This morning I was thinking about the first time I sat through the PFAL class. That was some 48 years ago. The class was run in an apartment on Long Island. It was winter. The class instructor was a young gentleman with a beard and usually wore turtleneck sweaters. I use the term class instructor very loosely – but that’s how we referred to the role when I was in TWI…it might have been something just peculiar to our neck of the woods…I’ve also heard them referred to as class coordinator. Perhaps that’s closer to a correct description…since they functioned more like a class monitor - responsible to ensure classroom discipline. They are answerable to “the teacher” (wierwille and anyone else in TWI’s chain of command) in case of any mischief. But the concern isn’t over run-of-the-mill classroom high jinks. It’s always to keep students on task with …learning… I mean acquiring knowledge of the Bible… more like absorbing wierwille’s indoctrination process.
My undivided attention and disabling any critical thinking skills I was developing in my young life was absolutely required – indicated by the “listening with a purpose” questions in my PFAL syllabus for that session. I still have mine – stored somewhere in our home’s upper-regions-of-the-don’t-know-why-I’m-still-holding-on-to-this-stuff - i.e., attic.
“Listening with a purpose” is another one of those odd TWI-redundancies. Why else would I be listening to something if I didn’t have a reason for paying attention to it? All you hypnotists, cult-leaders, deprogrammers, psych majors and marketing execs don’t answer that! Save all your answers until the end of this thread .
I think the real purpose of “listening with a purpose” questions was twofold. It got me to hang on every word of “the teacher” eagerly anticipating when he announced “the clincher”. And as a result, it also sidetracked most of my learning faculties with busy work.
In The Way International, my learning curve might be better described as an indoctrination curve - the rate of progress in gaining experience or new skill…i.e., accepting a set of beliefs uncritically.
This morning while thinking along these lines I got into a familiar mental riff of What-Ifs. Believe it or not I do appreciate a few things I got out of PFAL... I sometimes wonder what would have happened if wierwille didn’t hold it up as THE gold standard of biblical research…the best…the most reliable…the most respected source for biblical studies...…but I guess he may have imagined himself being in competition with mainstream Christianity… a false teacher has gotta do what a false teacher has gotta do…so through the concurrent catastrophe (an antonym for "miracle" ) of plagiarism, incompetence, ambition and delusion wierwille cobbled together PFAL.
You know, since I left TWI, I have humbled myself many times over before family and friends admitting I was wrong for going whole hog on wierwille's dogma...Of course, a cult-leader’s ego would never allow themselves such a self-mortifying move…because that would dissolve the illusion of being “spiritually distinguished” - - head and shoulders above everyone else.…If he really had such well-meaning intentions to help others better understand the Bible – why wasn’t he honest about it? He could have said “Hey, check out the work of EW Bullinger – he really gets detailed in analyzing the Bible” or “I took this class by BG Leonard and learned a lot of stuff about the holy spirit. I’d like to have him teach his class to our church. I’ll put out a sign-up sheet for those interested and we’ll figure out what it will cost us to have his class here.”
Being a technical minded person, I’ve always had a pragmatic approach to problem solving. I had a faith in God ever since I was a little kid growing up in a traditional Roman Catholic home. By using reawakened cognitive skills as tools to methodically dissect all the plagiarism, twisted Scripture, logical fallacies and mish mash of ideologies in PFAL, I recognized there were a few things I got out of the class. For one thing it demystified the Bible. That’s not to say wierwille did a great job of explaining what it said. It was more like listening to a musician give their rendition of a familiar tune – it was okay – but now some 48 years later I think I can do better.
As a Christian…as a layman…as a survivor of a pseudo-Christian cult it was extremely difficult to come to terms with the intellectual, emotional, social, and financial setbacks of being in a harmful and controlling cult.
It's okay to be a layman and have hobbies like systematic theology and hermeneutics. Funny to think that a sham of a class like PFAL got me started in all that. I thought of all this over breakfast while I was reading Thiselton on Hermeneutics: Collected Works and New Essays . So much for the road not taken, false starts, misdirection. The paths of theology and hermeneutics fascinated me way back then. But I followed the brightly colored road sign PFAL with its promise of a shortcut to that and more…There’s no saying I can’t backtrack and explore other paths now.
That’s not to say wierwille did a great job of explaining what it said. It was more like listening to a musician give their rendition of a familiar tune – it was okay – but now some 48 years later I think I can do better.
