Sometime last year I told my wife that the pastoral staff of our church were preparing a series on the Sermon on the Mount. Having not grown up in the ATI world (in the Advanced Training Institute), I had not anticipated her less-than-enthusiastic response: “Yeah, I’ve had enough teaching on THAT to last me my whole life.” And it’s true. If you are ex-ATI like my wife, it’s likely that you were educated in part through Bill Gothard’s 54-module “Wisdom Books,” which uses these three chapters of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount teaching as a framework for an entire homeschool curriculum.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably familiar with the Wisdom Books, but in case you’re not, let me illustrate. Did you know that you can take one verse from the Sermon on the Mount and use it to teach not only Bible, but also science, history, social skills, ethics… everything? Take Module 15, for instance: “Ye are the light of the world.” These words of Christ become a launch point for discussions on the Church as a light during the Crusades, the science of the eyeball, the medicinal value of sunlight, biblical citations for each color of the prism, and my personal favorite… found on page 621:
“Learn ten ways to direct the eyes of others to your countenance.”
In other words, if you’re going to be a light, how do you get other people to notice it? There are several suggested tips, including incessant smiling, choosing colors which enhance your skin tones, and avoiding “eye traps.” An eye trap is something that draws attention to a place of the body it shouldn’t be drawing attention to (thereby dimming your light). An accompanying quiz asks, “Are you able to identify the eye traps in these pictures?” As an outsider to the Wisdom Books, I must admit that all six of the women pictured here look decidedly Puritanical to me, but my wife has been well-trained and can identify all six. Can you?
But the bigger question is this: Is this really what the Sermon on the Mount is about? No doubt there is some wisdom in the Wisdom Books, and it took great creativity and effort to frame the different subjects and academic disciplines—from math to history to civics—around Jesus’ famous sermon. If you’re an alumnus of the curriculum, I suspect you learned some helpful things and are likely to remember some positive stories, activities, and illustrations.
But the overall effect is concerning, because of what becomes of the actual Sermon on the Mount. When we force these verses to say things well beyond their original intention, we lose the powerful essence of the sermon’s original meaning. Imagine bringing home an elaborate vintage oil painting, hanging it on your office wall, and then using it as a bulletin board for your various post-it notes, photos, and to-do lists. The pushpins may hold, but the add-ons will quickly obscure the intended beauty underneath.
In the case of the first verses of the Sermon on the Mount, commonly called the Beatitudes, this message is crucial. By using these verses in booklets 3 through 12 to portray character qualities to pursue and principles to master, the Wisdom Books examine the post-its at the expense of the canvas, and all the extras leave us with something less than the words of Christ. As much as the subject matter may be interesting or even necessary for a student to learn, Jesus didn’t bless the meek so we could understand gastric ulcers[1] or bless the mourning so we could use pi to calculate the circumference of Ninevah.[2]
Although a more novel approach, Gothard isn’t the only person to present the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) as a list of characteristics to pursue, a sort of “Eight Commandments for the New Kingdom.”[3] But consider this. If this is simply a presentation of the new Christian morality—the priority qualities of the ‘new regime’—then in the Beatitudes we essentially have an eight-step process on how to engineer your way into the Kingdom. Just be humble, and you’ll be blessed. Just be a peacemaker, and you’ll be blessed. I appreciate Dallas Willard’s words that this approach creates “If not salvation by works, then possibly salvation by attitude.”[4] I’ll be blessed if I can gain the right attitude or—better yet—contrive the right circumstances of sadness[5] or insult[6] or persecution.[7] The usually-unintended result paints Jesus’ words as a place of guilt, a place of excessive law, a place of higher standards and measuring up, not a place of good news, and the message that no one is beyond beatitude.
Stripping away the clutter of post-its for a moment, consider the canvas. If you’re reading this article, it’s probable that you, like my wife, have lost the luster of these verses amongst the educational accoutrements of the Wisdom Books. Perhaps your exposure to the Beatitudes began with that unfortunate parking lot people-judging assignment[8] and ended with a map of U.S. pollen concentrations.[9]
But what if the Beatitudes are far more straightforward than that? In fact, what if they aren’t about the earning of God’s favor at all? When Jesus spoke to this original audience on the mountain, he wasn’t creating a new religious manifesto for them—or us—to attain to. He wasn’t telling them—or us—how to earn points with God. Instead, what if Jesus is saying that in all these places and more—meekness, mourning, persecution, and all the rest—through him we can experience the Kingdom? It’s essential to grasp the gospel message that if a person is in Christ, they already have his favor and blessing. The blessing does not need to be elicited or engineered by maintaining the proper attitudes or circumstances. And if this is true, then the Beatitudes must not be about the earning of God’s favor, but about the experience of his Kingdom. Jesus is explaining the places where we can enjoy and experience the blessings of the Kingdom that are already ours in Christ.
Far from being a place of jaded do-goodism, the original audience of Jesus’ words would have been floored by this. Jesus is speaking on the fringe of Israel to the fringes of Judaism and the very people who would have been defined by the society as the not-blessed. Matthew 4:24 describes the very audience of this sermon as “all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering with severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed.” These were people who knew instinctively to step out of the way when a good Jew came down the street, who knew not to make eye contact because of their condition or their disease, who didn’t hold the positions of power or the successful jobs.
From this milieu came a crowd of disciples; they were healed, gathered, and taught. If the Beatitudes don’t make sense to us, perhaps we need to scoot up into the crowd alongside these folks and listen to Jesus’ words like they would have heard them. “Jesus is saying we’re blessed! We who would never be ritually clean, we who wouldn’t be admitted to the temple, we who have had to go through the streets yelling ‘Unclean! Unclean!’—this new Rabbi is saying that we can experience the Kingdom. That we can be called blessed. That no one is beyond beatitude!” Jesus turned the culture’s kingdom-conceptions upside down with these words. In a culture (not unlike ours) where religious people assumed that virtuous lives would be marked by exterior successes, Jesus encouraged a mountainside full of have-nots with a radically different definition of blessedness: There’s hope for everyone! The Gospel of Christ provides a way for outsiders to be redefined as insiders.
Sadly we have dissected the message to death. It’s easier to indict the Wisdom Books because they did it with greater magnitude, but we are all prone to add to the message, to miss the exuberance of the amazing message of a “gospel for misfits.”
Yes, the Beatitudes are qualities we’re called to pursue. Both the Old and New Testaments call us in many places to live meekly, to be peacemakers, to pursue a pureness of heart. But the beatitudinal nuance is this: I pursue these things not to secure the blessing of God, but to experience the nearness of the Kingdom. The more you pursue the Kingdom the more you’ll see these things in your life, and the more you see these things in your life, the more you’ll experience the Kingdom.
You may love the Wisdom Books and look upon them with great nostalgia. I’m simply trying to get past the curricular exercises to the awe and beauty of the message itself: If we are in Christ, we already have God’s blessing, his beatitude. We don’t want to miss the wonder of the canvas underneath. Jesus is sharing the great news of a Kingdom turned upside down, a new regime that makes a way for the have-nots to have it all. And in the Sermon on the Mount, that’s the greatest wisdom.
[1] Wisdom Booklet 5, p. 153: “How is our health affected by not yielding our personal rights?”
[2] Wisdom Booklet 4, p. 131-132. The linear progression of thought here is that mourning means repentance, that repentance often utilized sackcloth, as demonstrated in Jonah 3—and while we’re at it, let’s do some math!
[3] I take verse 11 as a thought connected with the ‘salt and light’ passage in vv. 13-16. However, if you prefer to treat it as the last beatitude instead, then there are nine, not eight.
[5] Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn…”
[6] Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are you when people insult you…”
[7] Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…”
[8] Wisdom Booklet 1, p. 10, “How to Develop the Spiritual Skill of ‘Seeing’ People as Jesus Saw Them”
[9] Wisdom Booklet 11, p. 450.
