According to the Bible the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that He:

1. "died for our sin...

2. He was buried...

3. He rose again."

(Refer to the full verses defining the Gospel in 1 Cor.15 1- 4)

Is this what the workers say their gospel is? Well, here are some worker quotes:

William Petersen, overseer of Kansas: "The church in the home is a part of Jesus, just as the ministry is a part of Jesus, and you cannot have the blood of Jesus without accepting all of Jesus...-The truth is the two-and-two ministry and the church meeting in the home."

Leon Stancliff: "There are two things upon which the Truth of God rests: Jesus gave us the ministry and a way of fellowship. Now the ministry is the foundation of Christianity."

Eddie J. Carnock: "Consider these simple things which God has planned...The church in the home, the preachers without a home...these are the bulwarks of God's Work in the world today."

Jack Carroll: "There are two fundamentals of the faith of Jesus that are vital to a true understanding and interpretation as recorded in the New Testament. First, the church in the home, and the home only; secondly, the preacher without a home. These two are foundational.

Sproulie Denio: "As we have often heard there are two basic truths in the New Testament. One is a preacher without a home, and the other is a church in the home."

Gordon Winkler at the Glen Valley B.C. Canada conv. August 12, 1990: "Peter and John, when they were telling the gospel story, they were living the gospel. They were men who like Jesus had given up everything that they had; given it to the poor, homeless, stranger preachers for the gospel's sake...these basic truths that are so vital in our salvation, and have stayed the same from the beginning of time."

The Bible states: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. 3:11.

YOU be the judge. Are the workers pointing to their system as The Gospel? Scanning the worker quotes you will find:

1. the ministry/preachers without a home

2. the home meetings/church in the home

3. way of fellowship

Some MAY preach the life, death and resurrection of Jesus--but after someone is hooked--they bait and switch "Jesus" out with their system! For example, Bible says: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever;" they substitute their system for Jesus and come up with their false teaching that the 2x2 system is the same, yesterday, today, everywhere, etc. 3/97

Yes, the workers do teach about the life, death and (rarely) the resurrection of Jesus. So do the other churches. But, other churches do not add the qualifiers, such as "church in the home" and "ministry without a home". When these are added, it makes the work of Christ insufficient. That is why we bring out the fact that the workers seem to focus on the their qualifiers for salvation, as well as (note I said 'as well as' and not 'rather than') the finished work of Christ. Was His work then, insufficient? 3/97

I was raised believing that it was the only way. My parents still say today that it is the ONLY way to organize a church, and they would say that the church I attend with its full time paid pastor who preaches in a building is a WORK of Satan. My dad was raised in the 2x2s. His parents believed this stuff since the 1940s, and I am sure they (my parents/grandparents) have had many conversations, and sat in a lot of meetings where this issue has been raised. My father has a large extended family spread throughout the western U.S. and to the best of my knowledge NOT one of them would say that there is another RIGHT way to organize a church. In fact, they would all say that the 2x2 way is the ONLY way. They are all very absolutist on this point. I personally never heard an opinion contrary to this, and in conversations with workers since leaving the 2x2s they have made it clear that it is the ONLY way.

I do not deny that some may hold a different position. It just does not seem very common. 3/07

>In my opinion, this is very true. The only worker who came to our home after we left burst in saying, 'You do believe this is the ONLY way, don't you?' < 3/97

>>I have long been aware of a silent segment of the 2x2s who dislike this kind of extremism you describe. I admit this extremism is there--no doubt about it. What I do not know is what percentage of the 2x2s maintain more open-minded views on these subjects. << 3/97

1. While I agree with you this is an extremism position—in my humble opinion, it IS *THE* position which is MOST commonly held. Additionally I believe it is the ACCEPTED position--the TAUGHT/STRONGLY INFERRED position.

2.No doubt there are some who DO NOT accept/agree with this "ONLY WAY" position. It is unlikely any of us could hazard a guess as to the percentage of friends who fall into this category. People who even consider this position tend to keep it to themselves. If they did NOT they would be considered LACKING IN FAITH.

I just had a brilliant idea! Why don't the workers all get together and put their beliefs down in writing?!! They could even post them here on this List. (chuckle & grin) Many of them got together to establish the current hymn book so why not a statement of their doctrine!?

By the way, I was told by a worker that one of the reasons for making changes to some of the hymns was because not all of the hymns reflected their beliefs. (my words--paraphrase of worker's) 3/97

Here is part of a conversation, April 12, 1992, between an overseer and one leaving the 2x2s:

Overseer - "That was very, should I say, honorable of you ------ to judge yourself that way but that shouldn't have taken you from God's way."

Leaving person - "It hasn't taken me from God".

Overseer - "No, but it shouldn't have taken you from the fellowship.You see, there's one thing that the religious world will not recognize, that there's an order in this way of God from God down. God is at the top, then his Son, then the Holy Spirit led ministry, then the elders that are appointed by the ministry, then the people in the church down to the children. That's God's order and has been all the time and they will not accept the ministry. They think that they can get with God without a ministry and without a fellowship".

Leaving person - "You bring up an interesting point. What You're saying is that I can't have God without the ministry".

Overseer "You can't have God without the fellowship and the ministry. Here's the body of Christ. The human body is about as clear a perception of God's people in the world, one head and every member in connection one with another under the control of the head. This little finger is not connected with the head except through the body. It can't be otherwise or else we're a freak. You read 1 John 1, the ministry was talking to the people, John was writing to God's people, and he said, "That which was from the beginning, which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you might have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father"".

