"I told one guy his place was to be a pimple on the ass of the body of Christ."
--Ole Anthony
About a month ago, I posted this quote from a man named Peter Rollins: "God spoke to me, repeating four simple words: 'I do not exist.'" Then I linked to an interview with Peter Rollins, done by The Wittenburg Door. I mentioned that Rollins had a very interesting way of thinking about God and that The Wittenburg Door is one of my favourite websites.
Today I found an article there about Ole Anthony, the founder of the organization that owns The Wittenburg Door. The organization is called the Trinity Foundation, and publishing Christian satire isn't its only activity; it also investigates televangelists and manages affordable housing projects, among other activities. The article is written by a friend of his, who is quite involved in running The Wittenburg Door (he is two of the most frequent writers on the website--yes, he goes by two different names). It makes Ole Anthony sound like an eccentric man who stands up for the little guy and doesn't care about offending people. He also has a strong sense that following Jesus requires sacrifice. That quote at the top of this post is from this article.
Today I found an article that told a different story. This one paints him as an egotistical control freak. His organization that helped people who'd been controlled and victimized by religion was controlling and victimizing people itself.
I know journalists sometimes twist things, but if this second article is accurate, this organization just might be a cult. I'm not one to tell people what they can and can't read (I'll probably keep reading The Wittenburg Door myself), but I'd like to remind people to take things with a grain of salt. I still think The Door has some great things to say, but not everything in it is good. And I'd be very leery about joining their organization if the opportunity ever presented itself. The articles I linked to are long, but they are both recommended reading if you ever start reading The Wittenburg Door.
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6 comments:
Well yeah. It's not your fault though. They are as slick as the come.Members are taught not to trust their own minds (which Ole defines as the Anti-christ)but to trust the mind of Ole and other leaders.Please investigate before becoming a part of this group (cult).Their beliefs are way unorthodox and their actions are destuctive.
Thanks for responding. How did you get in and out of Trinity?
Don't worry, I wasn't considering joining them. I just don't like saying "never." If by some chance I move to Dallas in the future, I'd probably want to find a church, but I wouldn't restrict myself to conventional churches. So there's a very small chance I might have considered joining them if I hadn't read that article last week.
Now that I've read the article, I'm sure I'd never join them unless the article proved mostly untrue.
"I wouldn't restrict myself to conventional churches"
Be careful then because uncoventional churches are MORE likely to be alo be cultic churches. Cult leaders don't like to belong to associations because they like total control.Stay away from charismatic personalities. Almost all cult leaders are charismatic. Join a boring denominational or Catholic church and love your neighbors as you love youself. Don't chase leaders that tickle your ears.
I just posted my second blog piece about Ole Anthony on the Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. blog, The Crux. It's titled "Words about the Word?".
Thanks for your comment. Personally, I think the "words about the Word" idea makes sense. I would consider the Bible far superior to any other words about Jesus because the gospels (and the rest of the New Testament) were written by people who knew Jesus personally or people who knew people who knew Jesus personally. Does this make the Bible infallible? I would guess not, but I'm not totally sure. I do believe it's important to take it very seriously though.
Ole Anthony has plenty of other problems though. I'm sure Jesus considered the entire Old Testament (not just the Torah) to be scripture. And the way Anthony controls his members' lives is awful.
Alex,
I appreciate your response to my comment. As a conservative evangelical Christian, I do have a problem with any view of the Bible that diminishes its infallibility. On the other hand, I freely concede that everyone has the right to his or her own view. My problem with Ole Anthony (and his sidekick, John Bloom) on this point is that they've wormed their way into the conservative evangelical community while being less-than-forthcoming about the view of Scripture. If you want to hold some alternative "words about the Word" view, fine. Just be open and honest about it, and allow the rest of the community to which you're trying to belong the opportunity to examine your view and form a consensus about it. It appears to me that Ole Anthony has been very devious in this regard.
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