The
Hi-Jacking of Evangelicalism, Part VI
“Christian
Fundamentalism” or “New World Religion”?
Last week the annual Prayer Breakfast was held. The Dalai Lama was there as one of their honored guests. Was it truly about Jesus or even "evangelizing"? I submit it was much closer to the agenda of "New World Religion." I further submit that this network was a substantial part of what New Ager Barbara Marx Hubbard said back in 1988 a few months after coming from the secretive Gold Lake Conference "Bridging Through Christ" was "Now all of the resonating core groups with OUTWARDLY DIFFERENT PURPOSES are merging and blending and coming together to do THE ONE WORK." Her alliance with long time core group, inner circle Family activist Paul Temple is more than a small factor in my personal determination about these links.
Writer Jeffrey Sharlet has said much about the alleged “secret
fundamentalism” of the Washington headquartered International Christian
Leadership operation called by him as “The Family.” Writer Wayne Madsen has said even more. Although I might have serious disagreements
with the worldviews of both men, I believe Wayne Madsen hit more of the nails
accurately on the head as to the true character of the group. The Washington, D. C. allegedly Christian
operation might be fundamentalist something or other, but fundamentalist
Christianity as in rigorously adhering to the classic and fundamental tenets of
the faith “once delivered to the fathers” it is not. Perhaps it never was. There were several in the circle that clearly represented "illuminated interests," including but not limited to Glenn Clark, Rufus Jones, E. Stanley Jones, Frank Laubach, and Roland Gammon.
To understand “the Family” it is necessary to understand its beginnings
and collaborations. As accurately
reported by others, these are a few of the preliminary events.
- · Abraham (Abram) Vereide comes to USA as a young man, marries, becomes a minister, and eventually goes to work managing Goodwill Industries in Seattle, Washington. While in Seattle he organizes a religious network to seek peace between labor and management interests there.
- · Vereide makes numerous cross country trips, including trips to Ottawa, Canada, and at least one return trip to Norway (sponsored by a sympathetic friend).
- · Vereide makes the acquaintance of Frank Buchman and Sam Shoemaker.
- · Vereide employs assistants over the years, including Harald Bredesen.
- · Vereide is taken into the circle of “The Twelve” meeting annually on New Years Day retreats at the Embassy Row mansion home of Mrs. Aymar (Marian) Johnson (nee Marian K. Hoffman) , a wealthy Washington, D. C. benefactor who was initially mentored first by Sam Shoemaker and then by Glenn Clark.
Understanding Frank Buchman and Glenn Clark are essential to
understanding more. To understand Glenn
Clark, one must also understand Dr. Alexis Carrel. Another close friend of all was Norman
Grubb. Norman Grubb’s theology was
plainly closer to Gnosticism than orthodox Christian creeds and “Statements of
Faith.”. Glenn Clark’s theology was definitely
more akin to New Thought religion (i.e. Unity School of Christianity) than to
traditional biblical and evangelical Christianity. He proudly wrote about the “New Age” (Capital
N, Capital A) and the intent that the world should accept it willingly starting
in 1946, 35 years before I discovered this network in 1981!
Dr. Alexis Carrel
Dr. Alexis Carrel, was to put it mildly, a “complex individual.” Intellectually speaking, he was clearly a
genius. He won the Nobel Prize in 1912
for pioneering complicated suture surgery.
Together with close friend aviator Charles Lindbergh, he invented the
perfusion pump necessary for decades of heart surgeries. He was also and unfortunately, a dedicated
eugenicist.
Marian Johnson and her “checked guidance”
Marian Johnson was an extremely wealthy socialite who had lived well on
both sides of the Atlantic. She was
associated with royal circles in England.
Her mother Mrs. Charles
Frederick Hoffman was prominent in New York, Newport, and English
society. She married Aymar Johnson and
they enjoyed a socialite life which included sailing in their yacht, “The
Enchantress.” Per Norman Grubb, “life
had no real meaning for her until she met Sam Shoemaker.” She probably had legitimate access to New
York Episcopalian Circles. Her father, Charles
Frederick Hoffman, was active in New York City Episcopalian circles. He may have even pastored himself. He was the treasurer of the Cathedral Church
of St. John the Divine in New York City.
Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopalian clergyman there who was a literal acolyte
to Frank Buchman for many years, pastored another Episcopal Church in New York.
Marian Johnson was told of Abraham Vereide in New York by Sam
Shoemaker. In January 1944,
approximately 1 ½ to 2 months before I entered the world on Leap Year Day,
1944, Abraham Vereide rang her doorbell saying that Sam Shoemaker asked him to
call on her. [1](Grubb, 1961, p. 79; Grubb, 1961)
Mrs. Marian Johnson, the former Miss Marian Hoffman, became Abram’s
chief financial backer. Per Norman
Grubb, “he took over from her the idea of a vital center in Washington for
international fellowship and dispensing hospitality for God to government
leaders.” (Grubb, 1961, p. 80)
This was the start of “International Christian Leadership.” Was there more? The presence on the board of ICL of men such
as Roland Gammon clearly suggests there was.
It is not presumptuous to say that the New Year’s Day retreats were
closer to intentional meetings of what could even be called “Illuminati.” For more on this we shall carefully in the
next article examine Dr. Glenn Clark’s book, THE MAN WHO TAPPED THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE as well as “The
Twelve” who gathered at Marian Johnson’s home every New Year’s Day.
[1] There
are many sources I have collected and researched on this. A most important reference is MODERN VIKING: THE STORY OF ABRAHAM VEREIDE, PIONEER IN
CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP by Norman Grubb.
Extensive references to Mrs. Aymar Johnson are included in his chapter, “God-Guided Contacts.” I have accumulated a library on several of “The
Twelve” and their obvious high-level mysticism, including but not limited to
Rufus Jones, E. Stanley Jones, Frank Laubach, and Glenn Clark. Roland Gammon was proudly affiliated in a
leadership position with International Christian Leadership. His book NIRVANA
NOW is one of the most gossipy accounts of New Age activism, including
Lucis Trust, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and the Temple of Understanding, I have
found anywhere. That book was one of my
original acquisitions on the New Age Movement shortly after I learned of its
existence in 1981. If there was an innocent individual in this crowd, it may have been Sam Shoemaker. My jury is still out on him. I have read his wife's biography and from that reading, it appears that he had honest Christian motivation and had broken with Buchman and his Moral Rearmament Movement during the war years. However, another organization that Sam Shoemaker was instrumental in finding, Faith at Work, has been clearly compromised over the years which will be the subject of another posting.