T-Bone

125. espouses a misleading concept of rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Part 1 taking another look at “rightly dividing” Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.... Ralph Waldo Emerson Reason # 125 of why PFAL sucks has a lot to do with how detrimental bad instructions can be to young and naive minds. If you’re reading this thread, I assume you’re a grad and very familiar with the term “rightly dividing”. Rather than deconstructing chapter 10, The Rightly-divided Word in the orange PFAL book, which is nothing more than a commercial for wierwille to sell his own plagiarized and emulsified version of Bullinger’s How to Enjoy the Bible - I intend to leave a few bread crumbs for those who are very disappointed with wierwille’s teachings. ~ ~ ~ ~ One of the great things about Grease Spot Cafe is all the eye-opening anecdotes, personal experiences, interesting books, and hyperlinks that Grease Spotters share here. It's helpful in so many ways and it often whets folks' appetite to explore these things for themselves. Escaping the harmful and controlling mind games of The Way International should be driven by something from within you. And probably the first of hurdles to overcome is to work on self-respect – a healthy pride and confidence in oneself – which has been deliberately whittled down by The Way International through various means with the end goal of you trusting what the ministry says over anything else – even your own cognitive skills and intuition… ...In the wake of the ministry-wide meltdown after the Patriarch Paper, all kinds of red flags, questions, and doubts popped up in my head! That propelled me to investigate and reevaluate just about everything I learned from the ministry… It's probably the most difficult part of the journey – the beginning. Because YOU have to THINK – not just absorb what someone at Grease Spot Café said. YOU have to mull it over – examine the matter, analyze it and meditate on the possible actions as well as their outcomes – and then at some point YOU will have to CHOOSE what action to take – and of course deciding NOT to think about this stuff anymore but remain comfortable in your little TWI-world is YOUR CHOICE also. In the 1999 movie The Matrix the main character Neo is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill by rebel leader Morpheus. There’s only two options and Morpheus explains the stark difference between the effects of each pill. The red pill will enable Neo to learn a potentially unsettling life-changing truth. The blue pill will permit Neo to remain in contented ignorance. The red pill represents an uncertain future…it would free Neo from an enslaving dreamlike control system and allow him to escape into the real world…Grease Spot Cafe is like the red pill ~ ~ ~ ~ PFAL is such a poor teaching model because it doesn’t encourage students to exercise their cognitive skills – instead “the teacher” (wierwille) through double-talk, Scripture twisting, and logical fallacies leads students down the path of trusting him and following his example. PFAL is a hyped up confidence trick . In the PFAL book, page 119, wierwille zeros-in on the term “rightly dividing” of II Timothy 2:15, and says it’s the Greek word orthotomounta and states “It’s intricate nuance of meaning is that there is only one way to rightly cut The Word; all other ways are wrong cuttings”. First off, I wouldn’t trust wierwille to define words in the original biblical languages used in the Bible. The man lied about his academic accomplishments. He insisted everyone should refer to him as “Doctor Wierwille” a title he got from a degree mill, Pikes Peak Bible Seminary an unaccredited correspondence school in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The seminary was regarded as a diploma mill by the United States Office of Education. I find that contradictory and pretentious of a man who thumbed his nose at academia and yet wanted his followers to be impressed by pretending to have greater importance, qualifications, and achievements than he actually possessed. ~ ~ ~ ~ Let’s look at another translation of II Timothy 2:15 along with a few legitimate knowledgeable sources to get a better understanding of the term “rightly dividing”. Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth… II Timothy 2:15 Amplified The NIV translates the Greek word ὀρθοτομοῦντα ( transliteration = orthotomounta see 2 Timothy 2:15 Greek Text Analysis on Bible Hub website ) as “correctly handles” – and on page 2181 of NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible explaining it as interpreting Scripture in a straightforward manner, NOT in a way that is deceitful and references another pastoral letter: 10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good… Titus 1: 10 - 16 NIV On page 2188 of NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible it says considering the fact that the letters to Timothy and Titus are addressing minister or leadership in the church we see that “truth” is a prominent concern in the pastoral epistles. More often Paul uses “truth” to refer to refer to the message about Christ that saves (1 Tim. 2:4; 3:9,15; 4:3,6; 2 Tim. 2:15,25) and leads to godliness ( Titus 1:1). Beginning on page 3 of the PFAL book wierwille explains his intentions. He says one verse changed his life: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly… John 10:10 KJV wierwille goes on to say he looked at the lack of material abundance in the communities and other ministers where he served and compared it to the secular world of non-Christians and their obvious substantial wealth. wierwille reinterpreted the message of Christ as savior, that further leads to a life of godliness. He made it into a gospel of prosperity. End of Part 1