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Kevin is a pastor in North Carolina. He is married to Bev (former ATI-student and fellow RG contributor), and they are parents to three young and very energetic children. Though Kevin's exposure to IBLP/ATI is secondhand through his wife and her family, he shares Recovering Grace's passion to help people process their experiences and find freedom in Christ. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys reading, hiking, and an occasional slapstick video-editing project.
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This hits the nail on the head, Kevin. As a "graduate" of completing all the Wisdom Booklets, I can affirm that they have dissected Jesus' message to death and consequently have obscured the true heart of the message: the Gospel is for misfits, and the Good News is that we can experience God's Kingdom because Christ has already earned God's favor. Thank you for bringing this to light again.
The Wisdom Booklets are definitely saturated with the idea that virtuous lives are marked by exterior successes. They obscure the true message of the Gospel and turn it into a checklist of rules and goals to achieve. This route is suffocating for a Christian walk, to which I can attest.
Even still, 15+ years later, my stomach twists at the thought of reading the Sermon on the Mount or hearing a sermon about it. It's like I still can't read/hear it without all the associated baggage that I was taught along with it (everything from the confusing math applications, to the dreaded Greek studies, to the trick questions on the cover of the Wisdom Booklet). Someday, I hope to be free from this awful trigger feeling, but for now I am glimpsing the wonder of the "canvas underneath" as you so eloquently put it. Jesus' original intent is refreshingly beautiful and freeing.
This article is a work of art. Thank you for the time you put into it.
I remember the day I read the Sermon on the Mount from start to finish with as unbiased an eye as I could muster, Wisdom Booklets aside. It is such an uplifting, redeeming gift of love and forgiveness and grace. The "you have heard that it was said...but I say to you" sections were taught as though we should strive harder, rather than that it was impossible for us to meet the standard so we needed Jesus. And oh, how we strove! The joy I could have felt in my redemption was lost in the striving--the judgment of others, the wardrobe, the hairstyles, the lifestyle, and so on.
I love this: "The Gospel of Christ provides a way for outsiders to be redefined as insiders." The gospel was for all the world, not for the select few who could live by a "higher standard" than the norm. Rather than inviting in the outsiders, the WB's devised a way for us to be the elite insiders. I have mortified myself with that mindset many times as an adult. There is just so much the mind needs to renew!
Thank you so much for this! You explained this in a way I've never been able to.
Well said (or should I say "written")! Recently I've been thinking about Bill Gothard as I've read some of the excellent and sometimes heartbreaking articles on here. One of the things that has so clearly come to me (and is just what you're writing about) is that Bill's teachings take precedence over Scripture in the lives of those who follow him. He's added to what is said and those additional things are what should be followed. I've realized in my own life how ingrained some of his teachings are--for example, he has exact wording one should use when asking God to forgive us for our sins, or when seeking forgiveness from another person. I'm working hard to put those aside and only use Scripture as my guide. We are free in Christ!! (I never used the Wisdom Booklets in teaching our children--I honestly have to say I thought they were rather strange. We did attend many of the Basic Seminars and served in various areas there.)
Kevin: As you probably know, the core of the IBLP ministry - and the basis of the Wisdom Books - is focused on "meditation". Taking God's word individually, memorizing it, then "ruminating" on it throughout the day.
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night. " (Psalm 1:2)
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." (Joshua 1:8)
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 6:7)
This is not Bible Study . . . this is thinking, talking, pondering, going over and over the same verse(s) with your children, all day long. I don't know about you, but if I am going over and over a certain Scripture I start to look hard at each word . . . and phrase . . . and even, out of shear boredom, start thinking of angles and connections that may not be apparent on the surface.
Take your verse about "seeing the multitudes" and do that "Day and Night". At some point you ponder what he saw . . . what we see . . . how we see . . . why he was there . . . the history of the place . . . how many people were there . . . how they all saw Him and heard Him . . . on and on.
In the context of God's direction to "meditate" in His word day and night, the concept of a "Wisdom Book" starts making a lot of sense. It is far from a static document, and it is far from having all of the answers. It is just a way to springboard an entire family meditating on the words and commands of Jesus by doing at least some of the legwork.
That individual families come up with other angles and perspectives than Mr. G presents goes without saying. I doubt there is a family in ATI that sits back and believes every conclusion he comes to. I know we don't. It is "food for thought". The power is in this method of "eating" God's Word for ourselves. I know of no other "program" that actually focuses on "meditating" on Scripture.
Thanks for your thoughts, Alfred. It's good to hear that your family didn't accept every conclusion reached in these books. But my concern isn't the conclusions (though I suppose there are a lot of them that would be worth examining on RG in a theological context), but the way in which the intended message gets 'muddied up' in all the add-ons. You say you know of no other program that actually focuses on meditating on Scripture. I disagree; the Wisdom Books do not have the corner on this (I would recommend the Navigator's 2:7 curriculum to you, or the book 'How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.') And in fact I would say that the material in the Wisdom Books gets the student far removed from the actual intention of Scripture, missing the point as they instead search for 'deeper meaning.'
It's easy to come to the BIble with an agenda; I've done so many times, both personally (e.g. looking for an answer on a specific prayer, and 'reading into' whatever passage I'm reading, looking for that specific answer) and pastorally (trying to make a verse say what fits my point or illustration rather than the other way around!). The agenda of the Wisdom Books is stated on the IBLP site: "Each Booklet amplifies a section of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount through practical instruction in linguistics, history, science, law, and medicine." In other words, because it's a curriculum intended to teach multiple disciplines, that becomes a 'grid' we try to cram every verse of the Sermon on the Mount into. Some of it fits, some of it doesn't. And my point from the article is that this obscures the main point of the original words of Christ. Make sense?
That's a hugely important point, Kevin. I don't want to put words into your mouth - my way of saying this is that pressing a grid onto any text that was not intended to be there by the original author nor understood by the original audience is actually violence to the text. It is a sort of rebellion: it is a failure to submit to the text.
This is spot on. Thank you.
This raises a question, though: Doesn't Bill get these "rich insights" / "deep insights" / "new insights" as a result of fasting and praying for the month of January and receiving rhemas? (rhemas as defined by him) I believe I recall them being introduced as such at the ATI conference in Bloomington (?) when I was a kid, when the WBs were still in process of being written.
That's actually like 6 questions but those are honest questions of the sort that opened my eyes to the fact that I could not "eat the meat and spit out the bones" but rather I needed to walk away as if from a false religion. The fact that Bill does not play well with so much evangelical scholarship puts more of an emphasis on his personal credibility than would be on most teachers, seems to me.
And yet, instead of giving me a love for the Word, WB and wisdom searches did just the opposite.
I dreaded getting up each day to read the Psalms and Proverbs with my family.
It all became drudgery and a horrible menial task that I would do anything to get out if.
I did not learn what true mediation was until moving out and far away from ATI.
Joy was brought to me in a way I never knew when it became about HIM and not about how well I was performing.
It's not about me.
Me too! Everything you just said. I can't make Bible reading a duty. For me, it has to be spontaneous/unplanned. Otherwise a mental block will set in. I get the most refreshment and life out of Scripture by NOT having a quiet time every morning. I know that kind of defies convention, but at this season in my life, I believe God is using that, and is not condemning me for it.
Who says "convention" should dictate our walk with the Lord?
Also, what wisdom books teach is far from meditation. It places meaning where there is none. That is blatant abuse of Scripture.
1 Timothy 1:3-4
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
Alfred,
"That individual families come up with other angles and perspectives than Mr. G presents goes without saying."
Variations of this statement are said so much that it has become a punchline. One has to wonder exactly what is Bill Gothard teaching, if so many people are taking things off in "crazy" directions using his teachings as a springboard. This almost makes Bill Gothard look less like a Bible Teacher, and more like a slick marketer, that finds a way for you to "see what you want to see" in his teachings. Kinda like how successful politicians communicate.
"I doubt there is a family in ATI that sits back and believes every conclusion he comes to."
