Followers of the Way

So here's an important cult I read about.

It's adherents called themselves followers of the Way. It was lead by a charismatic leader who was a faith healer and miracle worker who claimed to be of divine origin and who said his words and actions were directed by God. He said he was chosen before the beginning of creation to warn everyone of that generation that the world was about to end. He warned that only those who belonged to his elite group would be saved.

To be a member of the group people had to leave their families, and sell all they had and live in poverty. He demanded their obedience in everything they thought, said and did. They were told they had to hate their relatives, and hate themselves as well or they wouldn't be true followers. He said that if they hid the fact that they were members of this group, even if it was to save their lives, they would go to hell. He told them other people were wicked. unbelieving, corrupt, perverse, and depraved. He called his opponents children of the devil. He instructed his followers to be pacifists but said he himself was there to bring war, not peace to the world. He warned that anyone who left the group was doomed even if they later changed their minds. He also said very few of them would get to heaven. He lost a lot of followers.

After the leader died a mystic who was not the founder's chosen successor came and started his own movement inspired by the cult. He gave it the same name, but targeted it to a different demographic and took a different approach to selling it. His theology was also different from the founder's in a fundamental way. This caused friction between the two groups. In the end it became wildly successful.

Because of this friction, and because he divided the world into children of God and children of the devil, and because governments co-opted the religions he inspired, more men, women, and children were tortured and killed in his name than anyone else's in all of history. People of the founder's race were the ones who were persecuted most of all.

So who was he?

Jesus Christ of course.

Don't believe me? Here are the passages to back it up:

It's adherents called themselves followers of the Way.

Acts 9:1-2 (NIV)

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

It was lead by a charismatic leader. (Jesus)

Mark 1:22 (NIV)

The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

who was a faith healer

Matthew 15:30 (NIV)

Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.

and miracle worker

John 10:32 (NIV)

but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"

who claimed to be of divine origin

Luke 22:70 (NIV)

They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?" He replied, "You are right in saying I am."

and who said his words and actions were directed by God.

John 8:27-29 (NIV)

They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."

He said he was chosen before the beginning of creation

John 8:58 (NIV)

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

John 17:5 (NIV)

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

to warn everyone of that generation that the world was about to end.

Matthew 16:27-28 (NIV)

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

He said that only those who belonged to his elite group would be saved.

Mark 16:15-16 (NIV)

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

John 3:36 (NIV)

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

To be a member of the group people had to leave their families,

Matthew 10:37-38 (NIV)

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Mark 10:29-30 (NIV)

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.

and sell all they had and live in poverty..

Luke 14:33 (NIV)

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

He demanded their obedience in everything they thought,

Mark 7:21-23 (NIV)

For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man “unclean”.

Matthew 5:28 (NIV)

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:22 (NIV)

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV)

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

said

Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV)

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

and did.

Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV)

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law

Matthew 5:19-20 (NIV)

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

They were told they had to hate their relatives, and hate themselves as well or they wouldn't be true followers.

Luke 14:26 (NIV)

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

He said that if they hid the fact that they were members of this group,

Matthew 10:31-33 (NIV)

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

even if it was to save their lives, they would go to hell..

Mark 8:35-36 (NIV)

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

He told them other people were sinful,wicked,unbelieving,
perverse, and depraved.

Matthew 17:17 (NIV)

"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?

Mark 8:38 (NIV)

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Luke 11:29 (NIV)

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

He called his opponents children of the devil.

John 8:42-47 (NIV)

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

He instructed his followers to be pacifists

Matthew 5:5,9,21-26, 38-45 (NIV)

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

but said he himself was there to bring war, not peace to the world.

Matthew 10:34 (NIV)

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Luke 12:49-51 (NIV)

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.


He warned that anyone who left the group was doomed even if they later changed their minds.

John 15:6 (NIV)

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Matthew 5:13 (NIV)

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

He also said very few of them would get to heaven.

Matthew 22:14 (NIV)

"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.