One of the great things about Grease Spot Cafe is all the eye-opening anecdotes, personal experiences, interesting books and hyperlinks that Grease Spotters share here. It's helpful in so many ways and it often whets folks' appetite to explore these things for themselves. Escaping the harmful and controlling mind games of The Way International should be driven by something from within you. And probably the first of hurdles to overcome is to work on self-respect – a healthy pride and confidence in oneself – which has been deliberately whittled down by The Way International through various means with the end goal of you trusting what the ministry says over anything else – even your own cognitive skills and intuition… ...In the wake of the ministry-wide meltdown after the Patriarch Paper, all kinds of red flags, questions, and doubts popped up in my head! That propelled me to investigate and reevaluate just about everything I learned from the ministry… It's probably the most difficult part of the journey – the beginning. Because YOU have to THINK – not just absorb what someone at Grease Spot Café said. YOU have to mull it over – examine the matter, analyze it and meditate on the possible actions as well as their outcomes – and then at some point YOU will have to CHOOSE what action to take – and of course deciding NOT to think about this stuff anymore but remain comfortable in your little TWI-world is YOUR CHOICE also. In the 1999 movie The Matrix the main character Neo is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill by rebel leader Morpheus. There’s only two options and Morpheus explains the stark difference between the effects of each pill. The red pill will enable Neo to learn a potentially unsettling life-changing truth. The blue pill will permit Neo to remain in contented ignorance. The red pill represents an uncertain future…it would free Neo from an enslaving dreamlike control system and allow him to escape into the real world…Grease Spot Cafe is like the red pill

Thanks for the link Waysider ! The Power of Myth is a great read too. This video clip reminded me of some other things that Campbell said relating myth to psychological stuff Freud talked about. Some of Freud's stuff I find interesting too - like the ego, superego and id...ok I'll shut up - that's enough off-topic I care to get into here.