While I'll ignore how this creates dissonance with your previous comment, I would say that you are exactly correct. This creates internal conflict as they feel that they have to believe it, because it's a "rhema" from "God". They try to force themselves to believe things they don't believe. This results in their children losing respect for them and in extreme cases leaving the Faith completely.
"I know we don't."
Then get out. Move back to California before more harm comes to your family.
"It is "food for thought"."
So are a lot of things. Think about it then go back to a Biblical relationship with Jesus instead of a relationship with his "rules".
"The power is in this method of "eating" God's Word for ourselves."
It's been well documented how Bill Gothard doesn't "eat" his own cooking. Why should we?
"I know of no other "program" that actually focuses on "meditating" on Scripture."
1) Kevin has addressed this already, but I'll just underscore by pointing out that BG did not invent the concept of Scripture meditation.
2) I would argue that in fact, this program does not even emphasis scripture meditation. It talks about it a lot, true, and seems to, but make no mistake, there's only one acceptable result from such meditation.
I find it interesting that people who actually DO meditate on scripture the way Bill Gothard "emphasizes" that you should, begin to see the fallacies and error in Bill Gothard's "hidden meanings", and leave ATI and quit attending Basic Seminars.
I remember when I bought my house and the realtor kept asking me "Don't you trust me?", "You can trust me."
That's the point I started to realize that when someone is on a soapbox about something, watch out. They are very likely hiding some weakness in their own life.
LOL - What's wrong with those dresses? They look plenty modest to me ... my goodness ...
By ATI's definition, every one of those is wrong. They all supposedly draw your eye away from the countenance. Any detail around the cleavage or the legs or anything is bad. I studied these intently when I was a kid - I was an expert at identifying eye-traps! how sad, really, how sad. Also, hair that is too attention-getting is wrong as well.
Something I saw more than once with my own eyes: Bill would sit very close to a young lady, like hip touching hip close, and he would draw image with pencil and paper for her showing how that a "godly" appearance is one that includes soft curls, etc. If you look in old group photos, you will see a lot of loose-fitting shirts and scarves. These were not merely popular options, they were do-or-die outfits for the ladies. The point was that your eye should be pulled away from the body entirely and focused on the "countenance" which should always have a "ministry smile" even if the person is unhappy inside.
Notice that we were never given examples of men wearing eye-traps?
I think eye traps on men would be closer to the "What Not to Wear" show on TV---like men wearing sandals with socks, or pants that don't fit well. Your eyes can't help but notice, but not AT ALL in a sexy way. haha!
There is only one of the six that is truly "modest", by the definition in the Wisdom Booklets ;) The one on the bottom far right. I could explain it to you, but it would be rather time consuming.
Yes, but Hannah, it's still got an eye trap. You can't have patterned stockings that draw attention away from your face, no matter how modest the rest of your outfit is! Besides, it would cause someone with a foot fetish to stumble...
foot fetish... cough*Bill*cough
I wasn't naming names, but if the shoe fits... (pun intended)
Oh yes! The stockings! That one was always a "trick question! Ok, so they are all bad.
What about the v neck and wide shoulders, exposing the clavicle? Should she wear a shirt underneath in order to hide the clavicle and possible cleavage?
That one has a collar that makes a v down to the bosom. If your eyes were following the line of the collar (because every time I see a person in a collar, I trace it in my head?!?) your eyes would pass dreadfully close to boob land. Horrors!
Funny- I wasn't raised in ATI, so my eye isn't trained for this kind of thing, but I thought that last one was definitely bad because it had a V-neck. If she leans forward, a bit of cleavage might show!!!
Upon further inspection, I see that the last one isn't a V-neck, but a triangular lace collar. The cleavage is safe, thank goodness. :)
I don't know if this will eventually be addressed, but there was an interpretation of a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, that I find far more disturbing, in retrospect. Jesus uses several examples throughout the sermon, to show that no matter how righteous a person is, it doesn't get them to heaven. For example, "whoever says, 'you fool,' is in danger of hellfire." Which of us has not done the equivalent of calling someone "stupid"? Clearly, the issue is not that this keeps us out of heaven, but that we are ALL so broken, as to need Christ's redeeming power.
The Wisdom Booklet interpretation? You must have pristine behavior, because you will go to hell if you tell someone they are stupid. It cancels out the death of Christ on your behalf.
This caused some unnecessary anxiety for me, because I remembered a time as a small child, before I really even knew what the word meant, when I had called someone a "fool". I had prayed and begged God's forgiveness, but was very afraid that he just couldn't forgive me for that.
I remember another time, where a Wisdom Booklet took the passage about, "except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven," to say... That we, as children studying the booklet... had to be better than the extensively-trained pharisees of Jesus' day, or we wouldn't go to heaven. And we thought, Wow, the pharisees were really strict people, and we're supposed to keep OT law better than they did?? And we had already been taught that OT law was the standard for holiness, without EVER being given a clarification that NT believers were not bound to it.
So Gothard managed to completely circumvent Jesus’ message of redemption, in favor of a works-based gospel. It was very confusing for Gothard to say both that we were saved by grace, but that we would go to hell if we weren’t better than the pharisees.
Proverbs 29:1 haunted me for years. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Every time I showed 'rebellion' (rebellion being anything from a slightly bad attitude, to sloppy handwriting, to outright disobedience) that verse would come back to me, and I lived in dread that I would grow up to be a hardened person (possibly criminal), and God would destroy me. Very sad. While it's important to acknowledge the truth of that Scripture, I really don't think God meant everytime you do some little thing wrong.
btw, as a side note, I feel that most ATI parents used the word 'rebellion' for every little thing they didn't like, whether it was actually a sin or not. Even voicing your opinion, ever so politely, was rebellion if it didn't line up with theirs. That's an article in and of itself I think.
"The Wisdom Booklet interpretation? You must have pristine behavior, because you will go to hell if you tell someone they are stupid. It cancels out the death of Christ on your behalf."
I am sorry . . . I need chapter and verse for that. When I have a chance I will break open my shrink-wrapped WB (we are before that section in this "round") to find the section you are referencing. I have NEVER seen anything resembling what you describe . . . cancelling the death of Christ? Losing your salvation? I do not believe this . . . and would not associate with a ministry that teaches that.
Ask my children what that means. It means that the punishment for those sins is much more severe than we usually think. So in a tier of "bad" to "really bad", the sins of hated, lust, etc. are up toward the "really bad" end. Fact is, we are "worthy" of a great many punishments that Jesus bore on the cross for us, His children. Why is this crime more severe than any others?
I'm done debating with you, Alfred. You aren't here to learn, only to challenge. I'm sure an adult could rationalize it away, given enough time. However, you must remember that, being a homeschool program, this was taught to CHILDREN, and you need to consider the impression that the CHILDREN came away with, who have not your masterful powers of rationalization. If a homeschool program is giving this impression to children, whether or not it was intended, you have to consider that either the teaching or the method of delivery is faulty. Gothard said and implied many times that NT believers are supposed to keep OT law, although there always did seem to be a lot of picking and choosing going on. I'm not going to debate the obvious with you, nor will I further try to prove myself to someone who can't even see the nose on their face.
Alfred,
You obviously were not reading Hannah's comments in context.
Looks like I have some catching up to do.
Kevin “You say you know of no other program that actually focuses on meditating on Scripture. I disagree; the Wisdom Books do not have the corner on this (I would recommend the Navigator's 2:7 curriculum to you, or the book 'How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.'”\
I think a lot of the Navigators . . . great ministries that also focus on getting Scripture for yourself. I am thinking, however, of curricula for Home Schooling. The Scripture about focusing on Scripture meditation throughout the day with your family sounds like home schooling. That is precisely what ATI sprang out of.
“ because it's a curriculum intended to teach multiple disciplines, that becomes a 'grid' we try to cram every verse of the Sermon on the Mount into. Some of it fits, some of it doesn't. And my point from the article is that this obscures the main point of the original words of Christ. Make sense?”
