Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about The Way International

Over the years, I've found many definitions for "cult." In my view, one of the best is by Robert Jay Lifton, PhD, one of the first scholars to examine the cult phenomenon. Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and The Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry by Robert Jay Lifton. The New Press. 2019. Pg. 4, 5. [Chapter 7: Trump, is very timely]. "I have insisted upon retaining the word “cult” for groups that meet three criteria:  First, a shift in worship from broad spiritual ideas to the person of a charismatic guru;  second, the active pursuit of a thought reform-like process that frequently stresses some kind of merger with the guru; and  third, extensive exploitation from above (by the guru and leading disciples)—whether economic, sexual, or psychological—of the idealism of ordinary followers from below." For more voices on this topic, read here:  What is a Cult? For more about Lifton, visit  Robert Jay Lifton - Wikipedia

Pictured is Charlene L. Edge at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. 2022. Photo by her husband, Dr. Hoyt L. Edge. Welcome to my blog about The Way International and related topics such as cults, Christian fundamentalism, and my memoir, Undertow , that describes my 17-year immersion in The Way as a leader and biblical researcher trained by the founder, Victor Paul Wierwille.  If you don't know, The Way was started about 75 years ago by Wierwille in Ohio. It is still in business as I write this on September 10, 2026. That fact distresses me beyond measure. If you want to know why, my memoir answers that question, and so do many posts on this blog. The Way's current website is:  The Way International - Biblical Research, Teaching, and Fellowship The content on this blog Many of the posts you find here I first published on my author website at https://charleneedge.com. This month I retired that website. With its disappearance from the internet went more than 400 posts I wrote...

Greetings, readers. I'm posting this important announcement especially for any of you who are cult survivors like me. The announcement is in the form of a letter from Dr. Janja Lalich encouraging us to participate in a confidential survey whose results will help to educate counselors. I took the survey myself and submitted it last week. I'm grateful to Dr. Lalich for the wonderful work she does and for her support of my cult memoir, Undertow. At the end of this post, you'll find her bio and the endorsement she wrote for my book. Note: The deadline for taking the survey is August 31, 2026. A letter from Janja Lalich, PhD Professor Emerita of Sociology Founder & CEO of Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion Hello, I’m writing to encourage all survivors of cults, coercion, and/or extremist groups to [click this link:]  please participate in this study . This survey research was formulated by Dr. Natalie Fabert, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University. Dr. Fabert...

The following was originally published on my blog at https://charleneedge.com. May 21, 2021 Greetings, especially to those of you interested in cults and their downsides. Today, I'm happy to republish the following E-Newsletter, "Deception, Dependency, and Dread in the Conversion Process" with permission of the author, Michael D. Langone, who holds a PhD in counseling psychology and is executive director of International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), which provides information, education, and help to those adversely affected by or interested in cultic and other “high-control” groups and relationships. Besides that, I happen to know him personally for the kind, intelligent, and dedicated counselor he is and have worked with him at ICSA conferences. In my opinion, Langone's article well describes aspects of cult ensnarement that many of us, after exiting the cave of a high-control group, look back and recognize from the tunnel of darkness in which we'd been tr...

February 22, 20025 The current Way organization still lauds the corrupt Victor Paul Wierwille as their founding "man of God."  About the Founder - Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille   That's enough for me to categorize the current organization as corrupt. Its roots, due to Victor Paul Wierwille's (VPW) corruption, are rotten. He stole nearly the entire book about the holy spirit from J. E. Stiles's book. He plagiarized other men's work like B. G. Leonard's class about the holy spirit, which VPW made into The Power for Abundant Living Class. He also "borrowed" from E. W. Bullinger's many works. Due to VPW's corruption, The Way's current "tree" cannot be any good no matter how "nice" any followers might be. Many of us had first-hand experience with the authoritarian, narcissistic, abusive, predatory (sexual and financial), and cavalier plagiarist named Victor Paul Wierwille. We know that he stole most of his teachings that ar...

Greetings, readers! It’s November and we’re celebrating another  Undertow  birthday. Eight years ago this month, New Wings Press, LLC published my memoir that you probably know about —   Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. What you may  not  know, is that not long after its publication, just before I gave a free presentation at Rollins College about my cult story, a local newspaper reporter interviewed me about the book. His article was published March 8, 2018. Here you go! Winter Park resident Charlene Edge escaped a fundamentalist cult | West Orange Times & Observer (orangeobserver.com) Undertow  is available in paperback and ebook at major booksellers. Indie bookstores and libraries can order it for you, too. Thanks for reading!

The following is the Preface to  Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. By Charlene L. Edge In its heyday in the 1980s, The Way International was one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America, with about forty thousand followers worldwide. 1 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. In 1987, after...

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 ...

Greetings, readers. The following is a version of a post I once published on my website https://charleneedge.com. The same is true of most posts I've included here on my Blogspot account.  Protestant Fundamentalism and scholars who say useful things about it By Charlene L. Edge I'm thinking again about Protestant Fundamentalism and how it hooks believers. How does it do that? With the hook I call "certainty."  Over the years, I've looked into how fundamentalists get hooked on certainty and found scholars who have something helpful to say about it. By the way, there are many kinds of fundamentalism. Most religions have a fundamentalist branch within their system that demands a literal interpretation of and obedience to its doctrines, and engages in black and white thinking. I mainly address Christian fundamentalism because I spent so long in that land of lost perspectives. When I left The Way International, a Christian fundamentalist group, I tore down the curtain ...

One of my favorite humorists, Oscar Wilde, quoted a popular adage that I absolutely love:  "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  At one of my presentations about cults I used that adage to convey this: Anyone who does not stand for good values, such as respectful discussion, empathy, and transparent leadership, just might find themselves falling for a cult. Feel free to share the following info with anyone who is worried about a loved one (or themselves!) in danger of falling for a controlling organization making promises that sound too good to be true. A word of caution Be wary about spending boatloads of time and energy trying to talk someone out of their involvement in a group that you see as manipulative and deceptive--but remain open to talk about it if they want to.  Remember this wise saying from Mark Twain: "It's easier to fool a man than to convince him he has been fooled. Note: The following is from a presentation I gave to...

What are reliable sources on the subject of cults? This post offers a list of sources I respect on this topic. I encourage you to share this post. Links on the book titles take you to Goodreads.com where you can find descriptions of each book.  In the case of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), the link takes you to their website. This list of sources was compiled by Charlene L. Edge, author of Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. Robert Jay Lifton, PhD Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and The Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry by Robert Jay Lifton. The New Press. 2019. Pg. 4, 5. [Chapter 7: Trump, is very timely]. "I have insisted upon retaining the word “cult” for groups that meet three criteria: First, a shift in worship from broad spiritual ideas to the person of a charismatic guru; second, the active pursuit of a thought reform-like process that frequently stresses some kind of merger with the guru...