So, when will "T-Bone's Terrific Theology" start filming?
So, when will "T-Bone's Terrific Theology" start filming?
George
Not gonna happen… cuz I’d be a cheapskate on production costs …and a lot of my beliefs are in a state of flux anyway…there’d be too many re-writes…but it doesn’t cost me anything to post here …for anyone interested in stuff I have to say without going all over Grease Spot - they can check out the About Me tab on my profile…it’s a lump sum from some lump …It ain’t "terrific theology" but it is a terrorific account of my TWI experiences.
Alright - so I said I think I can do a better job than wierwille…probably ANY honest PFAL grad who sticks to Bullinger’s basic keys to the interpretation of Scripture, plain logic and is NOT enamored with wierwille could do a better job than him!
“About Me” has stuff I’ve already said here and there on Grease Spot…and a lot of stuff I’ve learned from others on Grease Spot…hmmmm this is starting to sound a lot like wierwille’s plagiarism disclaimer …anyway…I’ve also got links to a lot of informative threads on doctrine with thoughtful analysis, cult tactics, cult recovery, timelines, as well as online articles and books. I mostly keep up with it because it helps me organize my thoughts and it’s just good therapy…I wish everyone would do that on their profile – it’d make it easier for me to keep track of their stuff…instead I usually copy and paste a lot of threads in files on my laptop.
I have high hopes disenchanted TWI-believers will find something on Grease Spot that resonates with them…maybe see they’re not alone in having a strong sense of disillusionment from the failure of wierwille /PFAL /other TWI-classes / WOW, way corps and other programs to fulfill their respective declared goals AND the perception of inconsistencies between the ACTIONS of wierwille / LCM / certain other TWI-leaders and the ideals they supposedly represent.
Of course, a rewrite is the perfect excuse for making everyone pay to retake the same class all over again. "So much has changed, it's a completely new class!"
Of course, a rewrite is the perfect excuse for making everyone pay to retake the same class all over again. "So much has changed, it's a completely new class!"
Anyone else find it curious that mike resurfaces on GSC with a derailing and distracting vengance in tandem with the release of the new pflap? (new pflap like old pflap....meh)
3 minutes ago, T-Bone said:
OldSkool, I think you are wise beyond your guitar chords...more I thought about your post - it's just stunning to stand back and reflect on Mike's slow reveal...on other threads he's mentioned he keeps in touch with some TWI folks - including HQ people...he's talked about how some are listening to what he says...and now he let's the cat out of the Betamax player - he's taking PFAL Today...I've got to make a quick post in the PFAL Today thread to link your post and mine - just to wrap it all up and put a holy-Shonta bow on it
just bring one crime scene over to another crime scene
So...I would love to see someone who IS TAKING THE NEW PFLAP (PFLAP for $100) come here to this thread, or another for this purpose, and show the differences and really convince me that the new PFLAP is actually the New PFLAP 3000 for our day and time! Edumacate me puuhleeze.
So...I would love to see someone who IS TAKING THE NEW PFLAP (PFLAP for $100) come here to this thread, or another for this purpose, and show the differences and really convince me that the new PFLAP is actually the New PFLAP 3000 for our day and time! Edumacate me puuhleeze.
That might be interesting…do they still teach:
4 crucified
The Bible interprets itself
The 7 administrations
The law of believing
does the little boy still get killed by the fear in the heart of his mother?
Receive, retain , release
“For this purpose was I spared”
The Bible is mathematically exact and scientifically precise
Humankind were originally body, soul and spirit
People can get born again of the wrong seed
The way to get back to the original God-breathed Word is by comparing translations and versions
As long as one loves God and neighbor they can do as they full well please
Technically all the women in the kingdom belong to the king
Each believer has the ability to operate all 9 manifestations
To receive anything from God you must know the 5 things - know what’s available, know how to receive it , etc.
you can’t go beyond what you’re taught
God can only speak to what He is
God can only give what He is
There’s only one way to rightly divide the Word - all other ways are wrong
Do you still have to hold all questions until the last session?
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Bolshevik
Scripture, The Bible, is not *a* language. "It interprets itself", though.