I know your concern, but it assumes that Scripture has exactly one understanding. Basically if we find the right “systematic theology” and commentator, we will have killed it dead, able to be mounted on a wall in beautiful completeness. I doubt you believe that – I know I don’t. If Science is continuously unable to “kill” the laws of physics, constantly finding deeper ways to understand and apply, I doubt that can be done to God’s Word, which is infinitely deeper.
Take the Beatitudes themselves. Do you believe you have “the” explanation for what He meant there? I have found application after application. One of the more exciting ones for me in recent years is to see a progression from Salvation (“Poor in Spirit”) through the stages of spiritual growth to maturity, where we are persecuted for the very thing we were “poor” in, i.e. righteousness, at the beginning. The fact that the reward for the first is the same as the reward for the last (“Kingdom of Heaven”) makes me thing they tie together in a loop. But there are many other ways to look at them that are equally fruitful, instructive. I am, after being saved 50 years, feeling further from a “complete” understanding of those few verses than ever before.
Again, coming from the perspective of meditation, it makes more sense. You are looking for a host of applications as you go over and over it. If you have an agenda, then you see what application you can find. A cow digests grass . . . the grass may turn into lots of muscle in one phase of life, horns in another, and into baby cow and milk in another. SAME input, different outputs.
I have often thought of the story of George Washington Carver in this context. The lowly peanut, simple, easy to explain . . . he had a need to make it “apply” in as many different ways as possible. In his way he felt God directing him (quote):
“I will grant you the mystery of the peanut. Take it inside your laboratory and separate it into water, fats, oils, gums, resins, sugars, starches and amino acids. Then recombine these under my three laws of compatibility, temperature and pressure. Then you will know why I made the peanut."
We all know he ended up creating 300 new uses and compounds from that legume. He saw the creativity of God in that.
I believe God’s word is like that too. There are many applications of Scripture which can solve a great many problems when we first separate it into its parts, and then apply compatibility (Scripture with Scripture), temperature and pressure (apply what we know to real life). A Wisdom Book does exactly that.
I am sure Dr. Carver did guided research. When he ended up with nitroglycerin as a product of the peanut, I doubt it was an accident, since he did not invent it. I am sure that you have taken a section and found an application for “Mother’s Day” or some other directed purpose because the situation called for it. This is real life. This is our daily food, applied a million ways. People are blessed, encouraged, built up. The living Word of God.
MatthewS : ”pressing a grid onto any text that was not intended to be there by the original author nor understood by the original audience is actually violence to the text. It is a sort of rebellion: it is a failure to submit to the text. “
Which assumes that the original audience had a full understanding of it as soon as the words left His mouth. We know for a fact that is not correct, as their “eyes were opened” subsequently in many cases. Many of the things Jesus spoke were often far from apparent, but formed the basis for a lot of meditation afterwards. Are you saying that you, who have read it all, understand it in the wake of that as Jesus intended it to be understood? Why do we study and research and ponder and debate and preach?
”This raises a question, though: Doesn't Bill get these "rich insights" / "deep insights" / "new insights" as a result of fasting and praying for the month of January and receiving rhemas?”
What does “rhema” mean, being as it is a distinctly different word from “logos” in the Greek, both of which translated “word”? With your years in the program you would know that he means precisely what we mean when we say, “I got a word from the Lord” . . . “the Lord spoke to me through that”. Insight, direction from the Holy Spirit through His word.
Example from history: George Muller read Psalms 81:10 one day: “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” It a light from on high, God’s direction to him to take him seriously, plan big, see Him work in proportion to how wide he opened his mouth. In the wake of it he began building orphanages with no source of support, choosing to publish the means of support – and many, many miracles in the process – at the end of each year in which they occurred.
Apply your understanding of “words from the Lord” to Muller. There were very tight, painful times, including mornings with hundreds of orphans sitting at tables with no food in the pantry and “wide open mouths”. He was reviled and opposed . . . it was far from an endlessly glorious undertaking. In fact, Mr. Muller was known for being determined and confident, a man that would listen to very few.
So . . . Did God speak? Was George correct in taking that application of that verse as a personal assignment to him from the Lord, and risking the Lord’s reputation on it in a very public way?
If you can talk to that, then I can talk about Gothard and his rhemas, since he means exactly the same thing.
Kim: “And yet, instead of giving me a love for the Word, WB and wisdom searches did just the opposite. I dreaded getting up each day to read the Psalms and Proverbs with my family.”
Boy . . . I hardly know how to respond. I can imagine if a family blindly follows the pattern that is recommended, it would be hard to take, i.e. reading straight through 1 chapter of Proverbs and 5 chapters of Psalms every morning. I never understood where the “Search” part of “Wisdom Search” (which is what he calls this) came in. For our part we were lucky to get through one of those. We stopped and pondered, we applied in endless ways . . . I have had the children come on a number of occasions and say, in so many words, how much they really enjoy those “treasure hunts”.
“Also, what wisdom books teach is far from meditation. It places meaning where there is none. That is blatant abuse of Scripture. “
Let’s say I am meditating on this verse:
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
As you know this is preached in sermon and song as a glorious revelation of Jesus in the OT. Apply all of the linguistic and contextual tools that seminaries teach . . . Isaiah “goes in” to the prophetess, presumably his wife, in the next chapter and she bears a son that matches the specifications given, specifically being “a sign” to Israel, the context of 7:14. Many theologians – a majority? Some that I know are saved - argue that the word should be translated “young woman” (the Hebrew “ahmah” can go either way), that “Immanuel” is born of the non-virgin prophetess and is also called Mahershalalhashbaz.
Which perspective is correct, and which is a “blatant abuse of Scripture”, as seminarians see it? Two very clearly defined "camps".
Alfred, I can't imagine your wisdom searches taking very long ;) I'm sure those are special times, we are just now embarking on that phase in our family ... (no IBLP stuff though ...:)
Nothing like it. Forget "Wisdom Books". Tackle a section with your kids, living, breathing it. When parents are excited, kids are excited. Humble parents can communicate a sense of need and fallibility while directing their children into the lifelong task of applying God's word to life.
I remember trips we have taken . . . Psalm 19 . . . sweeter than honey and the honey comb . . . and, of course, finding a working honey farm with lots of samples along the way. Little things like that that tell children that God is listening to us, caring for us, even planning for us . . . I never cease to be amazed at how direct connections to things being discussed tackle us and remind us of His active focus on us.
Love it. Great encouragement, Alfred.
Thanks for your thoughts, Alfred. We're delving into the topic of biblical interpretation—good stuff, but I don't equate Isaiah 7:14 (an issue of progressive revelation, where a prophet's words find partial fulfillment in their time, and greater fulfillment in Christ, with a final fulfillment at the Final Judgment) with what I'm talking about in the article. Let me explain with a random Wisdom Book; I'm pulling out #8 because that's the one on top of my pile:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)
A student of the Wisdom Books will then consider the following:
1. The first page is the usual six true/false questions (students say there's always a trick question on these...!). In this module, the questions seem to suggest a pure heart is something that Jesus 'establishes' but that we have to maintain, and can lose via bad actions or motives (much like the Roman Catholic view of infused grace and mortal/venial sin). I could write a whole article on the misconceptions here, but let's turn the page...
2. The 'Power Through Precision' section tells us that 'approaching God with a pure heart' means praying a specific kind of prayer. It says that genuine prayer is impossible without a pure heart. But it makes no mention of Christ's purchase of our heart or cleansing it to make it pure. I can't imagine an average teenager understanding anything other than that God won't hear them unless their heart is undivided.
3. The Science Resource deals with chemical bonds and how fire can break these bonds. 1 Peter 1:7 is quoted, and fiery trials are recounted as a family exercise.
4. The 'Authority Through Accuracy' section says that fractions can help us understand what it means to be pure in heart... turns out that a divided heart is a great place to learn about numerators and denominators!