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Wednesday is Bingo night

Rocky, I know you don’t like to read long posts, so I’ll throw in my 2-cents right off the bat – after which I’ve copied and pasted select Scriptures – to support my viewpoint * , and you can read them at your convenience…I’m sorry for the lengthy comments anyway – but this is the doctrinal forum – and I would be remiss if I expected a few skimpy one-liners to address your question. I think the biblical writers were upfront about the limited view available to us all. As 2 Corinthians 5:7 says we live by faith, not by sight. That's my short answer. Below is my looooooooooooong answer zzzZZZZ ZZzzzzzz ~ ~ ~ ~ Psalm 119:105 Life’s journey is a common motif in the Bible. But it’s not like a treasure map where you have to follow a certain route. In Psalm 119 the Word of God is pictured as a lamp to one’s feet. So, it’s not a floodlight, high beams or some long distance searchlight, and certainly not a huge wall map that shows start to finish – but rather it’s like a torch you would carry so you can see the immediate path ahead of you – and walking is another common motif, that addresses our lifestyle…behavior…do we walk the talk? Anyway, if we look beyond the small immediate area illuminated by our torch - we won't be able to see a whole lot - cuz it's dark. ~ ~ ~ ~ Psalm 23 The Lord as our shepherd emphasizes the moral direction he offers as our guide while providing for our physical needs and security. The shepherd has the big picture – we’re just little old dumb sheep – we don’t know it all – we have to trust the shepherd. He sees where we're going - he knows the way - he is the way. All we see is the shepherd ahead of us - leading us...The psalm is not a what-do-I-do-for-a-career-or-who-should-I-marry decision making process - it's about a moral direction for your life...about following the example of Jesus Christ in all that you do. ~ ~ ~ ~ Matthew 6 also addresses our shortsightedness. Jesus gets into how one looks at things. Do we remember he is our Father? Not my Father – but ours. We see through a glass darkly – it’s hard to understand how we’re all connected. That’s probably why Jesus mentions forgiveness…We are told to humbly submit in advance to God’s sovereign will. Again, we’re reminded of the Father supplying our daily bread – not a lifetime pension...not to stray too far off point but there's plenty of stuff in Proverbs as well as in the gospels about saving, being a good steward of what you've been entrusted with - but one should also look at the challenge in the book of Ecclesiastes - that we need to consider there's more to life than the here and now - okay - back to main point, our perspective needs to include spiritual stuff too - whatever that is ...also I believe there’s a subtext from the ancient biblical culture that folks were thankful for the resources they had to draw upon – physical strength, being industrious, money or barter for the marketplace, the generosity of others…a communal effort… Speaking of seeing through a glass darkly – Jesus presents a most unusual concept in Matthew 6 – he brings up a scenario – if the light in you is darkness. Most bizarre! But this weird situation is used to explain the challenge of seeing through a glass darkly – there are choices to be made which will help us see a little clearer. Note the unavoidable choice between two alternatives in each passage: treasures on earth or treasures in heaven – healthy eyes or unhealthy eyes – serving God or serving money. What is critical is making the right choice – a good decision. Good decisions hinge on mental clarity which is a state of emotional and psychological well-being in which we can use our cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life. Jesus used an analogy of the human eyes to teach about spiritual sight. What we find in this passage is a lesson showing how critical our outlook on life is as well as our motives in determining the health-status of our spiritual sight. With our eyes we navigate our way – but Jesus was not referring to the eyes as being the SOURCE of light for our body – but rather that the eyes ALLOW the light to come in – becoming as it were a lamp to the body – for our body depends on that visual information for guidance. The iris of the human eye is similar to the adjustable aperture on a camera lens – it functions to control the amount of light that is allowed to pass through the lens. When we look at very bright lights, our pupils (the black center part of the eyes) constrict (get smaller) so our retina is not overwhelmed, and in dim light the pupils dilate to let in more light…There are several diseases that can affect the proper functioning of the iris. But Jesus is not talking about physical eyes – he contrasted healthy with unhealthy spiritual eyes. And he makes the point that the health of spiritual sight could be threatened by one’s attitude toward material possessions. Jesus does not deny the reality or value of earthly things, but he does refute the permanence of earthly things. If all that one looks at are material possessions – if that is all we “see” – Jesus said we are in great darkness. ~ ~ ~ ~ Hebrews 11 is the Hall of Fame for Believers – this is God’s invisible institution honoring the achievements of faith. The opening verse says it all: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ~ ~ ~ ~ * Supporting passages: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path…Psalm 119:105 ~ ~ ~ ~ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, a I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever…Psalm 23 ~ ~ ~ ~ 9“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, a but deliver us from the evil one. b ’ 14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 16“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, c your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy, d your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life e ? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own…Matthew 6 ~ ~ ~ ~ 1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for. 3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” a For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she b considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” c 19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. 23By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. 31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. d 32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were put to death by stoning; e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect…Hebrews 11

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A behind-the-scenes look at how Scripture interprets itself

Life imitating the life of the artist

When life hands you raisins, make grapes !

Yup - that’s why I never did put that on my resume. Matter of fact the only time I’ve listed that was on job applications in the security industry - since you have to give an account of extended periods - and a few of the jobs I’ve worked at do a thorough vetting process at the state and federal level…never had it be an issue - and occasionally with some supervisors and coworkers it was a point of interest - and I’m thankful for Grease Spot giving me a chance to get over the stigma of being in a cult and ‘rehearsing’ my lessons learned from bad experiences…never had anyone treat me like I was a weirdo…and with a few I actually got into some cool philosophical and spiritual talks.

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I see where you’re going with this note when compass is situated vertical to map, it gives trans-dimensional direction

Rome City was bull-$hit too. after in-residence I go to my field assignment - this is in 86 - after Patriarch paper - so I figure while I’m in this city I’ll get a resume together - already thinking about leaving TWI… I go to a professional resume service and as I’m giving them all my info he looks up Way College of Biblical Research Indiana Campus in this big book and informs me they are not accredited! Well that just knocked me for a loop . Those lying thieving weasels.

124. wierwille challenges the authority of God “…it would be a violation of God’s sovereignty to suppose his creative power was limited by available means or in any way hostage to principles external to it.” Hugh J. McCann, The God Beyond Time, essay in Philosophy of Religion An Anthology 7th Edition . What comes to mind is wierwille’s marketing of the law of believing, also known as magical thinking and omnipotence of thought. wierwille was always critical of psychology and would belittle the work of Freud by saying things like “psychiatry was born in a séance”. However, in the academic world it’s been said of Sigmund Freud : Freud’s psychoanalysis can contribute a great deal to the elucidation of religious phenomena…The omnipotence of thoughts, a mechanism particularly favored by obsessive-compulsives, was recruited in Totem and Taboo (1913) to explain animism and religion. The omnipotence of thoughts is the unconscious presupposition that the wish is equivalent to the deed and that wishing can effect, independently of any action, changes in one’s environment. Freud believed that in the animistic-magical stage people ascribe omnipotence to themselves, while in the religious stage they transfer it to a deity and yet retain the idea that they can influence that deity through prayer and ritual according to their wishes. From Sigmund Freud article by Edwin Ruthven Wallace IV , psychiatrist, neuropsychiatrist, and psychotherapist, pages 474, 475 of Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling, editors David Benner & Peter Hill