He lost a lot of followers.

John 6:60-66 (NIV)

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

After the leader died a mystic who was not the founder's chosen successor came along and started a religion inspired by the cult.

Galatians 1:11-24 (NIV)

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they praised God because of me.

He gave it the same name,

Acts 24:14 (NIV)

However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect.

but targeted it to a different demographic

Galatians 2:7 (NIV)

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.


and took a different approach to selling it.

Romans 10:6-13 (NIV)

But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,"that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

His theology was also different from the founder's in a fundamental way.

Colossians 2:13-17(NIV)

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

This caused friction between the two groups.

Galatians 2:11-16 (NIV)

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

"We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

Acts 21:17-22(NIV)

When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do?

Galatians 3:23-25 (NIV)

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Titus 1:9-11 (NIV)

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

Revelation 3:9 (NIV)

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

In the end it became wildly successful.

Because of this friction, and because he divided the world into children of God and children of the devil, and because governments co-opted the religions he inspired, more men, women, and children were tortured and killed in his name than anyone else's in all of history. People of the founder's race were the ones who were persecuted most of all.

So I guess he succeeded in his mission.

................
All quotes are from:
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
taken from http://www.biblegateway.com

Demons and Personal Hygiene

In the old Testament sickness was considered to be a punishment from God, while in the New it was thought to be caused by demons. There was a real phobia about them in Jesus' time:


The Jewishencyclopedia says:

R.(Rabbi) Johanan knew of 300 kinds of shedim living near the town of Shiḥin. It is dangerous to walk between two palm-trees. Demons are particularly hurtful at night. It is unsafe to salute a person in the dark, for he might be a demon; to sleep alone in a house, as Lilith may seize one; to walk alone in the night or in the morning before cockcrow; to take water from one whose hands have not been washed in the morning. Especially dangerous are the eves of Wednesday and of the Sabbath, for then Agrat bat Maḥlat, "the dancing roof-demon", haunts the air with her train of eighteen myriads of messengers of destruction, "every one of whom has the power of doing harm". On those nights one should not drink water except out of white vessels and after having recited Ps. xxix. 3-9 (the verses mentioning seven times "the voice of the Lord") or other magic formulas. Another perilous season is midsummer noon from the 17th of Tammuz to the 9th of Ab. Then the demon Keṭeb Meriri reigns from ten in the forenoon to three in the afternoon. He has the head of a calf, with one revolving horn in the middle, and an eye on the breast, and his whole body is covered with scales and hair and eyes; and whosoever sees him, man or beast, falls down and expires. Demons assume the shape of men, but have no shadow; at other times, seven-headed dragons "Like angels, they have wings and fly from one end of the world to the other, and know the future; and like men they eat, propagate, and die". They cause the faintness of students and the wear and tear of their dress in the schoolhouses and assemblies of the learned.

In the main demons were workers of harm. To them were ascribed the various diseases, particularly such as affect the brain and the inner parts. Hence there was a constant fear of "Shabriri" (lit. "dazzling glare"), the demon of blindness, who rests on uncovered water at night and strikes those with blindness who drink of it; "ruaḥ ẓeradah," the spirit of catalepsy, and "ruaḥ ẓelaḥta," also "ruaḥ palga," the spirit of headache (megrim or meningitis ?), hovering on palmtrees; "ben nefilim," the demon of epilepsy, and "ruaḥ ẓeḥarit," the spirit of nightmare; "ruaḥ tezazit," the spirit of delirious fever and madness, befalling man and beast; "ruaḥ ẓara'at," the spirit of leprosy; "ruaḥ ḳardeyaḳos," the spirit of melancholy (καρδιακός); "shibbeta," a female demon, bringing croup to persons, especially children, who leave their hands unwashed in the morning, probably identical with the "bush-asp," the Parsee demon "with long hands," who lulls men to sleep and attacks them; "bat ḥorin" (daughter of freedom; possibly a play on "ḥiwar," a euphemistic expression for blindness), a demon bringing a disease of the eye to one who fails to wash his hands after meals; "kuda," a demon of disease which attacks women in childbirth; "eshshata," the demon of fever; "ruaḥ zenunim," the spirit of sexual desire ; "she'iyyah," an ox-like demon dwelling in desolate houses; and many others mentioned in Rabbinical lore, only part of which has been preserved.

