CUL:There is A Way - But it is not the Way International  by Rev. Ewald Eisele

   On Reformation Sunday, October 30, 1977, Victor Paul Wierwille,
accompanied by about two hundred of his followers, nailed a
proclamation to the door of the United Church of Christ in New
Knoxville, Ohio. It stated that, "Jesus Christ is not God - never was
and never will be." He also, in this document, challenged preachers and
Bible students to refute, if they could, what the had written.

   In 1941m at the age of 35, V.P. Wierwille was ordained into the
ministry of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, now a part of the
United Church of Christ. In 1942 he heard a missionary from China,
Rosalind Rinker, say that the Bible was the Word of God. He said that
in all of his schooling he had never heard that! This was, he claimed a
turning point in his life. Later he claimed that God talked to him
audibly. God said that He would teach the Word to Wierwille as it had
not been known since the first century, if he would teach others. So
Wierwille said, "Give me a sign make it snow." He said that it was a
clear, sunny Autumn day. He had prayed with his eyes closed, and when
he opened them it was snowing so hard he couldn't see 75 feet!

   In 1958, because of speeches he had made while visiting missionaries
in India, he was asked to leave the ministry of the Evangelical and
Reformed Church. He had, in 1953, started to teach his present program
called, "Power Fro Abundant Living." The PFAL course is the cornerstone
of The Way International, was first used and chosen. At the same time
the ministry expanded to the printed page, the TV and to licensing
ministers. In 1968, The Way absorbed many young people who where
involved in the Jesus Movement and also "seeking" hippies.

   "The Doctor, " as Wierwille prefers to be called, says that The Way
is not a church, nor a denomination, nor a religious sect of any sort.
But the organization has been granted a tax-exempt status, and The Way
ministers are accepted as ordained clergy qualified to perform
marriages and officiate at funeral services. It may be of interest to
some to know that Wierwille earned a Master of Theology degree from
Princeton Theological Seminary but was granted his doctorate from a
mail-order degree mill of Pikes Peak Bible Seminary in Manitou Springs,
Colorado. It has been reported that "The Doctor" has stepped down to
retire as of October 1982, and that Craig Martindale has taken the
reigns of leadership of the organization. However, without a doubt,
Wierwille will still be the "voice" of the teacher on tape in the class
sessions and, without a doubt, the "power behind the throne" until he
receives God's just reserved for all heretics.

   As in his nailing of his proclamation to the door of the church, so
in his presentation, the "Doctor" has a flair for theatrics and
showmanship. His introductory remarks usually will have a gimmick, and
oftimes he uses word games. For instance he has declared from time to
time, "There were four others crucified with Christ. In Matthew there
were two robbers, and in Luke there were two criminals. Simple math is
two plus two equals four." He also, along with Armstrong and others,
declares that Christ was crucified on Wednesday, not on Friday. Of
course many Christians believe the same thing, but they do not make it
a theological issue, nor do they present their belief in such a way as
to give the impression that they have some kind of "inside" information
that no one else has.

   The theology of The Way is a blend of Unitarianism,
Hyperdispensationalism and Pentecostalism. Wierwille believes that he
is a prophet of God for the propagation of this theology and that he
must be listened to and obeyed as Paul was. Joseph Smith, of the
Mormons, states that no one had or proclaimed the true Gospel for 1,800
years and that he was the only one that had it revealed to him.
Wierwille says that there were Christians during all those years but
that no one had the entire body of truth as he has it. So Wierwille is
no different than any of the other little gods of the cults. The all
claim the same thing. They, and they alone, are the chosen of God to
reveal something new!

   Unitarianism is evident in his teaching that God exists only in one
substance and in one person, which makes Christ a created being and the
Holy Spirit an impersonal attribute of God. Wierwille is the author of
at least eight books, one of which is, Jesus Christ is Not God, and in
which he outlines his Unitarian beliefs. He teaches that God and Christ
are distinct, unequal entities. He says that Christ is a son of God,
but not God the Son.

   His view of the Bible is not new but contains elements of the old
Bulligerism of years ago. Now Wierwille is not alone in embracing this
error. There are some preachers in otherwise good churches who have
brought in and presented as Gospel truth this old ultra-dispensational
heresy. First, it is insisted that the Gospels are entirely Jewish,
belong to the old dispensation of the Old Testament, and have no real
message for the Church, the Body of Christ. Secondly, the book of Acts
is about a transitional period between the dispensation of the law and
what is written for the church, and what is written for the assembly
there refers to a different church that to which Paul wrote in his
prison epistles. Third, the prison epistles alone reveal Truth to the
real Church and are the only portion of the Bible that is given to the
members of the Body.

