Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about The Way International

First, a few words about Undertow If you’re not acquainted with my story in Undertow , here’s a section from the Preface of my book: In its heyday in the 1980s, The Way International was one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America, with about forty thousand followers worldwide. Founded in 1942 by a self-proclaimed prophet, Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–1985), who marketed the group as a biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry, The Way still operates in the shadow of its dark history. I knew Wierwille personally. As one of his biblical research assistants and ministry leaders, I am a witness to his charisma, as well as his abuse of power and manipulation of Scriptures to serve his own agenda. I discovered his sexual abuse of women and chronic plagiarism. Today, those underbelly facts are hidden, denied, or otherwise squelched. The years of Wierwille’s authoritarian reign and the chaos after his death provide the context of my story. Former Way devotees endorse Underto...

  Fundamentalism , by James Barr, is book that helped educate Charlene concerning Victor Paul Wierwille's claim of inerrancy of Scriptures and other aspects of Christian Fundamentalism. Greetings, readers! Today, let's flash back to a few of my posts about Christian fundamentalism. Note: The featured photo is of an outstanding book about fundamentalism, by James Barr. Studying it soon after I left The Way helped me understand my experiences in the cult, especially in the Biblical research department, which I tell you all about near the end of my memoir,  Undertow . I wrote about Christian fundamentalism... ...because The Way International, the Bible-based cult I spent 17 years in, fits into that category of religious ideology. How's that? The main reason is that The Way's founder, Victor Paul Wierwille (1916-1985) promoted the claim that "the Bible" is inerrant. Which Bible? He didn't say, other than "the original Scriptures," which were lost or ...

Welcome to the continuing celebration of Undertow's upcoming 10th birthday. If you've read the book, I want to say thank you for your support of my memoir—a story that, for one thing, shows how good intentions can go so very wrong. I foreshadow this at the end of the first chapter, "In the beginning, I only wanted to know, love, and serve God and understand the Bible. What harm could that possibly bring?" Thankfully, Undertow has a relatively happy ending, but believe me, that's not the case for many other people who escape from cults. From reader feedback, I know Undertow is a source of healing for other former cult followers. I also know it's a resource for outsiders. It shows how vulnerable seekers can get hooked on false promises, claims that prove detrimental to the quality of people's lives. A stellar review of Undertow In 2017, Undertow was independently reviewed by a professional at Kirkus Reviews. If you haven't heard of Kirkus, Wikipedia...