Letter Collection of William Irvine
© Telling The Truth
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Permission is given to photocopy and distribute any of Wm. Irvine's letters.
Introduction to Wm. Irvine's Letter Writing
Death of Wm. Irvine
Letters by Irvine's Followers
Beginner Book
To/From Ed Cooney
To Workers
Sermon Notes of Wm. Irvine
Letters stating Irvine was Founder
Letters Wm. Irvine Prophecied Dates
Letter Collection
Letters by Ex-Message People
Letters Acknowledging Irvine was a Freemason
Who Were Willie and Rose Edwards?
Copies of William Irvine’s Letters came from the collections of: Barbara (Briza) James (California), Llewellyn (Lew) Fountain (Canada), Bruce Hartman (Nevada), Nancy Sue Rodrigues (Arizona), Tusseys (California), Princeton University (New Jersey) and Research & Information Systems (R.I.S.) (Oregon), and two donors who wish to remain anonymous.
Letters Written by Wm. Irvine in the Year:
1911-20
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
Introduction to Wm. Irvine's Letter Writing
Irvine's Correspondence. Irvine shared his readings and interpretations to his old friends and new followers via correspondence. He was a prolific letter writer. Using a fountain pen, he wrote short to very lengthy letters worldwide, which his followers typed and circulated.
He claimed, "There is not much illness in a man, when he can get 1,000 words out of his pen a day and never less than 500 any [other] day." He sent many letters to children. At times, he dispensed family, medical or financial advice and grief counseling. His letters expounding his Omega Message doctrine provided the Workers with further proof that he "preached false doctrine."
In his letters, Irvine usually referred to the 2x2 Sect as The Testimony or The Testy. Those who accepted and followed his Omega Message he called Little Ones or those who have ears to hear. Current followers of Irvine take no official name and refer to themselves as Message People and The Witnesses. In this book, they are called Irvinites
So far, the oldest known letter by Irvine is dated January 23, 1911, to Jack (probably Carroll). The next oldest is dated January 17, 1919, to Hon. Lord Northcliffe. According to Alfred Magowan, "William Irvine's first letter from Jerusalem written the day after his arrival there (November 28, 1919) was written to me." His last known letter was to Elmer and Alma Ackerson in Vallejo, California, dated June 13, 1946, about six months before his death in 1947, aged 84.
Irvine's letters have been passed down through several generations of followers. Most current Irvinites possess a private collection of his letters, often filling several notebooks. There is no central bank containing all Irvine's letters; nor are they all found on a website. No Irvinite has copies of all his letters.
Other than his letters, the Irvinites have no printed material or hymnal. Around the 1960s, an Irvinite printer by trade, Orris Mills, duplicated by mimeograph severalof Irvine's letters and bound them into what was called The Mimeographs and The Beginner Book. Some Irvinites used these as primers or hand-outs to help "bring along" or establish recruits. Some Irvinites and former followers have graciously shared their collections, resulting in over 1,000 of Irvine's letters being posted on the website TellingTheTruth.info in Founder>Irvine's Letter Collection.
The Beginner Book contained mostly letters written from 1942 to 1946; it was assumed that Irvine had received most or all of his Revelation Program by then. His insight did not come all at once. Over time, Irvine modified, added and expanded his views and prophecies. They evolved. Some saw this as inconsistent, others as progressive. No single letter contains his complete interpretation or "revelation."
Notice to whom Wm Irvine wrote these letters. The majority were addressed to his close friends, some of the earliest workers (John Hardie, Wilson McClung, Wm. "Bill" Carroll, W. Abercrombie, Ed Cooney, Sandy Hinds, Robert Skerrritt, Willie Edwards, May Carroll, Percy Abbott, James Gordon, Harry McNeary, Alfred Magowan, etc)
Most were written to his friends who entered the work during 1899–1901 who were with him in the beginning; some went on the experimental bicycle trip with him. The basic purpose of his letters was to convince his old buddies to come over and adopt his new teachings.
Some disbelieve that Irvine was the founder saying he didn't claim to be the Founder in writing. He had no need to remind them that he was the originator, the founder. They all knew it—they were there in the beginning. Further, he DID make several statements claiming he started the 2x2 Sect. They are listed on TTT here: Who said Wm. Irvine was the Founder?
Consider his statement: "No Wm Irvine - No Testimony!" (March 2, 1923 Letter to Ed Cooney) Would Irvine remind his right hand man, Edward Cooney (and others) that he was the father of the whole movement in which they were ministers and tell them that if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't be where they were then? IF IT WAS NOT TRUE??? If it wasn't true–then he was a lunatic or idiot for making this statement. Would you include an outrageous lie when you're trying to persuade people to change streams and follow him in a new direction? THINK ABOUT IT!
He was merely REMINDING them that he was who he was and what he had done for them. They knew it—there was no question. He was telling them he founded the Alpha, and now he wanted them to leave it and come over and follow his newly founded "revelation"—the Omega Gospel.
ALL the workers on that 1905 list knew he was the Founder, the Grand Poobah, their boss, their chief, etc. Wm Irvine's name was at the very TOP of that list with no date beside it. That was because he was before all the others--he put it together, he founded it. There are over 200 names on that list. He didn't need to go around telling them that he was the Founder—they all knew it beyond a doubt--there was no question.