PFAL, where we heard from wierwille things like the battle of the senses versus revelation faith – basically insinuating you can’t trust the five senses or even your logic when dealing with spiritual matters. We were expected to just trust “the teacher” he’ll lay it all out for us - as far as what is true and real. Malware is transmitted to its target anytime there are vulnerabilities in the system – in this case the student’s critical thinking skills. wierwille’s insidious teaching of Genesis 3 was effective enough to convince a lot of folks that doubting, questioning or in any way challenging his teaching on “the accuracy of the Word” was equivalent to how the serpent tricked Adam and Eve out of "the Word" – and that’s the road down – you question or doubt something wierwille taught and you're skating on thin ice - you could trip out of “The Word”! Oh horror of horrors!
By the time I got in the way corps this idea was strongly reinforced by a teaching wierwille gave from John 13:30 where Judas left Jesus and it was night. The essence of how wierwille applied that verse to our commitment with TWI was to say if you trip out from the ministry that taught you the accuracy of the Word your only option is oblivion...malicious lies upon lies that can ensnare your very soul...this bears repeating: the truth will set you free – lies keep you in bondage.
So…where to go from here…One of the things I use on the journey of mind-expanding questions is an idea from I Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good…My PFAL books are in a box in the attic - why? well, besides plagiarizing he was also incompetent when it came to the biblical languages, being inconsistent with principles of interpretation and using goofy logic - it's difficult to sort through his hodge podge of twisted theology - - and frankly I just don't trust the liar.…however I still keep some of Bullinger’s stuff handy on my bookshelf – The Companion Bible, How to Enjoy the Bible, and Figures of Speech in the Bible. And I don’t agree with everything Bullinger said either…that’s the freedom I now enjoy since I left TWI.
Edited by T-Boneformatting
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Twinky
Good post, T-Bone.
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