It was the primitive demonology of Babylonia which peopled the world of the Jews with beings of a semi-celestial and semi-infernal nature. Only afterward did the division of the world between Ahriman and Ormuzd in the Mazdean system give rise to the Jewish division of life between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of evil. Rabbinical demonology has, like the Chaldean, three classes of, demons, though they are scarcely separable one from another. There were the "shedim," the "mazziḳim" (harmers), and the "ruḥin" or "ruḥotra'ot" (evil spirits). Besides these there were "lilin" (night spirits), "ṭelane" (shade, or evening, spirits), "ṭiharire" (midday spirits), and "ẓafrire" (morning spirits), as well as the "demons that bring famine" and "such as cause storm and earthquake". Occasionally they are called "mal'ake ḥabbalah" (angels of destruction). "They surround man on all sides as the earth does the roots of the vine"; "a thousand are on his left, and ten thousand on his right side"; if a man could see them he would lack the strength to face them, though he can see them by casting the ashes of the fetus of a black cat about his eyes, or by sprinkling ashes around his bed he can trace their cock-like footprints in the morning. They hover around the house and the field, particularly in the lower regions of the air. Their main abode is in the northern part of the earth. Their sporting-places are caper-bushes and spearworts, where they dwell in groups of sixty; nut-trees, where they form in groups of nine; shady spots on moonlight nights, especially the roofs of houses, under gutters, or near ruins; cemeteries and privies (there is a special demon of the privy, "shed shel bet ha-kisse"); water, oil, and bread-crums cast on the ground; and they harm persons and things coming near them.

I found the idea of demons hanging around bathrooms quite funny, until it occurred to me that if you substitute the word “germs” for “demons”, well, then it's something a modern day person could relate to. The suggestions, in bold above, that washing your hands could prevent croup and eye disease and other nasties falls into the same category. But of course 2000 years ago they didn't know about germs. However, judging by some of the rules in the Old Testament, there did seem to be an awareness of them then. Here's an excerpt from an article from the American College of Chest Physicians:

If Moses Could Speak

Legend tells us that, upon completion of his
statue of Moses, Michaelangelo, gazing in pride
and awe at his own handiwork, struck the statue's
knee with his hammer and exclaimed: "Speak,
Moses, speak." We may recall that Moses was the
Father of preventive medicine. His edicts conceming
personal and group hygiene and his prohibitions
about diet were largely responsible for the survival
of his people during their four decades of travel and
travail. It is therefore reasonable to believe that if
the great Lawgiver could speak to us today, his
discourse would involve his favorite subject. He
might say:

We built our temporary
latrines away from our camps. We decreed frequent
baths, insisting that bodily cleanliness was essential
for moral purity. We also decreed that every
seventh day should be a day of rest from physical
labor and should be devoted to spiritual uplift. We
knew from clinical observation, a method that a few
of you still use occasionally, that eating pork often
caused serious disease, even though the responsible
round and flat worms were not discovered until
3,000 years later. Thus, pork was forbidden. These
procedures, and others, allowed us to escape those
pestilences that continued to afflict you, whenever
large groups were gathered in camps, until the 20th
century. Thus you lagged behind us during three
millenia.

Now contrast this with what Jesus said:

Mark 7:1-7,14-19 (NIV)

Clean and Unclean

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")

Teachings of men, eh? By telling people they didn't have to wash their hands or the dishes they ate from, and telling them that it doesn't matter what they ate, he was increasing the chances of them getting sick! Did God, who gave these rules to Moses, forgot to tell Jesus? Meanwhile, the cure Jesus gave, which was to call demons out, seemed to make things worse:

Luke 11:24-26 (NIV)

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

Interesting.

