Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about The Way International

 by Charlene L. Edge Sometimes people who have not yet read my memoir, Undertow , get the impression from articles I write about The Way, that I think everyone ever involved with The Way was "bad." Not true. What I think is that an array of people with a myriad of interests, needs, and talents, were caught in the high-control group of The Way just as I was. Some of the kindest people you'd ever meet showed me love and understanding, and offered me support in many ways. Often. The "people problem" I had with Way believers came about when it was discovered I no longer held Way beliefs as true, no longer clung to the belief that Wierwille was a great man of God. Then I was shunned by loyalists who could not accept my change of heart and mind. Sadly, when a person rejects the beliefs and practices of a group they were enmeshed in for years and years, they usually lose the friends who remain in the group. So, they must start over. They must make a new path in life an

What Makes The Way International™ a Fundamentalist Cult? by Charlene L. Edge First, what makes The Way International a  cult ? The Way International organization, at least while I was involved 1970-1987, exhibited two major features of a cult: 1) A "guru's" claim of  special knowledge  not found anywhere else.  The Way was founded in 1942 by Victor Paul Wierwille, its "guru," who claimed: "God told me He would teach me The Word like it had not been known since the first century if I would teach it to others." Right away, that claim set him apart from every other minister and let us know we couldn't get this special Bible knowledge from anyone but Wierwille. I believed that claim with my whole heart until about fourteen years into it, I began to doubt it. This claim of Wierwille's was published in Way materials, for instance, the book by Elena Whiteside, The Way: Living in Love . How did we get this special Bible knowledge: we

"The Word" - Which Bible Is It Anyway? by Charlene L. Edge Photo by:   emilydickinsonridesabmx Will the real Bible please stand up?  Trigger warning: if you hold the belief that the Bible is perfect—factually, historically, and scientifically true and is without contradictions—it is highly likely you’ll get uncomfortable reading this.  I’m not here to argue, but simply to share with those who care what I learned on my  journey out of what I consider a fundamentalist cult, The Way International™ (TWI). ♦ By the by, I think trigger warnings do not really help people, but keep them from learning something new and possibly worthwhile, like the value of considering other viewpoints. In this post, I want to give you some food for thought from the most instructive book about Fundamentalism that I read and re-read after leaving TWI. It’s James Barr’s book simply titled,  Fundamentalism . In 1987, just before I escaped TWI headquarters in New Knoxville, Ohio, a friend gave me a copy,

  Victor Paul Wierwille & Plagiarism  by Charlene Lamy Edge Photo: colorbox.com Welcome to a post about “biblical research” done by Victor Paul Wierwille and how he derived it from other people without citing them as his sources. This is called plagiarism. This is serious. In my memoir,  Undertow , readers find out how I discovered, while working in The Way’s research department, disturbing evidence on this topic. Why does Victor Paul Wierwille & “Copying” matter? Many current and former Way followers either deny, or are unaware of, how Wierwille used others’ publications and made them sound as if they were his own. He not only used them, he sold them and made a lot of money. He convinced us they were “the accuracy of The Word.” That, in my opinion, is reason for outrage.  In the 1970s before I woke up to the con that Wierwille orchestrated, I remember times when he was confronted with this issue by outsiders. He would retort that his work was original in that he put together w

Greetings! The following review of my memoir, Undertow , was first published by the International Cultic Studies Association on 02-26-2024. Enjoy!   As part of our mission to support scholars, mental health professionals, and former cultic group members and their families, ICSA Reviews publishes, via email, social media, and in print, reviews of new and recent books and other media dealing with cults and coercive control.   Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International   by Charlene L. Edge   New Wings Press, LLC, 2017. ISBN-10:  0997874708; ISBN-13:   978-0997874709. Paperback, 474 pages, $24.95. Kindle, $8.49. Amazon.com   Reviewed by Bart Stewart   Undertow may be looked back on someday as an im