5. The Medicine Resource talks about viral replication, bacterial disease, and the life cycle of some common parasites.
I'm not saying there aren't some decent and helpful lessons here and there. George Mueller is quoted and used as an example. There's a bit about how to do an etymological study of the Greek words kardia and katharos. There's a large section in pages 293-300 about religious pluralism that makes some decent points.
But when we're done with all 36 pages, have we really meditated on Scripture? Have we pondered at all what Jesus meant when he said that the pure in heart would see God? Have we left impressionable teens with the impression that their ability to have a relationship with God is contingent on their heart-purity or their ability to be a 'super-Christian like Mueller?'
I guess the whole point I'm trying to make, Alfred, is that the original intention of the passage has been missed. And not ONE interpretation. THE interpretation. I'm confident of this because we know that the Beatitudes are not Jesus' plan of salvation. They are not characteristics I must muster up in order to ever 'see God.' Purity was purchased. If this booklet was full of illustrations that supported the main point of the passage, that would be a worthy read. Maybe as a dad, you 'supplemented' this material with the reminder that God solved our impure heart problem through the Cross, and that the sacrifice of Christ has put them by faith at the absolute pinnacle of God's favor. They don't have to worry about 'praying it just right' or having just the right motives in order to find God's acceptance. In Christ they already have it. I expect you included that in your conversations with your kids. But it's not in the book.
OK, I gotta stop before I make another article out of this thing. My article was meant to take a wide-angle lens rather than burrow into the details. But I thought a concrete example might make my point. Does this address your question?
Navigators do the transferable concepts based on memory verses I used them as a young Christian very helpful
I would see the Navigators as an infinitely better resource for Scripture memorization, meditation, and discipleship than anything produced by IBLP.
Alfred, my questions are valid and they stand on their own. It is a routine tactic for you to change the subject into many rabbit trails. The point I was raising was not whether Gothard's teachings on rhemas hold up nor anything about George Mueller. I wasn't trying to prop up a long discussion anyway, just sharing what I think are real and important questions.
If we have different definitions of terms, it is hard to have a meaningful discussion, Matthew. The rhemas you described I reject, adding to Scripture, new revelations that parallel the Bible . . . the ones I describe are consistent with what a great many believers would accept. So . . . that is far from "Changing the subject".
Kevin, BTW - awesome stuff here. I was never exposed to Gothard's teaching on the Beattitudes (other than what is mentioned in the Basic), so apparently was spared some mind spam. Anyway, great word picture with the post it notes on the painting. That is something I will ponder the next time I prepare a SS lesson or just simply read a familiar passage - let the Word speak.
Alfred; I have been reading your responses to past and present articles have been written on this website. I myself am a past "ATI'er" having left the program when I was 21 after finishing the Culinary Art Training.
I am compelled to tell you that you absolutely are choosing to be Blinded still by the suttle False Doctrine of Bill Gothard and IBLP. I see and read everything that is being posted and am encouraged that there is freedom from the clutches of such a Cult.
My experience from the age of 10yrs old to 21yrs old was something that still affects my life and view of the World. I was sent to EXCEL and Culinary Arts Training to "TRY" to fix my rebellious nature" I remember reading wisdom booklets and being told to take them to heart! Every word because of the "Wisdom" that we had to WORK our way into adulthood. I remember having shoved down my throat that I wasn't good enough in any area of my life because I was a girl/woman. I "got saved" because I was afraid of going to hell but I Must remember that the Only way to truly have a relationship with God was through a man. Either my Father or my Husband.
I plead with you to OPEN you eyes and heart to what the message is really trying to say on this awesome site. The Authors and responders of these articles have been through these life experiences and know exactly what the heart of the ministry is, but lets ponder for a moment, if I put just a little bits of poop in my brownie mix would you still eat them? ANYTHING that takes away from the simplicity and purity of the WORD of GOD is False teaching. EVERYTHING in life must be based out of the WORD of GOD. However, we must remember that GOD is a GOD of LOVE and HIS Character is LOVE, GRACE, and MERCY. HIS DNA is Grace.
My parents are still stanch followers of IBLP and BG. I still am told that I am less than a man. I am still unmarried (shocker, seeing how if you continually are told that you aren't good enough how can you Trust anyone enough to marry them) but here's the Thing, Galatians 3:29 says that GOD is NOT a respecter of persons. I am a Missionary to Ireland and am Called BY GOD to PREACH from the PULPIT and on the Streets, Convention Centers, Churches and anywhere I need to the GOSPEL of PEACE!!
and in response to BG getting Rhema words from GOD and we must follow them... Why is it that we cant get our own Rhema words from GOD? WE as Christians all have the same Holy Ghost living on the inside of us? I know that GOD speaks to me, doesn't He to you? or have you refused to keep your spiritual ears open to be able to listen to the Holy Ghost.
Don't be a fool and blindly follow a man or a Cult over the ledge just because you "can't find another home-school program" there is always an option to change and to find better options for your family.
Thank you to all of you Authors and responders who write articles that bring freedom to the soul.
There is at least a moral assumption of neutrality behind the two interpretations of the virgin conceiving a child.The passage in Isaiah may indeed allude to Mary, as is generally the most common, having the Christ child.But then there may be another? Mere semantics,however would not allow for this articles' accurate assesement of all the fallacies of Gothard's so called "Rhemas"!You're expected to look down his loaded gun,be pummeled,beaten,called a rebel,because his rhemas apply to you.They deal with your life,not just the recipient's.Therefore I judge this as false manipulation.He's called on the carpet now more than ever for this very thing.
Great thoughts Kevin. I liked this... :-)
"Far from being a place of jaded do-goodism, the original audience of Jesus’ words would have been floored by this. Jesus is speaking on the fringe of Israel to the fringes of Judaism and the very people who would have been defined by the society as the not-blessed."
Wowzers...
First, I'm a homeschooling mom. I know literally hundreds of homeschooling families and have only run into ATI and Quiverfull families a handful of times, thankfully. Our family would not fit anywhere close with ATI. On my most conservative day, I could never look like one of the ladies dressed in the above picture. I'm sorry, but I look at that picture and just laugh.
Only...it isn't funny that children learn right along side adults to condemn others outward appearance based on what????? One man's interpretation of a handful of verses??? Sick.
Secondly, we are in close contact with two young men who came from ATI homes. One came from a family who only used things loosely from B.G. He turned out normal, but that is probably because after a few years, his parents wisely decided to have a relationship with the Lord instead of BG.
The other young man...where do I begin? His parents bought the whole indoctrination hook, line, and sinker. Quiverfull, home church, home "education" (only, sadly, they didn't focus on academics...just the basics...and farm life...I would say he probably has an ninth grade education at best). This has really affected him since now in his mid-twenties, he basically has to restart things and get a real education before he can enroll in college. So, he will have to take about six remedial courses before he can even begin college.
Thankfully, this second young man was the first in his large family to confront the false teachings and his parents (although he was respectful) that he was going to begin attending a real church, seek real discipleship and biblical leadership, and lead a life in fellowship with others who may or may not look ANYTHING like the "spiritually" higher plane of BG devotees. But, the scars are still there:(
Folks want to know why BG and his organization haven't had one of those national news investigations???? Well, then they'd have to also investigate why a MAJORITY of public school systems have invested heavily into BG's Character First (also called Character Counts)...the whole Five Pillars of Character Training only this one is marketed for secular systems. That's right.
I really want to hear from guys who came out of ATI as single young men. How did it affect your outlook on the opposite sex and dating once you rejected ATI? How did it affect your outlook on churches and Christianity?
I really want to hear from guys who came out of ATI as single young men. How did it affect your outlook on the opposite sex and dating once you rejected ATI? How did it affect your outlook on churches and Christianity?