However, he seemed to have a lot of success, which could be attributed to the placebo effect. Again and again he said that the cure wouldn't work unless people believed it would.

Matthew 13:58 (New International Version)

And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

The placebo effect is real so he could have added to the health of his followers, but instead they got sicker.

1 Timothy 5:23

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

Now we know why...

.........................................

If Moses Could Speak: Copyright 1972, by the American College of Chest Physicians

All Bible quotes are from:
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
taken from http://www.biblegateway.com

Will All Believers Be Saved?

I was attending a certain Baptist church for the first time. I was kind of sad and felt my life was aimless and I hoped the Sunday service would help. It was pretty packed, but there was some room beside me and this young guy about my age sat next to me. After the service we got to talking. He decided that I was possessed by an evil spirit and he offered to do an exorcism on me. I didn't think I was possessed, I figured it more likely he wanted to show off in front of the congregation, so I refused.

After more attempts at persuading me he gave up and asked, “Well....OK then, do you want to f**k?”

I was shocked. I wished there was a Bible passage I could have thrown at him but I couldn't think of one so I just said "no" and took off.

For the longest time I couldn't figure out what on earth he was thinking, but then I got it. See, he was saved, so no matter what he did, he'd get to go to heaven. Me, I was doomed, so no matter what I did I'd go to hell. So he thought "Why not?"

I'm sure other wayward Christians think that way too. They could even back it up with scriptures. Paul said:

Romans 10:4, 8-11 (NIV)

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.

Romans 11:5-6 (NIV)

So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

This led some of his followers to say:

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)

"Everything is permissible for me"

Paul's answer to that was:

1 Corinthians 6:12-13 (NIV)

"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:3-5 (NIV)
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God

Galatians 6:7-8 (NIV)
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

So according to Paul, sin leads to death even if you are a believer.

No way could anyone who heard Jesus speak think that everything was permissible to them:

Matthew 5:28-30 (NIV)

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV)

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."


So I guess what I should have said to that churchgoer was this:

Matthew 7:22-23 (NIV)

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

..............................................



All quotes are from:
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
taken from http://www.biblegateway.com

The Moonies and Me

Moonies

It was in the Eighties. I was married and getting my commerce degree at the University of Manitoba. At that time I was already searching for the truth about Christianity. I had been attending a Pentecostal church, but they changed pastors and I wasn't happy there any more.

While I was on campus having lunch one day these two Korean women approached me and asked if I'd be interested in doing Bible Study with them. I had a lot of questions about the Bible and no one to answer them so I said “Sure!” We talked about the Bible a bit and they invited me to come over to their place the next day.

I arrived and was given a tour of their two storey house. It was full of people. I asked who they were. She said they were members of her church and that they lived there. She introduced me to a few of them. They looked strange. Their eyes looked dead. There was no light- no spark of personality in them. This worried me.

I went upstairs with the two women to a small bedroom. They opened the Bible, but then they said they wanted to get to know me a bit first.

They asked the usual questions about where I grew up and was I married and was I happy with my marriage. I said of course I was. They then told me that in every marriage there's something you don't like about your spouse, right? So what did I dislike about my husband? I was wary and assured them there was nothing. They kept pushing but didn't get anywhere. Finally they gave up and we did some Bible study. After about 15 minutes I told them I had to go home. I wondered if they'd let me.

Fortunately they did. They waved goodbye to me from the front porch. It was beautiful outside and I only lived about two miles away so I decided to walk. When I got within a block of my place I realized that there was a car following me. I looked inside and saw the two women. They obviously wanted to see where I lived. This upset me. As a child my parents had always told me we were being spied on, now this paranoia paid off. I blew up at them. I told them that in this country you don't go around following people and if I had wanted them to know where I lived I would have told them. I scared them so bad they took off and I never saw them again.