yeah, I think there’s a compound problem – In PFAL it is evident wierwille subscribes to the plenary verbal inspiration theory and posits other dubious theories (like the law of believing) derived from mostly a fundamentalist’s or strict literal interpretation of the Bible. On another thread, my 2nd wave post: 4 most common inspiration theories postulated by scholars , the plenary verbal inspiration theory claims the Holy Spirit interacted with the writers to produce the Bible but goes a step further and asserts that God’s inspiration extends to ALL of Scripture – WHICH INCLUDES when the writers recorded any historical, physical science and life science details – which really means God’s stimulation – or however you want to describe the divine / human interaction extends to THE VERY WORDS the writers ‘chose’. The writers could have chosen other words, and God often allowed them the freedom to express their own personalities as they wrote – but the Holy Spirit still guided the process so that the finished product faithfully conveyed God’s message. I’m of the opinion that the way one thinks the Bible was written will influence the way one interprets the Bible. There are only a few accounts in Scripture that indicate God communicated a word-for-word message like in Deuteronomy 4:13 and Deuteronomy 9:10 …but assuming God is also the creator of the cosmos – with superlative attributes like omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, etc. - and the fact that we find historical errors as well as erroneous concepts of physical sciences and ancient cultural worldviews - rules out this inspiration theory for me. Of course, that’s just my opinion – I could be wrong. I lean toward the limited inspiration theory which holds that God inspired the thoughts of the biblical writers, but not necessarily the words they chose. God guided the thoughts of the writers, but he gave them freedom to express those thoughts in their own style. Having that freedom along with the limitations of drawing upon the fund of knowledge thus far (knowledge and skills derived from family and cultural background. The concept is based on the premise that knowledge is cumulative and culturally developed. Some of this accrued knowledge is essential for survival.). ~ ~ ~ ~ I don’t view the Bible as a user manual for this thing called life. I think that’s the way PFAL portrays it. I don’t even think it was meant to be a book on theology. It is a record of God interacting with humans in a variety of ways. As Luke 1 says Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. Note the word compile - assemble information collected from other sources. This is reflected in Wikipedia’s definition of the Bible: The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthology – a compilation of texts of a variety of forms – originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, among other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text can vary. The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible. It is called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning five books) in Greek; the second oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im); the third collection (the Ketuvim) contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories. "Tanakh" is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible composed of the first letters of those three parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah ("Teaching"), the Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings"). The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh, in Hebrew and Aramaic, that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism. The Septuagint (meaning the Translation of the Seventy) is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BCE (Before Common Era); it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible. Christianity began as an outgrowth of Judaism, using the Septuagint as the basis of the Old Testament. The early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books. The gospels, Pauline epistles and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament. From: Wikipedia - The Bible ~ ~ ~ ~ Circling back to my point of contrasting inspiration theories - plenary verbal inspiration theory versus limited inspiration theory – look at the difference in understanding a passage. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. Matthew 21:21 In PFAL wierwille used passages like this to teach about the law of believing. What’s funny to me is that wierwille - who plagiarized so much from Bullinger (and not that Bullinger was correct on everything he wrote about either) – either overlooked or deliberately ignored Bullinger’s comments on that verse. In The Companion Bible Bullinger notes on page 1357 by Matthew 21: 21: Be thou removed, &c. It was a common proverb to say of a great teacher, who removed difficulties, that he was “a rooter up of mountains”. And even in a more recent study Bible The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible , it notes on page 1654 under Matthew 21:21: Say to this mountain. Some later sources suggest that “moving mountains” was a Jewish figure of speech for doing what was considered impossible. ~ ~ ~ ~ Apparently, the plenary verbal inspiration theory was behind wierwille’s thinking to deem the passage as literal - as one of the bylaws for true believers. Whereas I subscribe to the limited inspiration theory – and see it as suggesting one should adopt a common cultural approach of that time – being determined and persistent when and where others might give up…well anyway – this is just one example of the compound problem in PFAL doctrine based on the plenary verbal inspiration theory …I have addressed this on other threads – see my post on another thread commonplace believing vs religious faith ~ ~ ~ ~ A summary of my thoughts. I believe the Bible is God-breathed, but there is no way to prove that the Bible is God-breathed. I accept the metaphysical truths in faith and hope the things the Bible promises will happen. PFAL is NOT God-breathed, though it often uses the plenary verbal inspiration theory as a basis to support dubious ideas like the law of believing. As a grad of PFAL and devoted follower of TWI for 12 years I acknowledge that my faith and hope in PFAL-doctrine is destroyed due to lack of evidence any of it works – other than as a ‘great’ indoctrination tool for a harmful and controlling cult. That’s all folks, have a nice day

