First Plumbline Apologetics ~ The Family

The History of the cult.

The mid 1960's, fueled by the war in Vietnam, was a time of questioning the "establishment" and of significant social rebellion among the youth, especially in California. Hippies, drugs, and the counterculture set the atmosphere for the personality of a new cult, The Children of God, to grow.

David Berg, born in 1919, was the son of a Christian & Missionary Alliance pastor and a radio-evangelist mother. Berg married his wife Jane in 1944 (a.k.a. Mother Eve) and began an evangelistic preaching career. Berg's evolving radical ideas of sharing wealth resulted in his being asked to leave his church in Arizona. This began his disenfranchisement and condemnation of organized religion (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, pp. 52-53).

The turning point for Berg came in 1968 when he gained control of a Teen Challenge Coffeehouse in Huntington Beach, California. He renamed it Teens for Christ and accumulated a following of anti-establishment "Jesus people" and later adopted the name Children of God (COG) (Ibid.). Berg's radical message to denounce what he called "The System" (systemites) included existing churches. His message to be a "revolutionary" for Jesus and to "forsake all and follow Him" included forsaking parents, jobs, school, and to turn over all possessions to the organization (Christianity Today, 18 February 1977, p. 18).

Berg began an affair with Karen Zerby (Maria) who became his common-law wife, or mistress. It was at this time that Berg's prolific Mo Letters began, and are considered to be continuing revelation for his followers. This also marked the decline in general morality of the movement.

Berg loosely associated himself with evangelist Fred Jordan and was allowed to establish communal living at Jordan's "Soul-Clinic Ranch" in Texas. After parents began to organize and raise very negative publicity concerning the "brainwashing" of their children, Jordan in 1971 asked Berg and his followers (between two and three thousand) to leave (The Mindbenders, Jack Sparks, pp. 158-159). Berg began to organize communes (colonies) with tight hierarchical control. According to The Family's statement there were 130 COG colonies in 15 countries in 1972 ("Our Family's Origins," World Services, April 1992). They raised money initially by fund-raising, forsaking all, then by "litnessing," that is, selling designated Mo Letters to the public.

About this time, Berg changed his name to Moses (God's prophet) and David (King of Israel). In 1972, Berg claimed to have the "understanding of Daniel" and began making false prophesies including that California would be destroyed by
an earthquake, and that the United States would be destroyed by the comet Kohoutek by January 1974 (Mo Letter #280, para. 12). He also prophesied that Christ was to return in 1993 (Mo Letter #456, para. 25). During this time, Berg began his descent into the occult as he frequently wrote about his contacts and involvement with spirit guides (Another Gospel, Ruth Tucker, p. 233).

Beset with legal problems, "charges in 1973-74 of tax evasion, kidnapping, assault, immorality," which were also included in an investigative report issued by the Attorney General of New York, Berg fled the U.S. and led many of his followers to Europe (Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, p. 53). It was in 1974 when Berg and his mistress, Maria, arrived
in Tenerife in the Canary Islands and began to develop and teach his now infamous "flirty fishing" doctrine. Flirty Fishing, or FF'ing, teaches that sexual seduction, or religious prostitution, is God's revolutionary way of evangelism. Berg's term "Hookers for Jesus" included permitting adultery (Mo Letters #302-C, 309).

Berg claims that the Children of God was disbanded in 1978 and 300 leaders were dismissed and the name was changed to Family of Love ("Our Family's Origins"). But, former insiders and other internal documents indicate that it was a power takeover, necessary because a significant percentage of the
leaders refused to engage in the religious prostitution of FF'ing (Special Notice, Re: "Questions & Answers on Sex, Freedoms & Relationships," November 1991, paras. 69-76).

Many defectors, some of them former leaders and family members of Berg, continue to expose the clandestine activities of The Family. Their testimony and volumes of Berg's and Maria's writings and videos leave a trail of activity which includes promotion of incest, spiritualism, adultery, fornication, group sex, and sexually influencing government leaders.

With this exposure and the onset of the AIDS scare, The Family has issued statements that incest and Flirty Fishing are no longer to be practiced (1987). There has been no admission of wrongdoing, only that it is expedient "for the sake of potential problems with the System" (Los Angeles Times, 21 March 1993, p. E4).

There have been a series of raids conducted in Europe and South America and charges made, including child abuse. Due to lack of evidence of physical child abuse, some of the cases have been dropped. But other cases are, as of this writing, still ongoing in Australia, the Philippines, Argentina, and France.

The Family has recently returned its energies to the U.S. and has begun a massive PR campaign to create a new public image. They want everyone to forget "mistakes" of the past and judge them on what they do now. A recent Mo Letter (July 1993) indicates their duplicity as it instructs their members to infiltrate the more liberal churches who are more tolerant and use them to gain credibility and converts. The letter teaches to send the liberal churches a new member occasionally to gain favor. It warns, though, to stay away from evangelical or fundamental churches as Family members would "have to compromise too much" (Mo Letter #2687, pp. 1-9).

Currently they claim that they have only 3,000 adult members and 6,000 children living in communities in over 500 countries ("The Family, an Introduction and an Invitation"). Ex-members claim that there are far more members and children.