   Wierwille's favorite saying regarding the Bible is, "The Word of God
means what it says, and says what it means." But to Wierwille, of whom
it is claimed that he "is the greatest teacher since the time of the
apostles and that he teaches by revelation, " what is meant by his
favorite saying is, "The Word of God means what I say, and says what I
mean." He alone is the one who has the correct interpretation.

   His doctrine of salvation is, to say the least, rather odd and also
rather unbibilical. Salvation, he says, is entirely by grace through
faith with the stress being laid on Romans 10:9. BUT, we are justified,
he says not only our faith, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. His
reasoning is that man cannot have faith, only belief. Once a man
believes, he receives "the faith of Jesus," which in turn saves him.

   Wierwille's doctrine embraces Calvinism with a twist that would
cause Calvin to shudder. He says that once saved you cannot be lost.
But the "Doctor" goes on to say that since Christ has died and paid for
all our sins, we are free (He doesn't say how a Christ who is not God
could save anyone), that freedom is not only from the guilt and penalty
of sin, but freedom to do whatever we want to do. (Situation Ethics, do
whatever you think, is acceptable conduct.) So, conformity with the
habits of the world are pretty much part of the Way scene, and Way
members have no inhibitions about partaking of the usual liberties that
offered by Satan to any other who are in his camp.

   While not included in the Charismatic movement of today, the Way
doctrine includes the nine gifts of First Corinthians as being valid
for today. These, says Wierwille, are available to speak in tongues,
but lead them into the practice. Wierwille first spoke in tongues in
about 1951. He later said any Christian can speak in tongues if he will
only obey them. He has written a booklet, How to Speak in Tongues,
which, if followed and obeyed, will guarantee "success."

   The Way International is organized around the structure of a tree.
The root is the international headquarters in New Knoxville, Ohio. The
trunk indicates the regions into which the nation is divided. The limbs
are the state headquarters. Branches are cities. Twigs are home or
campus meetings, and leaves are the individual members.

   Twig groups meet daily on college campuses, and WOW leaders conduct
Power For Abundant Living classes. WOW stands for Word Over The World.
At last estimate, students are being recruited at the rate of 1,00 per
month. Many, of course, do not stay in the cult, but a substantial
number do find what they think they need. While rates change from time
to time, they have been reported as being from $85 to $100 for the
basic PFAL course and about $250 for one of the advanced courses. These
figures are not fees, but "required minimum donation." Naturally, no
donation, no course!

   WOW Ambassadors carry on the outreach for The Way. They are young
people who give one year, as do the Mormons. However, unlike the
Mormons, they must hold part time jobs and support themselves. As a WOW
Ambassador there is available a leadership training course at the cost
of $300 per month, but while taking this course the WOW is not allowed
to work at all and must have outside financing. That they intend to
flood the nation and the world with WOW Ambassadors is evident from the
projections made - 72, 024 by 1983; 219084 by 1985 and 3,220,000 by
1990 (statistics given at a Way rally in Raleigh, NC, and quoted by J.L
Williams in his book Victor Paul Wierwille and The Way International).

   The Way also has a Correctional Outreach which is their prison
ministry. They conduct family camps and carry on a political effort.
The political outreach is called T.W.I.G., The Word in Government. The
train young people for political involvement in order to put Way
members into government positions and offices. At last report there was
one state senator who is, or was supported by the Way, and one woman
mayor who has taken the PFAL course. An annual music festival is held,
called "The Rock of Ages Music Festival." Their press, which prints all
of their books and their magazines, The Way International, is called
"The American Christian Press," in despite of the fact that they are
not Christian.

   In 1974 the Way acquired what was the United Presbyterian College in
Emporia, Kansas. It was renamed "The Way College of Emporia." It is
here that advanced leadership programs are taught and the final touches
of indoctrination and brainwashing take place. As in most cults the
schedule of activities is so strenuous that members soon depend on the
leadership to make all of their decisions. One of the most common
complaints from those who have been deprogrammed is that they got to
the place where they just couldn't think for themselves.

   Other teachings of the cult include soul sleep and no water baptism.
The believe that Christians should never get sick, that they can also
control their dying, and there is no Christians or Easter (but they do
celebrate Pentecost).

   For those interested in a more complete evaluation of this cult, the
book by J.L Williams, Victor Paul Wierwille and The Way International.