T-Bone
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Raf
It is almost impossible to overstate how much this reeks of bullcrap. I'll be gentle: If Euclidian geometry were wrong on one point, Euclidian geometry would be perfectly content to remove
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T-Bone
This morning I was thinking about the first time I sat through the PFAL class. That was some 48 years ago. The class was run in an apartment on Long Island. It was winter. The class instructor was a young gentleman with a beard and usually wore turtleneck sweaters. I use the term class instructor very loosely – but that’s how we referred to the role when I was in TWI…it might have been something just peculiar to our neck of the woods…I’ve also heard them referred to as class coordinator. Perhaps that’s closer to a correct description…since they functioned more like a class monitor - responsible to ensure classroom discipline. They are answerable to “the teacher” (wierwille and anyone else in TWI’s chain of command) in case of any mischief. But the concern isn’t over run-of-the-mill classroom high jinks. It’s always to keep students on task with …learning… I mean acquiring knowledge of the Bible… more like absorbing wierwille’s indoctrination process.
My undivided attention and disabling any critical thinking skills I was developing in my young life was absolutely required – indicated by the “listening with a purpose” questions in my PFAL syllabus for that session. I still have mine – stored somewhere in our home’s upper-regions-of-the-don’t-know-why-I’m-still-holding-on-to-this-stuff - i.e., attic.
“Listening with a purpose” is another one of those odd TWI-redundancies. Why else would I be listening to something if I didn’t have a reason for paying attention to it? All you hypnotists, cult-leaders, deprogrammers, psych majors and marketing execs don’t answer that! Save all your answers until the end of this thread .
I think the real purpose of “listening with a purpose” questions was twofold. It got me to hang on every word of “the teacher” eagerly anticipating when he announced “the clincher”. And as a result, it also sidetracked most of my learning faculties with busy work.
In The Way International, my learning curve might be better described as an indoctrination curve - the rate of progress in gaining experience or new skill…i.e., accepting a set of beliefs uncritically.
This morning while thinking along these lines I got into a familiar mental riff of What-Ifs. Believe it or not I do appreciate a few things I got out of PFAL... I sometimes wonder what would have happened if wierwille didn’t hold it up as THE gold standard of biblical research…the best…the most reliable…the most respected source for biblical studies...…but I guess he may have imagined himself being in competition with mainstream Christianity… a false teacher has gotta do what a false teacher has gotta do…so through the concurrent catastrophe (an antonym for "miracle" ) of plagiarism, incompetence, ambition and delusion wierwille cobbled together PFAL.
You know, since I left TWI, I have humbled myself many times over before family and friends admitting I was wrong for going whole hog on wierwille's dogma...Of course, a cult-leader’s ego would never allow themselves such a self-mortifying move…because that would dissolve the illusion of being “spiritually distinguished” - - head and shoulders above everyone else.…If he really had such well-meaning intentions to help others better understand the Bible – why wasn’t he honest about it? He could have said “Hey, check out the work of EW Bullinger – he really gets detailed in analyzing the Bible” or “I took this class by BG Leonard and learned a lot of stuff about the holy spirit. I’d like to have him teach his class to our church. I’ll put out a sign-up sheet for those interested and we’ll figure out what it will cost us to have his class here.”
Being a technical minded person, I’ve always had a pragmatic approach to problem solving. I had a faith in God ever since I was a little kid growing up in a traditional Roman Catholic home. By using reawakened cognitive skills as tools to methodically dissect all the plagiarism, twisted Scripture, logical fallacies and mish mash of ideologies in PFAL, I recognized there were a few things I got out of the class. For one thing it demystified the Bible. That’s not to say wierwille did a great job of explaining what it said. It was more like listening to a musician give their rendition of a familiar tune – it was okay – but now some 48 years later I think I can do better.
As a Christian…as a layman…as a survivor of a pseudo-Christian cult it was extremely difficult to come to terms with the intellectual, emotional, social, and financial setbacks of being in a harmful and controlling cult.
It's okay to be a layman and have hobbies like systematic theology and hermeneutics. Funny to think that a sham of a class like PFAL got me started in all that. I thought of all this over breakfast while I was reading Thiselton on Hermeneutics: Collected Works and New Essays . So much for the road not taken, false starts, misdirection. The paths of theology and hermeneutics fascinated me way back then. But I followed the brightly colored road sign PFAL with its promise of a shortcut to that and more…There’s no saying I can’t backtrack and explore other paths now.
Edited by T-Boneediting with a purpose
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GeorgeStGeorge
So, when will "T-Bone's Terrific Theology" start filming?
George
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Bolshevik
I can plurality give this key card class prop to help with the silver bracelets.
You'll notice it's on one stand. With three legs. Together with yet distinctly interdependent of, something.