what a convenient way to excuse sexual predators…the person that told you that has about as much compassion and empathy as that old sociopath wierwille. sounds like a sappy sweet variation of wierwille’s “you know what killed that little boy “ schtick . .. it goes like this: Do you know who raped that little altar boy? It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the Word is taught and that people believe it. If you think it’s just Father wierwille talking you’ll never get blessed. It’s still God’s Word even if no one believes it.

tremendous post, Charity! funny how TWI messed with my self-confidence and in a twofold effect - I felt like I had a shallow or underdeveloped relationship with Jesus Christ because I wasn't spiritual enough. But all that’s changed now. By cutting out the middleman of TWI , I decide what I should study, pray about…and even just how to pray. and in general categories for me frequenting Grease Spot Cafe helped me escape the us-versus-them mentality of TWI. I tend to be more open minded when listening to others - not just on GSC but listening to other viewpoints on TV .

I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a WOW-burger today

Subject: toxic sales What if harmful and controlling organizations had an open-cult concept – giving followers more space and being less confining. How would they sell that idea to the public? So what if a cult is destructive to one’s authentic self. Near death experiences often cause people to reflect on the meaning of life and what’s important. I could picture the ad. A couple witnessing a mushroom cloud from afar. The voice over says Our Cult - devastating like death – only better...it conveys the subtle thought that one might survive a nuclear holocaust. Our cult - devastating like death – only better Because you can leave when you’re done or when we’re done with you - whichever comes first Our Cult - the new and improved way to die – figuratively speaking of course Just don’t literally die while you’re in our cult…then that would really suck…that’s no better than dying in a real prison.

To make that a legitimate argument – you should be more specific. What parts do you use and still believe? The law of believing? That as long as you love God and neighbor you can do as you full well please?

Yes his ministry was a self-serving con job – but it’s possible that in his own twisted way the Bible stimulated his creativity – concepts like a higher power, evil forces, and an unseen world all revolved around him...to pull a reverse-whammy on the teacher of the Advanced Class - wierwille didn't have a clue about the greatest secret battle in the world - fighting with one's inner demons. Setting aside the fact that wierwille had the gift ministry of a hypocrite – and actions do speak louder than words, generally speaking I don’t think we humans are computer-like in our belief systems. There are inconsistencies, things that don’t make sense or follow logic, some things even contradictory. Now add to that mix a person who has had probably more than one big time psychological disorder – and in wierwille’s case we’ve got a harmful and controlling charismatic cult-leader of epic proportions. I shy away from saying anything conclusive about what wierwille believed. People can differ on how they define God or a higher power or how the universe works. As far as understanding malignant narcissism or thinking like a sociopath – that’s totally foreign to me. wierwille may have been so deluded that in the milieu of the little cult-world he created for himself the Bible fueled his imagination. I don’t think he was always trying to justify his actions to others or himself – he had no qualms about doing whatever he did. He was just testifying about having a great big wonderful God - - himself. Ezekiel 14:4 talks about the idols people create in their hearts. Perhaps wierwille’s God was himself and he just never acknowledged it – he had difficulty separating fact from fiction, truth from lies anyway. And in John 16:2 Jesus spoke of people killing His followers thinking they’re offering a service to God…yeah generally religions can get pretty hypocritical when one group goes after another because they don’t believe the same way.

