The Endtime Family: Children of God

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3 Beliefs Before it is a commune, a radical departure from conventional society, or an experiment in collective love, the Family is a religious group. Critics tend to ignore this fact, but any objective analysis of the Family must recognize its fundamentally religious nature. It was founded by a Protestant clergyman, has been guided by messages believed to come from spirits, and continues to draw much of its inspiration from the Bible today. Members consider themselves to be missionaries, and much of their time is devoted to calling people to Christ. Over the years the General Social Survey has contained many questions measuring the religious beliefs of Americans, so it makes sense to focus our comparative analysis on the beliefs of the Children of God. For the Family, faith logically begins with belief in God, but is also rooted in the Bible. Among the areas of faith explored by this chapter are the images members of the Family have of God and Heaven, beliefs about Hell and the Devil, and the sources of possible religious doubt. Batteries of questions from the General Social Survey not only reveal the ways in which members of the Family are more religious than the average American but also highlight some of the subtleties of Family theology. However, the GSS lacks items about the Endtime , so we conclude the chapter with descriptions of the Millennium drawn from the group’s own unique scriptures. Belief in God A question in the General Social Survey offers six different opinions and asks, “Which of the following statements comes closest to expressing what you believe about God?” As table 3.1 shows, nearly 96 percent of members say, “I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it.”1 About 65 percent of 45 respondents to the 1994 GSS also select this option, so the Family is unusual only in its near unanimity. Just over 4 percent of members of the Family admit that their faith is not perfect, either believing in God despite harboring doubts or believing in God only some of the time. About 20 percent of the American public is in one of these doubting categories. Nearly 10 percent of Americans, but no members of the Family, say, “I don’t believe in a personal God, but I do believe in a Higher Power of some kind.” The remaining 5 percent of Americans are about evenly split between agnostics (“I don’t know whether there is a God and I don’t believe there is any way to find out.”) and atheists (“I don’t believe in God.”). No agnostics and atheists belong to the Family. A second GSS item about belief in God, examined in table 3.2, explores whether the respondents’ beliefs have changed. About 76 percent of Family members and 80 percent of the American public say, “I believe in God now, and I always have.” Interestingly, the biggest difference between the two groups is among those who believe in God now but did not used to. Nearly 23 percent of Family members and 5 percent of the GSS respondents have apparently converted from being unbelievers to believers. This fits the hypothesis suggested by many researchers on new religious movements that converts 46 Beliefs Table 3.1. Belief in God What you believe about God . . . Family 1994 GSS I don’t believe in God. 0.0% 2.5% I don’t know whether there is a God and I don’t believe there is any way to find out. 0.0% 2.8% I don’t believe in a personal God, but I do believe in a Higher Power of some kind. 0.0% 9.9% I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others. 0.8% 3.8% While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God. 3.6% 16.1% I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it. 95.6% 64.9% TOTAL 100.0% 100.0% This table is based on 1,021 cases for the Family, and 1,326 for the General Social Survey. come differentially from the ranks of the nonreligious.2 However, there is an alternative explanation. The Family sets a high standard for belief, associating it with powerful positive feelings and dedication. Some members may have been only nominally religious before joining but would have said they believed in...