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T-Bone
Not gonna happen… cuz I’d be a cheapskate on production costs
…and a lot of my beliefs are in a state of flux anyway…there’d be too many re-writes…but it doesn’t cost me anything to post here 
…for anyone interested in stuff I have to say without going all over Grease Spot - they can check out the About Me tab on my profile…it’s a lump sum from some lump 
…It ain’t "terrific theology" but it is a terrorific account of my TWI experiences.
Alright - so I said I think I can do a better job than wierwille…probably ANY honest PFAL grad who sticks to Bullinger’s basic keys to the interpretation of Scripture, plain logic and is NOT enamored with wierwille could do a better job than him!
“About Me” has stuff I’ve already said here and there on Grease Spot…and a lot of stuff I’ve learned from others on Grease Spot…hmmmm this is starting to sound a lot like wierwille’s plagiarism disclaimer
I have high hopes disenchanted TWI-believers will find something on Grease Spot that resonates with them…maybe see they’re not alone in having a strong sense of disillusionment from the failure of wierwille /PFAL /other TWI-classes / WOW, way corps and other programs to fulfill their respective declared goals AND the perception of inconsistencies between the ACTIONS of wierwille / LCM / certain other TWI-leaders and the ideals they supposedly represent.
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WordWolf
Of course, a rewrite is the perfect excuse for making everyone pay to retake the same class all over again. "So much has changed, it's a completely new class!"
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GeorgeStGeorge
"New and Improved!!!"
Georg
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waysider
"The Word like it hasn't been known since...Uhhhhh 1967."
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T-Bone
Beginning in 1967 there was PFAL
And PFAL was from other stuff
And other stuff plus wierwille
Became The Word
PFAL was wierwille’s big inning
Through PFAL a con game was made
wierwille came into his own
he was a shyster by trade
(started out as a parody of John 1:1 and ended up a poem…go figure...glad I don't get paid for my poems...I'm here all week folks)
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T-Bone
just bring one crime scene over to another crime scene
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Nathan_Jr
Are plans in place to market an Intermediate Class Today? Advanced Class Today? Excellor Classes Today?
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OldSkool
Judging from how I saw them cobb together all the post martindale classes...I would say he77 to the yes!
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OldSkool
So...I would love to see someone who IS TAKING THE NEW PFLAP (PFLAP for $100) come here to this thread, or another for this purpose, and show the differences and really convince me that the new PFLAP is actually the New PFLAP 3000 for our day and time! Edumacate me puuhleeze.
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Rocky
Bless their pea-pickin' little ol' hearts.
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T-Bone
That might be interesting…do they still teach:
4 crucified
The Bible interprets itself
The 7 administrations
The law of believing
does the little boy still get killed by the fear in the heart of his mother?
Receive, retain , release
“For this purpose was I spared”
The Bible is mathematically exact and scientifically precise
Humankind were originally body, soul and spirit
People can get born again of the wrong seed
The way to get back to the original God-breathed Word is by comparing translations and versions
As long as one loves God and neighbor they can do as they full well please
Technically all the women in the kingdom belong to the king
Each believer has the ability to operate all 9 manifestations
To receive anything from God you must know the 5 things - know what’s available, know how to receive it , etc.
you can’t go beyond what you’re taught
God can only speak to what He is
God can only give what He is
There’s only one way to rightly divide the Word - all other ways are wrong
Do you still have to hold all questions until the last session?
If I think of more I’ll let you know
Edited by T-BoneAdded more questions
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OldSkool
I hope not, I still have questions from over 14 years ago that they never answered at the last session...
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Nathan_Jr
The sine qua non of Christian identity is tithing.
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T-Bone
Yeah forgot that…
does PFAL Today still push giving and receiving, the prosperity gospel, etc.?
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waysider
Are they still required to laugh at jokes that were already stale 50 years ago?
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T-Bone
Are students allowed to power-nap during sessions?
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waysider
I don't know if it's true, but I heard they're still stretching a pot of coffee that was originally brewed in 1972.
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T-Bone
That’s like a 7th inning stretch multiplied by 5 decades
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Nathan_Jr
Jesus Christ, meh. Paul, woo-hoo!!
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T-Bone
oops - yeah totally forgot!!!!
In the new PFAL Today class, does "The Word" still take the place of the absent Christ?
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So_crates
Of course they're still into teaching the prosperity gospel. What else would the "abundant" in abundant living be?
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