Later I read in the University paper that the Moonies were recruiting on campus and to look out for any Koreans offering to do Bible Studies with you. It gave the name of the church and I recognised it as being the same as what those women belonged to. At that time, everyone knew the Moonies were a cult, but not so nowadays- my kids have never heard of them. And they are at an age where they are prime targets to be recruited. It's scary because if you look up Moonies in the Wikipedia, they sound like just another harmless church group. But they are so not!

Here's some excerpts from some websites I read. Anything marked [a] is by Steven Hassan, a former member of the Moonies, [b] is from the Wikipedia article on the Rev Moon and [c] is a seven part series on the Moonies by Harry V. Martin and David Caul of the Napa Sentinel, [d] is a broadcast by Frontline.
...................................................................................

When I was recruited into a front organization of the Moon group (The International One World Crusade) in 1974, and was told to drop out of college, quit my job, donate my bank account, and follow, I was an idealistic, nineteen year old who wanted to make the world a better place. [a]

After joining the Moonies, the recruit will be given about two weeks of adjustment. They call it "losing", a period when the recruit's desires become nothing. Recruits are allowed to return home for one visit, but they must be accompanied or tailed by a Moonie. After that one visit, the recruit's communication with his natural family is reduced to mainly correspondence, and that diminishes rapidly. [c]

"You are taught that everyone not in the movement is under the influence of Satan and that you should mistrust them.” [c]

Indeed, as I detail in my first book, Combatting Cult Mind Control (Park Street Press, 1988), phobia indoctrination is a universal technique to control people's minds. In the mind of someone under cult mind control, they cannot imagine being able to leave the group and be happy and fulfilled. They can only think negative thoughts and have irrational fears that leaving the group is equivalent to leaving God. As a leader, I repeated to members what I was indoctrinated to believe: anyone who leaves the Church is weak; possessed; undisciplined; sex crazed; drug crazed; or brainwashed by deprogrammers. Anyone who left the church would go insane; get cancer; have a car accident; their parents would have a heart attack; have stillborn babies or babies with birth defects; they would be condemned by ten generations of their ancestors in the spirit world for betraying the messiah! [a]

I was taught that if I have a doubt about Moon or the group, that it was a result of evil spirits which were having give and take with my mind. The solution was to cut off "give and take" with negativity and pray or chant or read the Divine Principle (his new bible) to re-center myself on God. What I didn't understand at that time was this was a powerful behavior modification technique called "thought-stopping". By doing this technique on myself, I unwittingly short-circuited my critical, independent thinking process. When a person automatically shuts down any "negative" thoughts, and is only "allowed" to have positive thoughts, no independent thinking or reality testing can take place. I allowed myself to be controlled by fear and an unhealthy dependency on "central figures", the term used for leaders within the group. [a]


I was a completely devoted follower and was trained to "die, rather than betray Father". I was captain of a Mobile Fundraising Team (M.F.T.) and my members were under orders to make a minimum of $100 per day, otherwise they couldn't go to sleep. I was trained to lead by example and so, if they couldn't sleep, then I wouldn't either. [a]

The second son of Hak Ja Han and Moon, Heung-Jin Moon, died on January 2, 1984, from injuries suffered in a car crash in December 1983. For several years church members "channeled" his spirit, and in 1987-8 a Zimbabwean member who became known as "the Black Heung Jin Nim" was accepted by Moon and his family as Heung Jin Moon's continuous channel, and toured the world giving speeches, getting confessions, and subjecting some members to beatings. Long-time member Damian Anderson reports seeing him

"knock people's heads together, hit them viciously with a baseball bat, smack them around the head, punch them, and handcuff them with golden handcuffs"

and describes

"brute force applied to stop people leaving the event, or the building, and imprisoning protesters by force and with handcuffs in isolation."[25]
Nansook Hong recounts: "No one outside the True Family was immune from the beatings. Soon the mistresses he acquired were so numerous and the beatings he administered so severe that members began to complain. He beat Bo Hi Pak—a man in his sixties—so badly that he was hospitalized for a week in Georgetown Hospital." [b]

