Some important points:
1. Thieme/ Berachah is/was not involved [i:4751f7e657]in any way[/i:4751f7e657] with what is commonly referred to as Dominion Theology. This is the theology that Christians must get involved with the political process to the extent that they are attempting to change the legislative landscape to prepare for "God's government" sort of conditions. Any one who implies that Thieme supports this theology is misrepresenting Thieme by 180 degrees. Berachah has always stood for complete separation of Church and State, and Thieme himself has [i:4751f7e657]extensively[/i:4751f7e657] taught that such things as prayer in public schools and bombing of abortion clinics are a complete and total violation of this principle (re: several tapes in the Protocol Plan of God series (1984); I cannot recall specific lesson numbers)
2. That having been said, Berachah has always been heavily involved in support for the U.S. military. Thieme himself is a WWII Colonel, and his son, who is now pastor, is a Major who was an Airborne Ranger. In my opinion it is almost impossible to divorce themes of freedom through military victory from Biblical teachings, and Berachah has always reflected this same philosophy, and yes, in some cases, in very strong and dogmatic terms. For those that disagree, I really don't know what to say. Watch Schindler's List? Read some Solzhenitysyn? Read the Old Testament?
3. I think the idea that since Theime's job during WWII was to train soldiers on a U.S. base, this role must then be belittled since other men were in harm's way overseas, or that since Thieme did not attain doctoral status (by the way...he was accepted to DTS's doctoral program, but did not complete his work because of his call to Berachah), his teachings do not mean as much as those who have achieved doctoral status are straw-
men type logical fallacies that most people can see through as completely transparent.
4. Dr. Wall's thesis is actually very well written, though obviously, I don't agree with the conclusions of most of the topics. What is interesting to note, however, is that many people have apparently not even read the thesis, but enjoy using it in reference as a means of discrediting Thieme. For instance, the Blood of Christ section of the thesis simply outlines what Wall feels is a difference between what Wall feels is the correct view (that the term "Blood"should encompass all of Christ's work on the cross), and Thieme's view (the Blood should refer to only to the spiritual death of Christ during the last three hours of his crucifixion). I think it would come as a shock to many to discover that Wall actually agrees with Thieme in that Wall believes that 1. there was a spiritual death of Christ and 2. The term "The Blood" has been elevated to heretical status, and Christ's blood itself has no mystical properties. I think some people would be rather shocked if they actually [i:4751f7e657]read[/i:4751f7e657] this dissertation, and realized that they might not be able to use it to attack Thieme as they have in the past.
(I tried to find the link to the thesis, to insert it here, but apprently cypressbible.org, the host, has removed it).
5. Liberty, while I agree with your description of what Thieme's teaching of rebound represent, some might get the wrong impression on your synopsis of his "winners and losers" doctrine. While I see what you are implying, the uninitiated might think that Thieme actually does teach a dogmatic "Berachah is right, we are the winners, everyone else are losers" rhetoric. That would indeed be cultish. However, the real meat of this teaching might be represented by another phrase "doctrine of rewards". This is hardly unique to Berachah, though it's certainly a main emphasis. You can find this topic taught in numerous churches, especially those of a dispensational bent. Here is a synopsis of the doctrine, by the very well known Zane Hodges (by the way, I don't agree with much of Hodges' teachings, but for this topic, it is a good outline):
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www.faithalone.org]
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www.faithalone.org]
6. The idea was raised in a post above, that Thieme is somehow hiding something by not posting certain teachings on his website. First, Thieme is in the latter stages of Alzheimer's, and is hardly able to post anything. Second, neither Thieme, nor Berachah has ever hidden anything. They disclose a periodic financial record detailing where every penny goes (along with amounts in reserves). As far as teachings, webmasters to the site have gradually been adding sample publications for all to read:
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www.rbthieme.org]
Anyone reading this can hear Thieme's teaching for themselves via the sample recordings that have been posted at:
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www.rbthieme.org]
There are 5 recordings there from 1972, 1990, 1992, 1997 and 2000. (Thieme retired in early 2003, at the age of 85, due to the onset of Alzheimer's)
Additional lessons covering over 10,000 hours of messages are also available free of charge at the website, via phone or mail order.
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