I agree. The hoax was as simple as first establishing an extreme fundamentalist view of scripture, then transferring the absolute unquestionable nature of scripture to the teachings and opinions of a man. The result was you have "God's unquestionable source on earth - this man God's spokesman". In actuality that arrangement is the one Jesus Christ is supposed to be in. So VPW and/or the current TWI leader of the time replaces Jesus Christ as the source of God's will on earth. That is the basic underlying definition of a cult, or to speak of it in TWI terms - "the spirit of antichrist".
When you add in to the mix the man being a conspiracy theorist, things get really wacky.
Indeed. For those of us looking for answers, not just a fun time with the believers at pot luck dinners and bowling nights, he led us to believe he had the "accuracy" of what the original scriptures said. He was convincing if you didn't stop, slow down, and examine what he said line by line. I know I didn't do that until years later.
You are right about the "snow" and the supposed revelation it validated. For me, that revelation was the hook.
For others, not so much. Some never believed that revelation. They didn't care much whether VP defined Greek words correctly, they didn't care whether he stole J.E. Stiles Holy Spirit book contents, repackaged it and sold it, claiming the Father had told him what to write. I heard some say "Truth belongs to everyone," so to them such picky claims about plagiarism is just academic jargon. Those people were the ones more interested in having fun at pot luck with loving kind people, they were not concerned about the "accuracy" of what supposedly brought us all together in the first place.
When "picky" issues about The Word came up in 1986 before I resigned from the Research Dept., friends on staff that I talked with outside the department (only a few I trusted) said "Oh, the leaders will fix any mistakes, W&alter knows what he's doing. We have so much accuracy what does it matter there's a few puzzling issues. All that heavy research is beyond me anyway. I just want to stick with "the basics"...love people...keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, " etc.
Let's face it, if more people had really cared about what the PFAL class said exactly, or where it came from, including myself when I first took it, we would have seen the mistakes that people later publicized, like the list posted here at GSC, "Actual Errors in PFAL." We could have read Bullinger's How to Enjoy the Bible and seen VP copied it. I ask myself how did all this get past me? For the most part, I just trusted VP and got too caught up in promoting the PFAL rather than "studying the PFAL." Trust. Yikes. It comes back to bite us, doesn't it?
This is just the tip of the research iceberg for me. Anyhow...In my view, TWI is a hampster wheel that crashed long ago...
The caramel center of that 'revelation' that wierwille wanted you to bite into.......THE WORD.
More specifically, wierwille self-proclaimed that he was God's spokesman.....ie 'the man of God.'
Remember his pfal definition of an apostle? One who brings NEW LIGHT TO A GENERATION......it may be old light, but its new to that generation. See the stealth description of wierwille in that "apostle definition?" Others may have spoken some of these truths in times past, but WIERWILLE IS THE ONE NOW.....listening and walking with God.
######
penworks....yes, it is ironic. The sole reason why we, supposedly gathered together in twi
was for 'The Word'.....yet, when asked directly most didn't want to talk specifics.
More specifically, wierwille self-proclaimed that he was God's spokesman.....ie 'the man of God.'
Remember his pfal definition of an apostle? One who brings NEW LIGHT TO A GENERATION......it may be old light, but its new to that generation. See the stealth description of wierwille in that "apostle definition?" Others may have spoken some of these truths in times past, but WIERWILLE IS THE ONE NOW.....listening and walking with God.
######
penworks....yes, it is ironic. The sole reason why we, supposedly gathered together in twi
was for 'The Word'.....yet, when asked directly most didn't want to talk specifics.
What a house of cards!
And quite honestly, many still don't, even those who have left, especially those in offshoots...
Twi was permeated with this buzzspeak.......stand on the word, do the word, live the word, speak the word....."It's the word, the word and nothing but the word." The mind-numbing monotony of it all was staggeringly subversive. Say it loud, say it often, claim you own it, claim you have it.....and people think you do.
"The Word" was this all-consuming, nebulous, mumbo-jumbo of wayspeak wherein twi attempted to usurp the christian mantle. But really, what should we have expected from an unchecked and unaccountable narcissist? After all, the credibility factor of twi was right there in front of us when we looked at the "trustees"........wierwille's brother, harry, and quiet supporter, ermal.
