Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Date: February 07, 2015 09:44AM
changedagain Wrote:
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> Yes, some of it was necessary. But it definitely
> took on a life of its own...and became
> all-consuming for a number of people.
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I think the reason I have satirized Miller's silly call that a movie character named Rizzo was a channel was because the whole neph craze began to take on a life of its own and led to church leaders making accusations against congregants (mainly females for example Helen Young and Ruth Klein) that seemed similar to other witch hunts in the history of our country. Then following the death of JRS, I learned from reading Fact Net the other congregants were accused of being "channels" and subsequently excommunicated.
I did a little research on past witch hunts. From 1692-93 over 200 people (mainly females)in Salem, Mass were alleged to be witches with 19 being executed by hanging. One of the first women accused said she made a deal with the devil. This was called the Salem Witch Trails or The Great Witch Craze.
100 years earlier in Europe people were consumed with identifying witches and estimated 40,000 were executed.
It is a sad commentary how some beliefs in the LW about nephs and channels took on a life of their own, consumed some people, and eventually damaged many lives.