Pray-Reading

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by rayliotta

Based on ZNP's sharing, I would have thought much earlier than 1981. Maybe we should be open to the idea that there was no "about face", that someone actually could write such a pamphlet while fully committed to the "blind promotion" of the minister of the age.

I based my post on two factors. Firstly, the book came out during the time of litigation for the Mindbenders and God-men books. Graver's book was an attempt by LSM to make them appear in the "mainstream" like the rest of evangelical Christianity, and it was really anti-cult groups like the Spiritual Counterfeits Project which were the real fringe group. The practice of pray-reading made the LC's look suspicious, and the book helped to relieve those concerns of the Christian public.

Secondly, following the Philippians Life-Study training, RG and BP began to travel about and teach concerning "having an account with the Apostle." The teaching was coupled with the ministry of condemnation that somehow all the churches had been negligent in their care for WL and his burden for the gospel. This teaching, coming out of Texas in the wake of the so-called Max rebellion, laid the groundwork for the radical "oneness" zeal which accompanied the "new way."

[rayliotta]

Originally Posted by Ohio

I based my post on two factors. Firstly, the book came out during the time of litigation for the Mindbenders and God-men books. Graver's book was an attempt by LSM to make them appear in the "mainstream" like the rest of evangelical Christianity, and it was really anti-cult groups like the Spiritual Counterfeits Project which were the real fringe group. The practice of pray-reading made the LC's look suspicious, and the book helped to relieve those concerns of the Christian public.

If I understand you you're saying the booklet was really just political, a little game of CYA? Not sure that'd be something I'd recommend to others...