As a young man, I'd say that I first really came out when I went to a Christian college and took a Bible class. I got really low marks when I used Gothard's form of interpretation (I may have even cited a Wisdom Book beatitude, as I extrapolated a passage from the Sermon on the Mount). But as part of that class, I read "Grasping God's Word" which is a brilliant book I would recommend to any ATI leaver, as it totally destroys Gothard's interpretation framework.
As for the courtship side, I will say that college was very painful. It felt like 8th grade. I couldn't really fit in with courting or dating. My experience with women (or in the more singular form) was one of the greatest challenges I wrestled with. I am still single, partially because even though I am willing to court the right girl, I am somewhat of an outsider.
The ATI/Courtship/social dysfunctional environment has a lot of documented and anecdotal evidence that it leads to a lot of sexual dysfunction in marriages. It makes sense when you understand the management principle that "the leader sets the tone", and you become aware of the "sexual dysfunction" of Dear Leader.
Actually, I have been told by those who worked directly with Character First!, that Character Counts! predated the former and is not at all affiliated. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. But yeah, same concept and I am guessing, just as flawed.
Character First! does not exist any more. The program was retooled by Chad Christiansen and is now called In the Gap! http://inthegap.org/about/history/ There is still cross-pollination as it uses IBLP facilities for some of the training, but the organizations are separate.
Character Counts was developed by a Michael Josephson (http://josephsoninstitute.org/about.html) and has never been affiliated with anything Christian, from all I know.
Funny how a lot of the programs "birthed" by IBLP go a great pains to point out how they are "separate" now.
Wow. That article really blessed me :-) Yes, I can see how there was too much put in to analyzing the message and missing the point. Thanks for taking the time to write that out, Kevin.
Kevin: I also have 8 in front of me, as we just went through it . . . :-)
“1. The first page is the usual six true/false questions (students say there's always a trick question on these...!). “
“Trick question” is not completely fair. They are all “trick” in the sense that they try to play with normal human perspectives as opposed to God’s ways, which are often very different.
Question #1: “A Christian with a pure heart is one who never does anything wrong.” True or False? The “color” commentary below would remind you that the blood of Jesus makes a clean heart, but that Christians need to be cleansed practically daily. I say “False”.
How about #3: “Spiritual maturity will produce a pure heart”. True or False? Color commentary reminds us that new believers have a “pure heart”. So . . . what is the answer?
“In this module, the questions seem to suggest a pure heart is something that Jesus 'establishes' but that we have to maintain, and can lose via bad actions or motives (much like the Roman Catholic view of infused grace and mortal/venial sin).
In terms that I grew up with, there is “positional” purity and there is “practical” purity. The notes clearly cite both. Is that Roman Catholic? Is the heart of a believer saturated in pornography and lust pure? The answer is an emphatic “Yes” and “No”, simultaneously, depending on what aspect you are discussing.
Dear brother, I would NEVER take from that wisdom book what you just expounded. I know of no-one in ATI who would either. Unless you have a problem with what I just said . . . in which case I will shut up and let you respond.
In fact . . . let me stop there. Let’s take this one step at a time to keep this simple. Then we can move to the next point.
From the front page: "A pure heart is established by the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. It is maintained by communion with the Lord, fellowship with His Spirit, and the continual cleansing of the Word. How can a Christian maintain a pure heart if he sins?" Don't you think this sentence confuses the positional and practical?
Next sentence: "A pure heart is not maintained by good deeds..." (a momentary relief) "but by right motives." Again, don't you think it's possible for a typical teenager reading this to hear that for them to ever have hope of seeing God, they must have impeccable [sinless] motives?
Page 277: "Genuine prayer is not possible without a pure heart." The proof text for this is Philippians 3:13-15, which says nothing about either prayer or purity or hearts. Again, this statement is troubling. Same question: don't you think it's possible for a typical teenager reading this to hear that for them to ever have hope of God hearing their prayer, they must have an impeccably pure heart?
Understand that I'm just taking these statements at face value. If there is more description about how to present these statements with balance and theological clarity, perhaps in the parent materials (which I don't possess), that would be helpful and I'd be relieved to hear it. I, with you, believe that positional purity and the pursuit of purity are different things, but I don't see that clarified in WB #8.
I can see that it was a mistake to cite a specific Wisdom Booklet because if you intend to take my comments point-by-point, then—to use my illustration—we are once again focusing on the post-it notes at the expense of the canvas. My main point in the comment was to ask honestly if, in 36 pages of the book, the original meaning of the verse was ever broached. I gather that you feel it has. My conviction is that it hasn't, and that what the original audience of Jesus' words would have heard as congratulatory amazing good news has been lost on a generation of ATI families. I really would like to keep to this 'big picture' topic rather than to point-counterpoint booklet 8. I will take blame for bringing it up in the first place; I'm the one who got us into these weeds with my comment... please forgive.
My main intention in this article, Alfred, was to encourage those whose Wisdom Book experience sapped the original joy of the Beatitudes, and to take a mostly positive, constructive approach that would be 'good news for misfits.' If the Beatitudes have not lost their luster for you, that's great, and I hope you'll help me in encouraging those who need it. My main premise is that the Beatitudes are not a means of securing the blessing of God, but of experiencing the blessing of God that is already ours in Christ. Do you agree or disagree with that premise?
Kevin, I want to go to your church :-)
Kevin: "My main premise is that the Beatitudes are not a means of securing the blessing of God, but of experiencing the blessing of God that is already ours in Christ. Do you agree or disagree with that premise?"
I agree brother! :-)
Kevin: “My main point in the comment was to ask honestly if, in 36 pages of the book, the original meaning of the verse was ever broached. I gather that you feel it has. My conviction is that it hasn't.”
First of all, after almost 20 years in the program I have never come to the conclusions presented, if I understand them, let alone taught them to our children/teenagers. Any confusion on this issue is cleared up . . . immediately.
But . . . I am accepting that there may be a fundamental disagreement as I am trying to peer into your assumptions. You appear to find nothing but “positional” purity here . . . is that correct? “Happy are the saved, because they will see God in heaven”, more or less? I guess I would disagree with you there as this being the primary interpretation. Seeing God is so much more specific . . . and precious . . . and current.
A great many saved people don’t see God. They don’t see Him at work in their lives, in the lives of their loved ones . . . in the affairs of life . . . in the successes and calamities of life. They live as though controlled by random events, unfeeling laws, unreasonable, unkind people. Frankly . . . they don’t see God . . . even though He is very real, firmly in control, everywhere.
Jesus pointed to this problem:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth . . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:19-23)
People can’t see, not because they aren’t saved, but because they love the world . . . and the stuff in it. Their heart is in darkness. THAT is what is in view here.
How does a believer keep their heart pure, full of light? By learning how to keep loving Jesus more and more deeply, and loving the world and the stuff in it less and less.
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” (1 Peter 1:22)
See it? We gain purity practically by obeying the truth and loving the brethren. THAT has nothing to do with being ready for heaven . . . which we already are.
This view is also far from unorthodox. Matthew Henry: “The heart must be kept pure from fleshly lusts, all unchaste thoughts and desires; and from worldly lusts; covetousness is called filthy lucre; from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, all that which come out of the heart, and defiles the man. The heart must be purified by faith, and entire for God; must be presented and preserved a chaste virgin to Christ. Create in me such a clean heart, O God! 2. Here is the most comprehensive comfort of the blessed; They shall see God.”
“ we are once again focusing on the post-it notes at the expense of the canvas”
Both the canvas and the “post-it notes” are important - "Canvas" is the role of the teacher, "Post-It Notes" is perhaps the exhorter.
In a crude way, we create a “post-it” note every time we digest a Scripture and “make it our own” in a particular way. Your “Canvas” is in this case then a scientific analysis of the wonders of “grass”, the complex chemicals that make it up, the glorious nature of how it keeps the cow from dying (not go to hell). “Post-it notes” are the bones, flesh, brains, nerves, hormones, milk . . . and even baby cows that proceed from nothing more than that wonderful grass. Ways to apply the “grass” to live a powerful, successful life.
