A Bible Foundation

Every Christian needs a foundation in the scriptures. While attending a Bible college, I often heard students complain that they did not have the biblical background that the professors expected. Where was the class that laid the initial groundwork on which they could build a deeper understanding of the Bible? The professors believed that, if students had attended Sunday school and church since they were young, they should have learned the fundamentals they needed. The Bible college professors assumed students had a basic knowledge of the scriptures before enrolling in their classes - and the students regularly protested that they didn't have that foundation.

These discussions always amazed me because I had taken "Power for Abundant Living" classes offered by the Way International. My foundational understanding of the scriptures far exceeded theirs consistently. How is it that I could take a couple of short classes on the Bible and come away with a better understanding of the Word of God than others who had spent years in Sunday school and church?

The answer to that question is found partly in the development of the classes taught by Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille, the founder of The Way International, beginning in 1941. Mrs. Victor Paul Wierwille wrote a book in 1996 about his life, titled "Born Again to Serve", in which she describes the development of Dr. Wierwille's teaching ministry. The background I record below is gleaned from that book, published by American Christian Press, New Knoxville, Ohio.

Newly graduated from Bible college, Rev. Wierwille took a pastorate in Payne, Ohio and began a Bible teaching series to "bring to hand every element required to build up knowledge, acquaint you with methods, and supply inspiration for dealing with the problems that confront teachers and workers" (Wierwille, 36). Rev. Wierwille began searching for knowledge and understanding from Christian sources which could help him accomplish his goal for his teaching series.

While searching for answers to present in his classes he met a former missionary who had worked in China and Korea. This lady taught Rev. Wierwille to read the Bible rather than read around it. This was a radical idea to a highly educated young man. She further encouraged Rev. Wierwille to search for the greatest of all things in life which would teach Christian believers the how of a really victorious life (Wierwille, 38). Rev. Wierwille took this advice and responded to the challenge by searching the scriptures more diligently.

His research eventually led him to a special prayer request: "Father, teach me the Word; teach me the Word." God answered the prayer of that Ohio pastor, plain as day, as he later recounted, "...that if I would study the Word, He would teach me the Word like He had not been able to teach it to anybody since the first century" (Wierwille, 42). It would be many years before he told anyone about this event but it was his motivation to focus his work on only the scriptures for the answers to "the how of a really victorious life."

During his searching years, Rev. Wierwille published many articles in Christian publications and in local newspapers. He also started a local radio broadcast called the "Chimes Hour" (later called "The Chimes Hour Youth Caravan Inc.") which featured music and songs by his church youth group and teachings borne from his research in the Bible. During these years, researching the Bible became more important to him because the keys to the greatness and accuracy of God's Word began to unfold. As his studies continued, the importance of the power and greatness of the holy spirit field began to emerge (Wierwille, 42-47).

Rev. Wierwille's search led him to many meetings where he thought he might learn more about God and His Word and how to present it more effectively to others. These desires led him to many revivals, evangelistic meetings and even healing meetings and conferences. As a clergy member, he was allowed to be on the platform where he could observe first hand the effectiveness of the ministers he went to see. Many lessons came from these experiences. Perhaps one of the most significant lessons came from a series of teachings by William Braham, whose example taught us that God cannot do less than His Word. We learned that if it is written then He will do it! (Wierwille, 51).

Rev. Wierwille received his doctorate in 1948 from Pikes Peak Bible Seminary (Wierwille, 67) but he still did not have the answers to his questions on "the how of a really victorious life." It was evident from his searching of the scriptures that his answers were in the holy spirit field. But practical understanding seemed to elude him. Clearly recorded in the Word of God is the power of the holy spirit to heal and deliver, yet many trips to meetings where the power of holy spirit was supposed to be evident and taught left Dr. Wierwille without the answers he sought. He had attained a doctorate degree and had even memorized all 385 occurrences of the words holy spirit in the Bible but still did not have answers regarding how to bring the power of God into manifestation.

Dr. Wierwille felt his quest had proved fruitless and he was on the verge of giving up while attending a "Divine Healing Convention." He wanted to return home early but was delayed due to weather. Dr. Wierwille used the hotel restaurant for meals and often sat with other attendees discussing the meetings. While waiting for the weather to clear, he was overheard by a lady, at a meal, when he shared his reasons for attending and his disappointment with the conference. She then told him of a man whom she thought was sent by God to that location to meet his need. Dr. Wierwille wanted to meet that man right away! She arranged a meeting time and place for the two of them and that's how he met J. E. Stiles. After listening to a message by Oral Roberts together, they met alone to help Dr. Wierwille in his quest for understanding of the holy spirit field (Wierwille, 78-80).

The session started with J. E. Stiles teaching Dr. Wierwille the Word about the goodness of God. Luke 11:13 "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? After relieving his fears about what manifesting holy spirit was not, J. E. Stiles was then able to lead Dr. Wierwille into manifesting holy spirit by speaking in tongues. He was also able to answer all Dr. Wierwille's questions. This was the practical understanding he had been seeking. Soon after this incident, Dr. Wierwille was able to teach and lead others into manifesting holy spirit. If Dr. Wierwille was going to get the Word of God spread over the World, as was now his goal, it was essential that those doing it had to be bold in manifesting God's power. To that end Dr. Wierwille began to include in his teachings this aspect of the Christian walk along with the other keys he had learned in his years of searching the Bible (Wierwille, 81).

While J. E. Stiles helped his understanding of the manifestations of speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues and prophecy, there were still other parts of the holy spirit field in which Dr. Wierwille Soon after that, Dr. Wierwille arranged to attend B. J. Leonard's class on the "Gifts of the Spirit" which included teachings on spiritual healing. A few years later, B. J. Leonard came to Dr. Wierwille's church to teach. B. J. Leonard loved Dr. Wierwille, believed in his knowledge of the Word of God and inspired him to really teach what he knew. B. J. (as most called him) inspired Dr. Wierwille to really learn the practical side of the revelation manifestations. This was the last part of "the how of a really victorious life" that he had been seeking (Wierwille, 90-92).

The first "Power for Abundant Living" class was taught in 1953. In a September letter that year, Dr. Wierwille wrote. "I will for the first time teach a course which will lead everyone taking it into this mighty ministry of deliverance." He went on to say, "I made up my mind that I was going to tie the whole thing together from Genesis to Revelation." (Wierwille, 99). From the very first, his classes were both instructional and practical.

That class was presented without syllabus or notes for the students. It was recorded and later transcribed to paper (Wierwille, 100). An outline was written from the transcription which became the syllabus for the class. It was later expanded into separate foundational and advanced classes. The foundational class contained the keys to the Word's interpretation gleaned from so many years of searching and the understanding of the holy spirit field gained from J. E. Stiles. I took both of these classes only four years after they were expanded and set as two classes.

The advanced class went further into the holy spirit field, using the keys from the foundational class, to open the rest of the holy spirit field from the scriptures. The advanced class culminated in the students learning how to put into practice the power of the holy spirit by learning how God communicates to them with word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits to minister healing to deliver God's people from the oppression of the adversary.

These are the classes that I had taken six years before attending Bible college which gave me such an advantage over the Sunday-school- and church-taught students. Just how much advantage was that? Read the article entitled " Teen Healer?"to see just how far advanced I was beyond the average Bible college student.