About Make Straight Paths

Make Straight Paths examines the unique teachings of the religious group variously known as “the Family,” “The Family International,” the “Children of God,” or the “Family of Love” from a Christian perspective.

The Family earnestly proclaims that it is a Christian group and that its teachings are biblical. Indeed most of its teachings are explained using scriptures from the Bible. Make Straight Paths examines the Family interpretation of numerous Bible scriptures to see if their interpretation is justified. The side bar on the left contains links to all the pages, organised into categories. Some pages are listed in more than one category.

Information about the Family

This site does not provide extensive information about the Family, its history, founder, current leadership or methods of operation. The most extensive site currently available with this information is exFamily.org. Likewise, Make Straight Paths does not list or quote much from official Family publications. These may also be found on exFamily.org.

Further, Make Straight Paths does not attempt to provide an exhaustive list of all Family teachings, past and present. Rather, a number of select doctrines are highlighted and examined from a Scriptural perspective. The information about the Family, therefore, is usually confined to examples of how Family members apply certain teachings, the ways that Family doctrines are put into practice.

There is a brief history of the Family on Make Straight Paths, an outline of its method of government, and an explanation of the relationships that exist within marriages in the Family.

Christian theology

This site is not intended and will not attempt to be a general catechism for believers. It will not give you a well-rounded grounding in Christianity, because its purpose is to investigate specific Family doctrines and interpretations to see ‘whether these things be so’ (Acts 17:11). Therefore if you are a new believer, this site will not suffice for your general walk with the Lord. Indeed, no matter how long you have been a Christian, it is your responsibility to gain a personal and thorough understanding of the Bible, but this website will not accomplish that goal. However, if you are interested in the scriptural backing behind various Family doctrines, or if you wish to understand how Family members interpret the Bible, this site may be of great assistance.

No attacks

As stated in the introduction to this site, it is not the purpose of Make Straight Paths to attack any Family member personally, including past or current leadership. This site does not and will not contain testimonies denigrating the founder of the Family or anyone else. Information regarding Family individuals is available on other sites, and there are some links posted here. There is a detailed article on Wikipedia, although it must be qualified by the knowledge that as public domain, the article may be edited by anyone who wishes to add their own bias, whether positive or negative. Therefore, this site will not be used as a means of launching personal attacks against any current or former Family member. The focus will be exclusively on the truth or error contained within Family doctrines, when measured against the Word of God in the Bible.

This site does not contain accounts of abuse or allegations of criminal behaviour. It does not address the sad story of Ricky Rodriguez. While these issues are extremely serious and should be thoroughly investigated, the aims of this web site would be compromised if they were included here. That is, this website attempts to provide a non-confrontational means of comparing Family teaching with Bible teaching without the highly charged issues surrounding abuse, justice and reparations.

When it is necessary to refer to Family leadership by name, there is a dilemma: the affectionate terms ‘Dad and Maria’ risk offending those who have been hurt by their Family experience, and the names ‘Berg and Zerby’ risk offending current members. In general therefore, this site will use the terms ‘Dad/ Berg’ and ‘Maria/ Zerby’ thereby offending everybody! If you resent either term, please have patience and remember the general readership of this site. Similarly, the term ‘the Family’ will be used, instead of ‘The Family International’, ‘The Family of Love’, ‘The Children of God’, ‘the cult’, ‘the group’ etc.

Readership

Make Straight Paths assumes that the general readership will be those who are familiar to some degree with Family beliefs, practices and lifestyle. Most will have spent or are considering spending time as a Family member, or will have had some contact with the Family.

The pages are written with three specific target groups in mind: former members of the Family, current members and those considering joining. There is also much here that will be of value to friends and relatives of Family members.

If you fall into another category and find you need further explanation, please do not hesitate to ask.

Theological interpretation

It is true that there are often a variety of different interpretations of Scripture on many of the topics discussed on this website. In some articles, various alternatives will be given, in other articles, only one interpretation will be explained. This is because Make Straight Paths has been created specifically for the purpose of examining Family doctrines in light of what the Bible says, not to provide a general encyclopaedia of Christian doctrine or theology. Make Straight Paths does not presume to have the ‘only correct doctrine’. God has the only correct doctrine, not any man, whether they are in the Family or out, whether they have a position of leadership or not, a doctorate in theology or a gift of prophecy. God has truth, God is truth. The (admittedly narrow) purpose of this site at present is to examine whether certain Family doctrines are truth, not to propagate a certain school of thought.

Development

This site will be updated as new articles are written. It is an ongoing process. If you feel that a certain doctrine is missing and should be addressed, please contact us.

The contributors

Everyone who has contributed to Make Straight Paths spent extensive time in the Family. They personally experienced the teaching, and while they were members believed that they were serving God. They believe God called them to leave the Family, and continue serving him by expounding on his word on this site.

Their prayer is that each Christian will come to love the depths of the Bible, and learn to read it in a way that the wonders and the riches of God are made manifest to all.

They also pray that those who have not yet known the truth and beauty of God the Father, the sovereign lordship of God the Son, and the indwelling holiness of God the Spirit may yet be transformed by his amazing grace.

Home