Wierwille was in his childhood world....and no one, really, was a peer. His 'revelations' had no witnesses....his India-fame stories had no challengers. His plagairist research, closely-guarded from public scrutiny, had little opposition. And, unrestrained....wierwille simply waxed worse and worse each year. More booze. More lying. More sexual predation.
Even to this day, wierwille defenders come forward to rationalize his personal life by saying.....THEY DON'T CARE -- HE TAUGHT THE WORD.
The indoctrination, for them, is complete. Brain shuts down. Scriptures irrelevant. Case closed.
Ideology or Idolatry? For them, wierwille is synonymous with 'the word.'
"The Word" was this all-consuming, nebulous, mumbo-jumbo of wayspeak wherein twi attempted to usurp the christian mantle. But really, what should we have expected from an unchecked and unaccountable narcissist? After all, the credibility factor of twi was right there in front of us when we looked at the "trustees"........wierwille's brother, harry, and quiet supporter, ermal.
Wierwille was in his childhood world....and no one, really, was a peer. His 'revelations' had no witnesses....his India-fame stories had no challengers. His plagairist research, closely-guarded from public scrutiny, had little opposition. And, unrestrained....wierwille simply waxed worse and worse each year. More booze. More lying. More sexual predation.
Even to this day, wierwille defenders come forward to rationalize his personal life by saying.....THEY DON'T CARE -- HE TAUGHT THE WORD.
The indoctrination, for them, is complete. Brain shuts down. Scriptures irrelevant. Case closed.
Ideology or Idolatry? For them, wierwille is synonymous with 'the word.'
The hoax, as you call it, is relatively simple to understand. It's all about getting people to jump to conclusions, waiting for them to actually jump, then making sure they don't jump back. That's the crux of it.
When you get people to jump to conclusions for you once, it's relatively easy to get them to jump for you again. So, I think that's what the various snow stories and the audible voice of God story were all about -- irresistible lures to get people to jump to that all-important first conclusion. Once you get people jumping around for you like jumping beans, the sky's the limit.
God bless you, I love you, you're the best jumpers a guy could ever want. Nice tits.
(I say it's relatively simple to understand, which it is; but it took me about 20 years to finally figure it out.)
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chockfull
I agree. The hoax was as simple as first establishing an extreme fundamentalist view of scripture, then transferring the absolute unquestionable nature of scripture to the teachings and opinions of a man. The result was you have "God's unquestionable source on earth - this man God's spokesman". In actuality that arrangement is the one Jesus Christ is supposed to be in. So VPW and/or the current TWI leader of the time replaces Jesus Christ as the source of God's will on earth. That is the basic underlying definition of a cult, or to speak of it in TWI terms - "the spirit of antichrist".
When you add in to the mix the man being a conspiracy theorist, things get really wacky.
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penworks
Indeed. For those of us looking for answers, not just a fun time with the believers at pot luck dinners and bowling nights, he led us to believe he had the "accuracy" of what the original scriptures said. He was convincing if you didn't stop, slow down, and examine what he said line by line. I know I didn't do that until years later.
You are right about the "snow" and the supposed revelation it validated. For me, that revelation was the hook.
For others, not so much. Some never believed that revelation. They didn't care much whether VP defined Greek words correctly, they didn't care whether he stole J.E. Stiles Holy Spirit book contents, repackaged it and sold it, claiming the Father had told him what to write. I heard some say "Truth belongs to everyone," so to them such picky claims about plagiarism is just academic jargon. Those people were the ones more interested in having fun at pot luck with loving kind people, they were not concerned about the "accuracy" of what supposedly brought us all together in the first place.
When "picky" issues about The Word came up in 1986 before I resigned from the Research Dept., friends on staff that I talked with outside the department (only a few I trusted) said "Oh, the leaders will fix any mistakes, W&alter knows what he's doing. We have so much accuracy what does it matter there's a few puzzling issues. All that heavy research is beyond me anyway. I just want to stick with "the basics"...love people...keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, " etc.