Moon sees himself as the Perfect Adam, so he must be obeyed without question. He claims that Jesus was the most important Adam between the original one and Moon, attaining spiritual perfection but a "flawed" Messiah. Moon is the reincarnation of Jesus only more perfect. [c]

"Then in one sense, Father, Heavenly Father will say "Reverend Moon is far better than me, the Heavenly Father".Also, he is proud of himself and appreciates that Jesus Christ's unfinished job of 6000 years has been completed by him in his lifetime." ( Moon as quoted in MASTER SPEAKS 7/31/74) [a]

Moon believes that in the "ideal world" all languages will be abolished except Korean. He believes that the Korean race is "superior" and that 'Orientals' are more spiritual than Caucasians or dark skinned people. [a]

I was present with a group of top leaders when Moon said in an impromptu, unrecorded talk that "when he takes over the U.S., he will amend the Constitution and make a capital offense for people to have sexual relations with people they are not assigned to".A capital offense is an offense punishable by death. [a]

Moon is quoted in many publications as saying, "I will conquer and subjugate the world. I am your brain. The time will come, without my seeking it, when my words will almost serve as law. If I ask a certain thing, it will be done. If I don't want something, it will not be done." [c]


Most of Moon's money comes from Japan. For almost 20 years there have been consistent reports that one of Moon's most important financial supporters and advisors is Ryoichi Sasakawa. Sasakawa. describes himself as "the world's richest Fascist". [c]

At the end of World War Two, both Sasakawa. and Kodama were classified as Class A war criminals by the American Occupation Forces in Japan. [c]

Another prominent Japanese war criminal who became an important member and supporter of the Moon organization was Yoshio Kodama. Having participated in a failed plot to assassinate, in one stroke, all the most powerful men in Japan, Kodama ended up in prison for attempted assassination and other terrorist acts. [c]

Moon, Sasakawa. and Kodama first got together in the 1960s to form the Asian People's Anti-Communist League. In 1966, the League merged with the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, another Fascist organization, to form the World Anti-Communist League. Dedicated to fighting Communism and promoting Fascism, and spreading to nearly 100 nations on six continents, the World Anti-Communist League was headed by John Singlaub, one of the key players in the Iran-Contra scandal. The headquarters for the League is in the United States, in the offices of Moon's Freedom Center. [c]

Moon's most expensive political project was the creation of the Washington Times. "Washington is the most important single city in the world. If you can achieve influence, if you can achieve visibility, if you can achieve a measure of respect in Washington, then you fairly automatically are going to achieve these things in the rest of the world. There is no better agency or instrument that I know of for achieving power here or almost anywhere else than a newspaper." These were the words of Rev. Moon. James Whelan, editor of the Washington Times [d]

In 1965, working with the South Korean CIA, Moon made his first visit to the United States and obtained a 45-minute audience with former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike agreed to allow his name to be used on the letterhead of the Moon-created Korean Cultural Freedom Foundation, as did Harry S. Truman and Admiral Arliegh Burke. During the 1973-74 fall of President Richard Nixon, Rev. Moon captured the attention of the American media by supporting Nixon. [c]

Moon also received proclamations honoring the Unification Church from such governors as Georgia's Jimmy Carter and Alabama's George Wallace. Moon received endorsements from Senators William L. Scott of Virginia, Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Mark Hatfield of Oregon and J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, as well as Mayor John Lindsay of New York City and William F. Buckley, Jr. Moon had his picture taken and published with Senators Hubert Humphrey, Strom Thurmond, James L. Buckley and Edward Kennedy. [c]

House Speaker Carl Albert had been closely linked with a female follower of the Unification Church. [c]

Several Congressmen were entertained in a Washington Hilton hotel suite rented by the Moonies. Everything the girls learned about Senators and Congressmen was to be entered into the Moonie's confidential file, including details of personal lives. [c]