My main premise is that the Beatitudes are not a means of securing the blessing of God, but of experiencing the blessing of God that is already ours in Christ. Do you agree or disagree with that premise?
Both :-) Your perspective is to encourage people who are saved, yet find themselves feeling “poor” spiritually. “You will be in heaven!” “You already have a pure heart!” There is great power there, and without that reality the rest is meaningless. But I do not see that at the primary purpose of the Savior’s focused words to His disciples.
I doubt that you would disagree that Joy is so much more intense when practical purity – which the Lord is also clearly looking for – becomes our reality in specific victories over sin. I see the Beatitudes as another expression o the 8 steps of practical spiritual maturity presented in 2 Peter 1:
Add to your faith -> virtue -> knowledge -> self-control -> endurance -> godliness -> brotherly love -> love.
If you map those together in order you will see that “Pure in Heart” links with “Godliness”. I know you would tell me – correctly – that godliness is already our lot as believers . . . but that application cannot apply in a chain of things we are to “add diligently” to our faith. We are not more saved when we have added godliness to endurance . . . nor are we lost if we fail to do so. Completely different focus
So . . . is “godliness” in 2 Peter 1 positional or practical? However you come to the conclusion you hold to, the same applies to “heart purity” in Matt. 5.
20 years in a cult. How sad!
As it relates to this comment and your next one, I think there are some good points here, and I especially like your description of what it means to 'see God' in daily life. If you and I were sitting over a coffee in the same room, we'd probably find it easier to land on some points of agreement. I am not negating the practical nature of 'the pure in heart.' A favorite verse of mine in this regard is Philippians 3:16: "Only let us live up to what we have already attained." Beautiful words. We have been declared holy and are now called to live like it. We've been declared his children and are now called to act like it. And so as it relates to the Beatitudes, I am still called to pursue a purity of heart, but as a place where I can encounter the 'good news' of the Kingdom and experience Christ. Of course a believer should feel this desire and quest for purity; failing to do so would be like a child's Christmas present never played with (yes, it belongs to them, but why won't they open up the package and ENJOY it?!).
And so purity of heart is 'already attained' and still something we 'live up to.' It's now and not yet. On that we're agreed, right?
Where I differ is with your last sentence below, that the WB 'nailed the original meaning' because I think the great news of the positional is at best glossed over. I'm glad your family taught this clearly and applaud you for it. If some of your verbage above had found its way into WB #8, I'd have a lot more positive things to say about it: a clear enunciation of the good news of a grace-accomplished purity.
If you're interested, by the way, a formative book on this view of the Sermon on the Mount for me has been Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy. I recognize that others take a more path-of-holiness approach to the Beatitudes, like Henry (and one of my favorites, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his commentary on the S.O.M.). There is still a lot of good stuff in those books though, to spur our walks. Willard's view is different, and I question aspects of his book, but by-and-large it makes sense to me.
Kevin: Back to the “original meaning” of the Beatitude “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” to be primarily “practical heart purity” instead of our state of permanent salvation, as amplified in Wisdom Book #8:
"For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. . . . Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Heb. 12:10-15)
Holiness here is something that God's children gain by getting spanked . . . and that thing, gained after salvation, is essential to "seeing God". And failure to do so leads to "failing of the grace of God", and then bitterness.
There is NO way to read that section other than in practical terms, not positional. Positional holiness is never increased or decreased by chastening, and thus there is no need to "follow" after it. The "GRACE" of God in salvation cannot be lost, failed of, since God is the one doing it, not us.
No . . . this is holiness - pure heart - in this life, seeing God in this life, practical "grace for the journey", which can be "failed of".
"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16)
I understand that the "be" here is present continuous imperative in the Greek . . . "be becoming". This is a commandment to believers to "become" holy, practically, like God (and our "standing" before God) is permanently.
So . . . I think this WB nailed the “original meaning” of "pure in heart" in the Sermon on the Mount.
Alfred, I think the real answer will be found in the results you see as your children become adults. What will their perceptions be of the teachings of the wisdom books, the seminars, the traing centers? Are they aware of this website? Do they ever read the articles found here? How do they see these things now? How will they see them in the years to come? Will they choose to homeschool their own children with the ATI wisdom booklets?
Tangent: If there is a system or program that guarantees success in families, please, please let me know. We have picked a church, we have picked a home schooling program, we have established standards for our family . . . I have been studying the results coming in from various approaches all of my life. In every sphere of life we move in I have seen great successes and great failures.
Believe it or not, not every ATI student rebels against his/her parents, against the program, hates Bill Gothard. In fact . . . the results I see looking around my little world are far different than the nuclear wasteland often presented. We are close friends with a 2nd year family that continues in happy association with the Institute, 14 kids, all love their family. I am eager to understand the why for this and for that - I have my theories - which is part of the reason I hang around here.
Hard to say what the next generation will do. It was never our overt goal to create an unending devotion to IBLP, ATI. That is one difference I do cautiously see from some . . . as deeply as I respect Bill Gothard, almost like a father, he has never been to us the final authority, the final voice for life. ATI has its place in our lives . . . I continue to appreciate the intent and we continue to be able to mold the program - Wisdom Books - to meet our needs.
I mention the site from time to time. My older children (11 kids, 26, 24, 23, 20, 18 . . . ) know about it. They are adults . . . it is between them and Jesus now.
As I have often said, if I had lived as my parent's generation, I doubt I would have been home schooling, even with the deep convictions I have. Every generation has to find its own way before the Lord.
Life changes so dramatically, generation to generation. I don't mean to be melodramatic . . . my mother lived growing up in a God-fearing nation, far more than America today, preacher's family, an expectation of living our her days in a quiet and respectful way of life she had grown to know. That was before Hitler showed up, and completely turned her world of Germany upside down. Nobody in their wildest dreams could have predicted that. Who knows what will happen here . . . No idea what the future holds, but so happy to know the One who controls it.
There's actually a lot of truth here Alfred. And instead of addressing it point by point, I'll say that with the benefit of over 20 years of being in the IBLP universe, it's not a spiritually healthy environment. I've seen more freedom and "peace" after shedding the IBLP influence then I ever have in my entire life. I feel it's okay to "grow up" now.
Funny thing. When I was "in the Matrix" so to speak, I would have said as you did, that the "results" where there had been "great successes". I see now that they don't stand the test of time.
That issue of authority would definitely be one where some people took it to an extreme and it sounds like you are more balanced on that one, Alfred.
I'm not making this up. At some event in Denver, an ATI dad said over lunch that God had given Bill Gothard as a wise man and an authority to his family, and that for now, if God had something to say to his family, he felt it would come through Bill Gothard. It's scary that not only did he believe that, but nobody opposed it. From an outside perspective now, I would say that sounds like a family who is effectively treating Bill as a mediator between man and God, though obviously that's not how they perceived themselves. People involved in the conversation at the time did not shout amen, but some nodded their heads in agreement and I don't recall anyone disagreeing. Now, did Bill ever claim that status for himself? No, not per se. However, you have impressionable people who trust him, and there is this *huge*, pervasive emphasis on authority and submission, to the point of rules about men shaving and when a couple has sex - you have people who are in a position to submit well beyond normal. It would seem to me a fair question to ask where Gothard's own teachings or statement would help alleviate an extreme attitude of submission or deference to him as a person in his followers.
As to second-generation families: Alfred, do you have any sense of what percentage of ATI families are second-generation? My own impression is that the number is very, very low. If you ask people at HQ, will they tell you a number? I know it's not 0, I know that there are at least a few families and I truly wish them as people well. Obviously you know at least one, and I'm guessing you would be happy to see your own future grandchildren as second-gen ATI students.
a chaser thought about second-gen families - in my conversations with some Gothard supporters, this is a non-falsifiable issue in their own thinking. They will say that they would never recommend college for young people because so many lose their faith in college. When I point out that so many students have not only lost their faith but become opposed to religion pursuant to their Gothard years, the response is that it's sad but most people who start strong in the faith won't finish well, that many people will wash out as a sad fact of life. So if a person loses faith in college, a pox on College! But if a person loses their faith while in Gothardism or as a response to it, well, what a shame that they washed out but it's not a reflection on Gothardism in any way, shape or form. Hmmmm, says me.
