Is Victor Paul Wierwille and The Way International Fraudulent?

What Seems Fraudulent About Victor Paul Wierwille and The Way International?

by Charlene Edge

In my view, based on my 17 years of experience in The Way and on research I’ve done since, The Way International is highly suspect, even fraudulent, in my opinion. Among many reasons, two are:

1) V. P. Wierwille claimed God told him He would teach him The Word like it had not been known since the first century if he would teach it to others.

"The Word” is a phrase Wierwille usually employed to refer to the Bible.

This claim is made by Wierwille himself and recorded in the book by Elena Scott Whiteside, The Way: Living in Love. American Christian Press. 1972.

If by the term "the Word" Wierwille meant the Bible (the cannon as seen in the KJV), there is a BIG problem: the New Testament, the contents of half the Bible, was not established until AFTER the first century. 

It evolved between 250-300 A. D.

2) The second reason The Way is highly suspect, even fraudulent, in my opinion, is that Wierwille plagiarized the work of others and passed it off as his original work.

For instance, his book, Receiving the Holy Spirit Today, is a very close reproduction of a book by J.E. Stiles titled The Gift of the Holy Spirit. I have both books. I've seen the evidence!

You can do an online search for more examples of Wierwille's plagiarism (which is theft) and you’ll find them. They include his use, without citing sources, of works by the late E. W. Bullinger, the late B. G. Leonard, and more.

In my memoir about my experiences in The Way, I show how I was recruited and how Wierwille used psychological manipulation to gain and keep followers. 

My book is a very personal story of how Wierwille personally trained me, and how Craig Martindale, the second president of The Way, eventually betrayed me. Martindale was ousted in 2000 after court cases asserting his sexual misconduct were settled out of court.

My book is Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International.

It is available at all major booksellers, in paperback and eBook. Find me at https://charleneedge.com

 


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