In 1977 Congressman Donald Frazer launched an investigation into Moon's background. The House Committee report states that it uncovered evidence that the Moon organization had systematically violated U.S. tax, immigration, banking, currency and foreign agent registration laws. The report indicates that Moon was paid by the Korean CIA to stage demonstrations at the United Nations and run pro-South Korean propaganda efforts. The investigator for the report commented, "We determined that their primary interest, at least in the U.S. at that time, was not religious at all, but was political, it was an attempt to gain power, influence and authority." But after the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan all investigations were halted. Moon was Vice President George Bush's guest at the inauguration and was a major financial contributor to the Washington conservative establishment. [c]

In January 2001 Moon sponsored President George W. Bush's Inaugural Prayer Luncheon for Unity and Renewal.[45] [b]

.....................................

So, here's a man who thinks he's the Messiah, is financed by war criminals and fascists, uses brainwashing techniques on his followers and has considerable influence oveer the media and US presidents, but even my internet savvy teenagers have never heard of him or his church. That makes him worse than the Scientologists!

[a] The Truth About Sun Myung Moon by Steven Hassan
[b] Sun Myung Moon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[c] MOONIES: Seven Part Series By Harry V. Martin and David Caul Copyright, Napa Sentinel, 1992
[d] The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon, a transcript of a January 21, 1992 broadcast, "Frontline: The Ressurection Of Reverend Moon." Eric Nadler, reporter. Written and produced by Rory O'Connor. Copyright (c)1991 WGBH Educational Foundation

A Parable About Christianity

Is Jesus the Son of God? The reason I'm doing all this research is because I just don't know. Up until just recently I was convinced that he wasn't because he predicted the Second Coming would be in his generation and that didn't happen. However, I now see that people's behaviour can change God's mind (see Is The Second Coming Late?) so I'm on the fence again.

I guess the best way to explain WHY I'm on the fence is by using a parable. It may get Kindergarten Christians angry but the rest of you won't be threatened by it and might have some helpful suggestions on how to resolve the issues it presents.

The Parable of the King and His Son

Once upon a time there was a Ruler who passed a whole bunch of laws to benefit his people. When they were declared everyone rejoiced and vowed to obey them, but in time his subjects ignored them, the police didn't enforce them and even the judges spent their time trying to find loopholes. As a result there was lots of injustice and immorality around. This made the Ruler very angry.

So what did he do? He got someone's fiance pregnant. Instead of marrying her, he left her to raise his child in the village. He didn't totally abandon this son though - he spent a lot of time teaching him about the laws and made him into a messenger who would pass these teachings on to his people.

To prove that the messages came from him, he gave his son gifts to hand out to his subjects but they thought the presents were from the King's enemy so they ignored him. When the Ruler heard this he got very upset and threatened to kill everyone. His son warned people about it but only a few believed him.

Finally the King decided his son had to get himself killed by the villagers. Which he did. They got a hit man from another town to do it. Once his son had been whipped and died a long slow painful death, the ruler was overjoyed and decided to forgive and love everyone, except for those that didn't believe the kid was his- them he burnt alive in a giant pit. Everyone else lived happily ever after.

My Run In With the Sleazy Dr M

When I first moved to Australia in 1988 I found it very difficult to breathe. I put it down to the house we were staying at. It was my husband's grandmother's house and the room we'd been staying in hadn't been dusted for years. After I washed it down I felt much better.

Then we found our own place. It had a lovely frangipani tree in the backyard. One day it started to bloom, and I was having trouble again. We didn't have a car so I ended up dragging myself to the nearest pharmacy.

When I got there they said they had something I could buy off the shelf that would give me relief but they refused to sell it to me- they said I should go see a doctor.

There was one just down the road so I went there. Luckily he could take me right away. He said I was having an asthma attack. By then I was so out of breath I couldn't even sit up- I was on the floor with tears in my eyes. As I lay there he leered at me and said, “OK look, just take all your clothes off and I'll be right back.”

