The Mighty I Am

By: Dr. John Ankerberg / Dr. John Weldon; ©2001

The Mighty I Am movement was founded by Guy Ballard. Its purpose is “to bring ascended I AM power to America, that she might fulfill her cosmic destiny as the world’s repository of Light.” This article describes the doctrines and dangers of this movement.

THE MIGHTY I AM

(from Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, 1999)

INFO AT A GLANCE

Name: The Mighty I AM.

Purpose: To bring “ascended I AM power” to America, that she might fulfill her cosmic destiny as the world’s repository of “Light.”

Founder: Guy Ballard (pen name, Godfre Ray King), 1878-1959.

Source of authority: The spiritistic revelations of Guy and Edna Ballard.

Revealed teachings: Yes.

Claim: To be among the vanguard of movements bringing light and truth to the world; to be the only way of attaining the “Ascension”—spiritual resurrection.

Examples of occult potential: Spiritism, voluntary possession, magic, retributive magic.

Key literature: Books by “The Ascended Masters” (such as Ascended Master Discourses); “St. Germain” (such as The “I AM” Discourses); the “Great Cosmic Beings” (such as The Magic Presence; Unveiled Mysteries).

Attitude toward Christianity: Rejecting.

Quotes:

The Christ [not Jesus] is in reality the MASTER WITHIN! (The Voice of the I AM December, 1936, p. 37)

The only ones who know the solution of Life are the Ascended Masters…. They have gone every step which you are required to go and know every requirement. Therefore, they are the Ones who can teach you, and the Only Ones in the whole world who can teach you the Truth of Life. That has been accomplished in the Saint Germain books which are for your use. (Godfre Ray King, Ascended Master Light, p. 119)

Jesus states: try always to remember that you are not human beings so-called, but you are Gods and Goddesses in embryo. (Godfre Ray King, The “I AM” Discourses, pp. 273-274)

I want so much to have you feel that you are the Only Authority in this world or any other, so far as your world is concerned…. We are going to take this Authority and use it, clear away all discord, and declare with no uncertainty: ‘I AM’ the Supremacy of man, everywhere I go—’I AM’ God in Action (Ibid., pp. 44-45)

Note: Set historically between Theosophy and the Church Universal and Triumphant, the Mighty I Am is the second of three major religious associations allegedly inspired by the same Ascended Masters. (Before starting the I AM group the Ballards were Theosophists.) While the masters apparently no longer give revelations to the I AM group, the activities of the members are still similar to what they were in its heyday in the late 1930s: giving vari­ous Decrees and Demands, reliance upon the “I AM presence,” and so on. Literature and books written in its heyday are still reprinted and sold, although with its decline many of the promises and claims of the ascended masters defaulted. The books themselves, like amu­lets, are reputed to contain occult powers.

DOCTRINAL SUMMARY

God: An impersonal Force, Principle, Energy. There also exists a pantheon of gods and demigods; “St. Germain” is the greatest, but there are many others, including the as­cended Guy Ballard and “Jesus.”

Jesus: An ascended master.

The Christ: I AM presence within every person.

The Holy Spirit: The I AM presence.

The Trinity: A Christian myth.

Salvation: By a lifetime of good works and occult practice; for example, the “Violet con­suming Flame” is called upon to destroy evil thoughts and desires; such as those that do not harmonize with I AM teachings. To be fully enlightened is to attain to the ascension— to be free of all physical limits and to become a God.

Man: Inwardly divine.

Satan: A Christian myth.

The Second Coming: Jesus “returned” when he appeared to the Ballards as an ascended master.

The Fall: Into matter.

The Bible: Subordinate to the ascended masters’ new revelations and interpretation.

Death: The individual reincarnates until achieving the status of ascended master.

Heaven and Hell: States of consciousness.