The Family/Children of God

By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon; ©1999

The Family claims to spread the teachings of the late David Berg throughout the world emphasizing an apocalyptic end to the world.

 

The Family/Children of God

Info at a Glance

Name: The Family (earlier The Love Family); The Children of God.

Purpose: To spread the teachings of the late David Berg throughout the world emphasizing an apocalyptic end to the world.

Founder: David Berg, aka “Moses David,” “Mo,” “Father David,” “King David.”

Source of authority: Spiritistic revelations given to David Berg.

Revealed teachings: Yes.

Examples of occult potential: Spiritism, contacting the dead.

Key literature: “The Mo Letters,” which are the individual writings of David Berg on a wide variety of topics (Bible, religion, politics, government, family, sex and so on).

Attitude toward Christianity: Rejecting. Christians are viewed as enemies; the Church is a “God-damned whore” that God has abandoned and to which He has sent “strong delusion.”

Quotes:

“GOOD SPIRITISM IS SUCH A NEGLECTED FIELD, WE DO NOT EVEN HAVE WORDS FOR IT…. THE CHURCH HAS BEEN SO WEAK SPIRITUALLY that it could not cast good spells or do good magic or have good witches or wizards, so that there are not even words for them! … WHERE ARE GOD’S WITCHES? Where are His wizards? Where are His magicians? Where are those of us who can cast spells over others? WELL, THEY’RE HERE—ITS YOU!” (David Berg, The Mo Letters, Vol. 4, p. 42, 74, “God’s Witches,” June 6, 1976, DO No. 573: 139, 141, 146, 147.)

Note: The “author” of many volumes of “Mo Letters” is stated to be “God.” Not surprisingly, many members accept whatever Berg said as God’s word. While all letters are inspired by God (“it’s all given by inspiration”), it is also claimed that not all his letters are inspired to the same degree as the Bible. Thus, Berg declares that his business-administrative correspondence and other teaching aspects of his letters were “not on the level of the Bible,” but that the other letters are. “God” declares through Berg: “Should ye not print for them the Mo Letters?… Give them My letters…. I will feed them My words” (Introduction to Vol. 1 of The Mo Letters, p. 3; “More Precious Pearls,” Sept. 1976, DO [Disciples Only] No. 540:4).

Doctrinal Summary

God: Vaguely defined; immoral.

Jesus: Divine, not necessarily God.

The Christ: Feminine aspect of deity; at times seemingly impersonal.

The Trinity: Variously affirmed or denied.

Salvation: By faith and works but apparently universalistic.

Man: The creation of God in spirit, soul and body.

Sin: Sometimes viewed biblically, but in practice certain sins are often redefined as performing God’s will, such as fornication or adultery as a “spiritual” means to gather converts.

Satan: Biblically defined, although he will finally inherit salvation.

The Bible: A divine revelation properly interpreted by David Berg’s revelations.

Heaven and Hell: Hell is apparently not an eternal place, but purgatorial and redemptive, not retributive.