I couldn't see why, so I didn't. I just lay there gasping. Finally he brought in a nebulizer and I was breathing through a mask. I started to feel better.

I asked him what kind of a practice this was- it didn't look like an ordinary doctor's office. He said he did operations there. Then he bragged that the local hospital sent him interns to train. From the way he was talking it sounded like they were all female.

While I was sitting there he got a phone call. He kept insisting that the person they were looking for wasn't him, it was his brother. It took him a while to convince the person on the other end of the line but finally they let him go. He said that was the police and he could have been arrested just then. I wondered for what....

Then a couple came into the surgery. They were in distress so the doctor saw them right away. I moved into the waiting room. Soon after the husband came out. After a long time he knocked on the door to find out what was happening. The doctor called out “I'm sorry, you'll have to wait.- I'm operating on her right now.”

The husband freaked out. He asked me if it was reasonable to think that he should have been told. I told him to get in there. Which he did. I didn't trust that doctor with any woman, let alone one that was under anesthesia.

Anyway, I never went there again. Good thing too. Years later he was in the papers. He was involved in numerous court cases and a Medical Tribunal was held to see if he should be disbarred for malpractice. Apparently he had sexual relationships with many of his patients and saw nothing wrong with that. If a patient was having marital troubles he'd suggest they have an affair and would offer to supply them with a lover. Again, he saw nothing wrong with that. In fact he saw nothing wrong with anything he did. He offered to launder some money for a husband to hide money from his wife and the Family Court. The doctor said his de facto wife could arrange it.

This de facto wife was a patient of his who he moved in with when he was 36 and she was 72. She was a frail woman with many health problems and he was her primary physician. She gave him over a million dollars of cash, property and benefits until her death.

How did she die? She was alone at home with him when she complained of severe chest pains. He gave her an injection of morphine and within 6 minutes she was dead. He didn't give her cardio pulmonary resuscitation and he didn't call for an ambulance until she was unconscious. Even then he hung up before they could answer. Conveniently it was he who signed the death certificate. No one else examined the body until 18 months later when the body was exhumed. This was done because relatives got suspicious when another lover/patient moved in with him the day after the funeral.

According to experts called at a medical tribunal, he gave the old lady a drug that would worsen her condition, and he gave her a dangerous amount of it. One expert said it's what you'd do if you wanted to euthanize someone. It turns out the lady in question did say she wanted euthanasia. The coroner ruled she probably died of natural causes, but he was concerned by the abnormally high levels of morphine in her body. When asked how this could have happened, DR. M said she had free access to an unlocked cupboard filled with Schedule 4 sedatives and Schedule 8 addictive drugs at his surgery. He couldn't say if she'd taken any of these because he didn't keep track of them. Of course!

After the funeral he told a friend he was dismayed as to how little of the estate was left to him in the will. A lawyer told him that if it was missing he could inherit everything as a de facto husband. Later, he told the courts that that she had destroyed the 1989 will and replaced with another one, but it was missing. The Supreme Court didn't believe him and ruled that he had either hidden hidden it or destroyed it himself. It was eventually decided he wouldn't be allowed to make a claim on the estate because of this. He was disbarred from medical practice in 2000.

According to a newspaper article in 2004 however, he believed that maybe he could practice as a doctor again. It sounds like he figured that he was disbarred because of the court's prejudice against May/December relationships. Bizarre!

Here's the newspaper article but if you really want to be shocked, you should read the Medical Tribunal Report . The Q and A's are especially revealing. You'd think they came straight out of an Agatha Christie novel.

After reading it I was horrified that I'd ever been in contact with him. That lady wasn't the only one he'd administered that much morphine to! He said he'd administered this to lots of people who had problems with restricted airways. Due to asthma, for instance. Nevermind that the morphine would make it harder to breathe! Scary stuff!