And that’s why in my opinion I say compared to all the other groups that use the Bible – The Way International stands alone in having nothing that stands up to close scrutiny. And personally I cringe every time I hear that story of the priest. 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Causing to Stumble 6“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. Matthew 18

How’s your penmanship? Mine sucks! But it hasn’t always been that way. Back in grammar school when we used fountain pens and ink blotters, I consistently received A-pluses in penmanship on my report card. I changed all that - it was around 1968 – my high school freshman year. I could take two city buses or a city bus and an elevated train to school. I was reading one of those interior ads on a city bus. I don’t recall exactly what the ad was for – maybe some handwriting analysis service – I don’t know. But that was the inspiration for my ingenious scheme. The great value of harnessing a goofy imagination is the importance of entertaining oneself. Since the freedom of information act, numerous files have been declassified about my double-life. On family road trips I was a secret agent in the backseat of my dad’s red and black Oldsmobile Super 88 – wearing my dad’s fedora and ‘smoking’ a pretzel rod on one side of my mouth. Yeah, I was cool – even back then. Several times we flew to Nova Scotia to see my grandpa – and when I say we flew – I’m including myself in the flight crew – since I could copilot the aircraft with the multipurpose device that some passengers used as a dinner tray. Alas - - we’ve gone too far in the way-back machine…recalibrating the space-time continuum to a 1968 city bus we're back to me viewing an ad about handwriting. My scheme was not as diabolical as the Norman Bates character in the film Psycho at the end of the movie Norman sits in a jail cell – aware of a fly landing on him – we hear his internal voice saying he’ll leave the fly alone – to convince others he wouldn’t even hurt a fly…There was something in the city bus handwriting ad about if you printed or wrote in cursive – it would reveal something about your personality. I decided to thwart anyone’s efforts to analyze me by adopting a combination print-cursive handwriting style. It was hard to affect the style at first – like chewing gum and reading – but I stayed with it. Lay teachers and Brothers in high school were a lot more tolerant of oddball students who seem to have a penmanship problem. The downside was I might get a lower grade on something because they couldn’t translate the print-cursive-hieroglyphics of my essay…some teachers tried slow torture techniques (more agonizing on them than me) …instead of grammar school nuns making me write something over – some high school teachers would ask me to read my essay or book report to them. I feel bad about that now. Here they were – teachers who cared enough to find out what I was saying – and I enjoyed the extra attention and felt like I was getting away with something. Shame on me. I am truly sorry, all you teachers out there - past and present who really do care and love to teach. In college I was a fine arts major – so hey – penmanship schmenmanship (autocorrect take that! )– have you ever been able to make out the signature of an artist? I rest my case. When I got involved in security technology I felt I had to whip my handwriting into shape. Making technical notes for installation documentation or simply an end-user ‘manual’ – I forced myself to print neatly and became so anal about it I used a ruler or a makeshift straightedge to keep all the letters straight across – whether or not there were actually printed guidelines on the paper. This got to be a lot of work – if you consider doubling back on lower case letters like j, g, y that go below the bottom guideline. Rather than move my straightedge away when making a j or y I would only write the top portion – so my j looks like an i or my y looks like a v - until I’m done with the whole line of words – then I remove the straightedge and go back and add the lower part of the j or y…Sometimes I’d miss one which would yield weird instructions like “remove iumper 5” instead of “remove jumper 5”, or “vellow wire goes to terminal 25” instead of “yellow wire goes to terminal 25”. Fortunately, in later years with laptops and word processors common in the work place my whacked-out handwriting was put to rest. But still – If there is some form I have to fill out by hand – say at a doctor’s office, I have to get a credit card or magazine to serve as a straightedge for my print-cursive ‘format’. Old habits are hard to break. Computers have me spoiled – with autocorrect and online dictionaries. I enjoy writing, and the hours will just fly by. I got Penworks’ latest book From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life | Charlene L. Edge (charleneedge.com), and she has a chapter that encourages one to write by hand instead of typing. So I started doing that with a few of my writing projects. It’s a fresh and stimulating experience. I’m going at it freehand (no straightedge ) and trying to keep it all cursive without cursing. I try not to get hung up on the correct spelling of a word – and sometimes don’t even bother correcting a mistake - the flow is exhilarating. Reminds me of driving a 1974 Ford Econoline Van 3-speed-manual at 90 mph on a country road – it feels like driving a boat. It’s difficult to control the quick movement of ideas. I’m thinking of the Forrest Gump Breaking Leg Braces scene...I’m breaking out of confining habits – moving faster – though not as fast or graceful as Forrest Gump. ~ ~ ~ ~ So, what’s your feelings about handwriting? Do you like to write things down – or prefer to use a computer or some other device?

that was one of the most tantalizing big lies of upper leadership - hang in there, you'll become cool when you get spiritually mature like me and Bolshevik, thanks for that great article on future faking!