Not trying to stir debate or anything, just sharing personal perspective / experience.
Online and in text, it's hard to tell someone's tone. I don't intend a fighty or forceful tone with the two comments I just left. I intend them in a conversational tone.
Ahem, none of us are students anymore, my departure from ATI is not a rebellion against anyone but the devil. Gotta love the insinuation that we're all younglings who are just pitching a fit about something or other. Nor do most of us hate anyone, much less poor widdle 'defenseless' Bill Gothard. Being disgusted, or hating what someone does is not the same as hating the person. I personally pity him greatly.
Heather: We are tripping over words. The opposite of "respect" and "follow" . . . fair enough?
Found an interesting Scripture this morning during my Bible reading . . . it seemed to have something to say about "Wisdom Books":
"For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." (Eccl 1:18)
Oh look, here's a Bible verse that has the word wisdom in it, it MUST really be saying something about Wisdom Books. Sounds very silly, and quite disrespectful of Scripture to me.
So basically Alfred, your out of context interpretation is "Ignorance is bliss".
Solomon - who pretty much wrote the book on Wisdom - says that getting wisdom involves adding significant grief and sorrow to your life, along with a lot of good things. As you know, the primary goal of "Wisdom Books" is to get . . . Wisdom. If they succeed, the result may not be a happier life than the neighbors who couldn't care less about wisdom.
I am just wondering if we are using an incomplete yardstick to measure success.
Is that out of context?
Your explanation is not out of context, no, I just see you hung up on 'THESE' books, when there's plenty of evidence that there are better wise and academic resources elsewhere, and a good deal of information in those books is spotty at best. I have no intention of discussing that, as I haven't looked at one in years, and have NO intention of ever doing so again. Better resources everywhere, and if I want wisdom, dadgum first place I'm gonna look is God anyway, not some book written by humans. The Wisdom Booklets NEVER lead me to God. God was inaccessible through them. I didn't really find Him till after I left ATI.
I'm hesitant to comment on this because I don't want to wander from the OP too much. This is not a pushback, just thoughts.
I'll just toss this out there as more of an offhand remark than a well-reasoned argument. There is something that catches my eye about your comment, Alfred. There would be a significant point of agreement between us on this, I think. First, as to Ecclesiastes, I like Walt Kaiser's take. He points to the end:
Says Kaiser, if we missed that the whole point was to fear God and keep his commands, then we missed what the author was saying. It seems the author was feeling the gnawing incompleteness that comes from being able to ask more questions than we have answers for. A person might think "the key" to life is Wisdom, but The Teacher knows from experience that this isn't completely so, and yet even so, it's still better to be wise than foolish. Some people think money is The Thing that will make people happy, but others can attest it ain't so, meanwhile, those who are poor can tell you that money certainly helps some things and that poverty is no silver bullet either. In fact, I think Ecclesiastes is the ancient world's version of "There is no silver bullet." The best we've got is to live a life in the fear of the Lord, work hard, take home a check, enjoy the family we have, etc. These are all gifts from God. ("3:12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.")
I don't see him saying that getting wisdom adds sorrow per se, in fact, to some degree wisdom tends to add success and joy. However, there can certainly be pain and struggle in the process, and life itself has pain and struggle. Wisdom is no guarantee against all pain, problems, struggles, confusion, even depression.
All of that said, this is a point where I see a problem with Gothard's selling points of his "new approach to life." The anecdotes reported almost always follow a pattern where someone does something, and voila, like flipping a switch, "a whole new freedom" suddenly descends and seemingly the problem is resolved. Gothard teaches that every problem in life can be traced to seven non-optional principles found in the Bible, and that every person, universally, in every culture must either follow these principles or experience the consequences of violating them - a teaching which many people will hear as "follow the principles, get success; if you have a problem, you violated a principle."
I read the description of the business seminar ( here) to imply that the seminar will offer something that will result in more business success, including health and financial.
To me, this is dissonant with the notion that wisdom may well be intertwined with suffering. I hear Bill implying a silver bullet, and more, I hear him *intending* to imply one, even if someone could show where the wording does not exactly give an airtight promise of one. I don't mean this to be a rhetorical knock-out punch, just sharing a personal perspective of one of the deal-breakers for me.
Too many words, sorry. Rambling, sorry. Trying to express some notions that have been floating around.
From the business seminar page:
Successful Employees
• How to introduce employees to 49 “secrets” that will make them successful people with character, successful providers with wisdom, successful persuaders with truth, successful marriage partners, and successful parents with outstanding sons and daughters - Dr. Bill Gothard
Boy does that sound like a load - I wonder if there is a session on slick marketing :)
I agree with what you said, Matthew, except . . . He does make an inverse correlation between the amount of wisdom you acquire and your happiness. The same correlation that is made with the amount of money you acquire . . . Just ask the lottery winners . . . Or Justin Bieber. Not that rich or wise people can't be happy, but when you add it all up in the end, the net result is that negative correlation. So I think your link to that topic is exactly correct.
A great verse that highlights a concern I have with balance in ATI:
Ecclesiastes 7:16-17
Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise:why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish:why shouldest thou die before thy time?
Obviously Solomon doesn't suggest we abandon wisdom or righteousness based even on other Scriptures you highlighted -quite the opposite. Just is an interesting point that may point to the reasons ATI has failed at times so spectacularly.
Alfred,
Apparently you are facing the dilemma most of us had to face. You say you respect Bill Gothard, almost like a father. Well, it sounds like you are coming up against what we all had to. We were raised in families that were so much closer than any of the families we knew in the rest of the world. We were constantly together, brothers and sisters as best friends. Having to do anything that might hurt these people who are your closest friends is terrible and heart-wrenching.
No matter how wrong we knew they were, it was extremely difficult to say anything against them. Obviously they must have had our best interests at heart. This closeness is what made it so hard to do anything that might hurt them. It might be better to close our eyes to the truth and keep justifying everything even if it hurts us. Better to hurt ourselves than to hurt those we love. That is a noble sentiment.
After all, we were raised to be martyrs of sorts, deathly afraid to be selfish or rebellious or bitter or any of those other evil things that we were told would quickly lead to separating us from God's blessings.
What I had to learn was that God loves ME. He created ME as an individual, to live a life that is different from anyone else's life, with my own interests and desires and my own special relationship with Him. I can't live it for my mom, or my sister, or dad, or anyone else. ATI crushes individuality, making you feel that God disapproves of it. The same God who made every fingerprint different and every snowflake unique wants us all to conform to a rubber stamp "perfect" Christian model. Right.
I will tell you what I tell my little brother: You can still love and respect your parents and know that they are wrong. You can still respect Bill Gothard if you really want to, but if you are a logical and wise person you will know that he is wrong. No matter how close you are to him, and no matter how well intentioned you might think he is. Probably, like my little brother you are not ready to make that break yet, but hopefully you will before it damages you and your family any more. You might not want to hurt like that yet, so continue to deceive yourself. But I have to believe that deep down you know, as we all did, that something is wrong.
Becky: Thanks for your straightforwardness. God has given us individuality, even different ways of relating to the same Lord, different ways of walking with Him, different things that trouble us or make us happy. All of this without violating the "one mind", "one faith", "one Lord" that the Bible talks about.
"selfish or rebellious or bitter"
God personally says those are bad things. Will hurt us, without exception. Do you disagree? Or are you saying that there are things that some people call selfish, rebellious, or bitter which really aren't?
Don't want to wander too far from the thread topic. Maybe the link is the notion of overarching principles of God's word, vs. a single person's experience or application of the same, which they attempt to promote as a rule for everyone? With that I agree.
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