This is quite exclusive of salvation by any other than the 2x2 ministry. This man is overseer over a large area and statements as this to my knowledge are never disputed or objected to.

There were 10 people besides the Overseer present including two other workers neither of which objected to the statements.

3/97

You ask what proportion of the fellowship uphold the worker view concerning salvation "only in the 2x2". Quite a large percent if those I am acquainted with are even slightly representative. More I suspect support the view in Australia and New Zealand. Most say nothing about this difference in views except in private conversation as they fear the wrath of the workers to speak openly. One worker stated at Gilroy convention that if a person had views differing from the workers that he/she should keep silence. No opposition to that either. Including me. We would have lost the meeting in the home and who knows what else. Quite definitely have been requested to have no part in meeting, even if one used the bible in testimony. It would be preaching and controversial. We had no real bible studies to openly discuss these things as that also was directed and dictated to as to subject matter, etc. 3/97

As a 3rd generation 2x2er, I KNOW (and so does every person on this forum) that the 2x2s claim exclusivity and that this has been one of the most key foundational points and to this day, every 2x2 friend or worker I ask that question of either staunchly ascribes to it or equivocates. No one has ever stated clearly and comfortably that they think otherwise. Even reluctant acknowledgment of non-exclusivity has been only very recent and then it seems often only to avoid being in disagreement with the questioner.

It would appear however, that the 2x2 system is changing, that is, adapting to pressure. That does not make the serious scriptural fundamental errors of the system any less so. (As a 2x2er, I am stating that the 2x2 system is scripturally wrong.) It just means they are changing the way any organization does and the way the 2x2 system has over the years in order to keep at least enough in tune with the times to survive. 3/97

In my experience, there has been ZERO percentage of the friends of my acquaintance who do/did not believe "the truth" is THE only way. I wish I could say it was otherwise...

I remember a young couple who attended gospel meetings in Dallas and were on the verge of professing we all thought. They had been coming to Sunday and Wed meetings even. The sister worker gave her "only way" sermon. They never came back. They believed they were already saved, and were favorably impressed with the simple method of 2x2 fellowship and ministry. They wanted to assemble with us--but they couldn't accept that it was the only way--to do so was to deny their salvation experience which was very precious to them. We were all very disappointed and couldn't understand. 3/97

If the way is, as the workers claim, PERFECT--and they alone have the monopoly on God's perfect way which is supposedly far superior to other churches because it alone is Jesus' church; then it follows that there should be no imperfections or inconsistencies in The Perfect System. But there are, and a host of them, too. Neither the system OR the people are Perfect.

We expected a PERFECTLY TRUTHFUL group of humans--since they call themselves "the truth." Most/many of us didn't choose "the truth" because as human methods go, it seemed good to us or appealed to us. Some of us chose it because we believed the lie that it was Jesus' only way on earth which had continued since the apostles. With this fantastic history, it was automatically far superior to ALL other man-made churches with more recent founders, and we'd be fools not to choose it---There was no other alternative, except Hell...NOT!!

We expected to find absolute TRUTH in a system that claims to be "THE Truth of Jesus!

And instead, we were ripped off, cheated, gypped out of YEARS of our lives--some even 50-60+ years--which can never be replaced. We endured untold NEEDLESS misery and suffering; some had their families and marriages ripped apart, some grieved suicides caused by the system, and untold anxiety and pain--all because of some Human men we trusted who LIED to us in the name of "the truth," and in the name of Jesus! 3/97

Sitting in meeting those many years, I was always uncomfortable with references to this being the "only" true church, or Christ’s "only" true Body, because I knew differently from my own experience."

In Ronald Enroth's book, RECOVERING FROM CHURCHES
THAT ABUSE, and the chapter Searching for Freedom, he has listed things to look
for in discerning an unhealthy, abusive Christian church or
fellowship from one that is truly biblical.  

From Enroth's book:

DISCERNING THE DIFFERENCE

        "... LaVonne Neff states that it is important to examine the effects
that groups have on the people who join them.  'Good results will not
sanctify bad doctrine, but bad results can serve as warning lights,
EVEN WHERE [THE] TEACHING APPEARS SOUND.
        " '.... What happens to members' personalities, relationships, job
commitments, community involvement?  Is the group's overall effect on
those who come in contact with it--members and nonmembers--positive
or negative?  Is it an agency of healing, restoration and
reconciliation?'
       "To distinguish between healthy and unhealthy churches, Neff poses
eleven questions....

1. Does a member's personality generally become stronger, happier,
more confident as a result of contact with the group?
2. Do members of the group seek to strengthen their family
commitments?
3. Does the group encourage independent thinking and the development
of discernment skills?
4. Does the group allow for individual differences of belief and
behavior, particularly on issues of secondary importance?
5. Does the group encourage high moral standards both among members
and between members and nonmembers?
6. Does the group's leadership invite dialog, advice, and evaluation from outside its immediate circle?
7. Does the group allow for development in theological beliefs?
8. Are group members encouraged to ask hard questions of any kind?
9. Do members appreciate truth wherever it is found, even if it is
outside their group?
10. Is the group honest in dealing with nonmembers, especially as it
tries to win them to the group?
11. Does the group foster relationships and connections with the
larger society that are more than self-serving?