Let's face it, if more people had really cared about what the PFAL class said exactly, or where it came from, including myself when I first took it, we would have seen the mistakes that people later publicized, like the list posted here at GSC, "Actual Errors in PFAL." We could have read Bullinger's How to Enjoy the Bible and seen VP copied it. I ask myself how did all this get past me? For the most part, I just trusted VP and got too caught up in promoting the PFAL rather than "studying the PFAL." Trust. Yikes. It comes back to bite us, doesn't it?
This is just the tip of the research iceberg for me. Anyhow...In my view, TWI is a hampster wheel that crashed long ago...
Cheers,
Pen
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skyrider
More specifically, wierwille self-proclaimed that he was God's spokesman.....ie 'the man of God.'
Remember his pfal definition of an apostle? One who brings NEW LIGHT TO A GENERATION......it may be old light, but its new to that generation. See the stealth description of wierwille in that "apostle definition?" Others may have spoken some of these truths in times past, but WIERWILLE IS THE ONE NOW.....listening and walking with God.
######
penworks....yes, it is ironic. The sole reason why we, supposedly gathered together in twi
was for 'The Word'.....yet, when asked directly most didn't want to talk specifics.
What a house of cards! <_<
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penworks
And quite honestly, many still don't, even those who have left, especially those in offshoots...
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excathedra
it's just a bunch of sheet. i didn't know that when i was 18
my mom tried to tell me, now i'm her age, so i can hear her lol
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skyrider
Yeah......I heard the same warnings, but plunged ahead anyways. Kept seeing red flags in 1979/80 but others
didn't have those concerns. What was I missing? As it turns out, I was seeing it correctly.
When IDEOLOGY and AGENDAS are intertwined with oppression over people....it's amazing to learn that inner-circle
collaboraters and enablers fuel the deception. The older I get, the more I see the same scenarios.
Even in the science world....Phd scientist says he was DUPED.
I Feel Duped on Climate Change - Click Here
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Steve Lortz
When IDEOLOGY and AGENDAS AND CASHFLOW are intertwined...
It's the same way with politics...
Love,
Steve
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Rocky
Thankfully, the naivete eventually faded for many of us.
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skyrider
FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAIL.......
ALWAYS
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skyrider
Yeah......politics and money and oppressive agendas.
Anyone paying attention to CLIMATEGATE the past two years knows this.
Climategate - Click Here
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skyrider
"The Word" was this all-consuming, nebulous, mumbo-jumbo of wayspeak wherein twi attempted to usurp the christian mantle. But really, what should we have expected from an unchecked and unaccountable narcissist? After all, the credibility factor of twi was right there in front of us when we looked at the "trustees"........wierwille's brother, harry, and quiet supporter, ermal.
Wierwille was in his childhood world....and no one, really, was a peer. His 'revelations' had no witnesses....his India-fame stories had no challengers. His plagairist research, closely-guarded from public scrutiny, had little opposition. And, unrestrained....wierwille simply waxed worse and worse each year. More booze. More lying. More sexual predation.
Even to this day, wierwille defenders come forward to rationalize his personal life by saying.....THEY DON'T CARE -- HE TAUGHT THE WORD.
The indoctrination, for them, is complete. Brain shuts down. Scriptures irrelevant. Case closed.
Ideology or Idolatry? For them, wierwille is synonymous with 'the word.'
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OperaBuff
The hoax, as you call it, is relatively simple to understand. It's all about getting people to jump to conclusions, waiting for them to actually jump, then making sure they don't jump back. That's the crux of it.
When you get people to jump to conclusions for you once, it's relatively easy to get them to jump for you again. So, I think that's what the various snow stories and the audible voice of God story were all about -- irresistible lures to get people to jump to that all-important first conclusion. Once you get people jumping around for you like jumping beans, the sky's the limit.
God bless you, I love you, you're the best jumpers a guy could ever want. Nice tits.
(I say it's relatively simple to understand, which it is; but it took me about 20 years to finally figure it out.)
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waysider
"The Word" is whatever you want it to be, as long as it suits your agenda. Wierwille did a splendid job of demonstrating that to us.
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OperaBuff
Duplicate.
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skyrider
'The Word' is.......Love, Sex and Rock-n-Roll of Ages.
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waysider
Could it be that
Can it be that it's just that simple?
It would certainly explain why "the word is now over the world".
("Everybody's heard about the bird.")
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