THE WAY INTERNATIONAL

HOW SOPHISTICATED ARE ITS MATERIALS?

• Hold meetings and discuss how they can follow God's plan for them
• Bible is the main source of info
• Also have services where they sing songs
• Meetings aren't sophisticated: they just sit in circles and discuss

HOW DOES IT TRY TO REACH AND CONVERT PEOPLE?

• Converts through false Bible teachings and people's lack of true Bible knowledge
• Try to act Christian: have wrong beliefs
• Ex: they don't believe in Trinity, they think that God the father is the only God

WHAT SORT OF AUDIENCE IS IT TRYING TO REACH?

• All ages and races
• It tries to act like a church, which draws people to it and makes them want to practice The Way's beliefs

IS IT AIMING FOR PARTICULAR RACES OR AGE GROUPS?

• No
• Anyone of any race or age can join The Way

WHAT LEVEL OF EDUCATION DOES IT ASSUME IN ITS AUDIENCE?

• Assumes that its audience doesn't know much about the Bible and other religious concepts
• Use people's poor knowledge of Bible against them: how they recruit

DO ITS MATERIALS SEEM DECEPTIVE OR MANIPULATIVE?

• Many of their doctrines seem very desceptive
• Ex: their believe in a non-Triune Father and their belief that Wierwille's (their founder) version of the Bible is the only correct one

HOW DOES IT PRESENT ITSELF?

• As "a fellowship of the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ for the manifestation of the more abundant life."
• In other words, a false church trying to figure out God's purpose for their lives

DOES IT ACKNOWLEDGE CRITICISMS MADE OF IT?

• No
• They think their beliefs are right and pure and all others are wrong
• Ex: Wierwille thinks his version of the Bible is the only correct one because God told him so

DOES IT COUNTER-ATTACK CRITICS?

• Yes
• They always come back with some verse from the Bible to back up their argument
• Ex: use multitude of verses to support their view of salvation (separation of faith and believing)

HOW DOES THE GROUP VIEW OTHER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS?

• Viewed as not right
• The Way has the correct beliefs and version of the Bible, no one else does

DOES IT SEEM INTOLERANT?

• Yes
• They don't tolerate homosexuality or failure to live by their doctrines

WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE?

• The Way: only one, non-Triune God, God the Father
• Christians: Triune God: Jesus, The Father, and the Holy Spirit (see verses like John 1:1, Acts 5:3-4, and Titus 2:13 for reference)

EVALUATION

• The Way is a cult
• It goes along with the definition of a cult perfectly: "a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange."
• People should be advised to stay away because, especially for Christians, it blurs the real meaning of the Bible: love and redemption along with salvation and hope