Spiritual Counterfeits Project

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The Spiritual Counterfeits Project (also known as SCP) is a prominent Christian evangelical parachurch organisation located in Berkeley, California. Since its inception in the early 1970s it has been a highly influential ministry in the fields of Christian apologetics and the Christian countercult movement. Its current president is Tal Brooke. In its role as a think-tank SCP has sought to publish evangelically-based analyses of new religious movements, New Age and alternative spiritualities in light of broad cultural trends. SCP has also been at the center of two controversial US lawsuits, one involving church-state issues (Malnak v. Yogi) and the other being a religious defamation case (Lee v. Duddy).

Contents

[edit] Background

The origins of the SCP are grounded in the Christian counterculture movement (also known as the Jesus Movement or Jesus People) of the late 1960s. In 1968 some staff members of Campus Crusade for Christ conceived of the need to contextualize the Christian message for radical and revolutionary university students. The key figures were Jack Sparks and his wife, Pat and Karry Matrisciana, Fred and Jan Dyson, Weldon and Barbara Hartenburg. [1] In April 1969 Sparks and his colleagues commenced their ministry at the University of California, Berkeley, and along the famous street in Berkeley, Telegraph Avenue.

The ministry adopted the name Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) as a challenging counterpart to the politically revolutionary group called the Berkeley Liberation Movement. The CWLF began producing an underground newspaper called Right On. In this newspaper the CWLF staff wrote articles that expressed the Christian message in the language of revolutionary and radical politics. [2]

According to Edward Plowman the CWLF had five objectives: "1. Determine the real social problems; try to right them. 2. Relate Christ to the important issues and speak out. 3. Befriend those to be reached. Identify with them. 4. Publish mountains of literature. 5. Get the people together once a week." [3]

The CWLF attracted into its membership many Christians and new converts who were interested in its ministry objectives. Among those who were attracted were three men who later collaborated in the formation of the SCP: Brooks Alexander, David Fetcho (who named the ministry), and Bill Squires. Both Alexander and Fetcho were converts to Christianity from the counterculture. Alexander had participated in the psychedelic drug usage of the counterculture, was an initiate of Transcendental Meditation, and lived in the famous Haight-Ashbury community in San Francisco. [4]Fetcho had been involved with the Ananda Marga Yoga Society before converting to Christianity [5]

[edit] CWLF Splits

In early 1975 an internal dispute emerged in the CWLF. Jack Sparks, the leader of CWLF, had formed an alliance with a number of staff within Campus Crusade for Christ and others within their orbit, notably Richard Ballew, Ken Berven, Jon Braun, Peter Gillquist, Weldon Hartenburg, Ray Nethery, and Gordon Walker. At a meeting of Sparks, Braun, Ballew, Berven, Nethery, Walker and Gillquist, one of the men claimed to receive a "word from the Lord" that the seven were actually "apostles," in direct succession from the original twelve apostles of Jesus. This revelation claimed that each of them had, through the laying on of hands, and unbeknownest to any of them, been ordained by someone whom had likewise been ordained by another whom had been ordained—all the way back in a direct lineage to the twelve. After some discussion, the seven men agreed that the revelation was true, and would use as their model forms of church discipline and worship from the fourth and fifth century, a period when Eastern Orthodoxy codified its doctrine and liturgy. The seven men then returned to their respective congregations. When Sparks returned to CWLF and informed everyone that he was now an apostle, with all the attendant authority of the twelve apostles, and that he and his cohorts would henceforth be exercising the same authority over the group as did fouth century bishops (as they interpreted it), an extremely heated debate ensued. The result was that roughly eighty percent of CWLF's staff and members refused to go along with Sparks. Those leaving still sought to continue the ministries that had developed within CWLF however. Therefore, CWLF was disbanded, and two new groups came into being.

Those who left (Including Alexander, Fetcho, and Squires) formed another group that was known as the Berkeley Christian Coalition. SCP continued operating as a branch ministry of the Berkeley Christian Coalition (BCC).

Sparks and the others formed the New Covenant Apostolic Order, which then became the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC) in 1979. In April 1987 the EOC was accepted into full communion with the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. [6]

[edit] History of SCP

In 1973 Brooks Alexander and others distributed Christian leaflets at the Houston Astrodome where Guru Maharaji of the Divine Light Mission was speaking. [7] That same year Alexander, Fetcho and Haddon launched a grass-roots campaign to oppose the practice of Transcendental Meditation(TM) within US public high schools. In 1975 the SCP was formally incorporated as an "independent Christian nonprofit organization." [8]

The four primary purposes of SCP included:

"1. To research today's spiritual movements and critique them biblically. 2. To equip Christians with the knowledge, analysis, and discernment that will enable them to understand the significance of today's spiritual explosion. 3. To suggest a Christian response which engages the church with all levels of situation. 4. To bring the good news of Jesus Christ and extend a hand of rescue to those in psycho-spiritual bondage." [9]

Bill Squires served as its inaugural executive director (1974-83), and he was succeeded by Karen Hoyt. [10] Its early Board of Reference included prominent evangelical apologists, missionaries, clergy and theologians such as David Adeney, Litsen Chang, Ronald Enroth, Os Guinness, Earl Palmer, William E. Pennell, William Peterson and James Sire.

[edit] Opposing TM

The campaign against TM was premised on the grounds that TM represented itself as a non-religious activity and was promoted as the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI). The SCP staff maintained that TM was not religiously neutral, and that its SCI was based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Hindu faith.

The focal point for this anti-TM campaign was a civil action lawsuit No.76-431 in the US District Court of New Jersey. The lawsuit known as Malnak v. Yogi contested whether TM was religious or not, and if the former then it could not be taught in US public high schools. The plaintiffs, which included the SCP, presented evidence to show that the initiatory ceremony of TM (known as the puja) was religious in nature and the practice of meditation presented as SCI involved chanting Hindu mantras. Justice Curtis Meanor who presided over the case concluded that TM/SCI are "religious in nature within the context of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and the teaching thereof in the New jersey public schools is therefore unconstitutional." [11]

The success of this campaign catapulted the SCP into prominence among evangelical Christians in North America and internationally. [12]

[edit] Apologists and Publications

In February 1975 the ministry began publishing the SCP Newsletter, which served as a news bulletin about the staff, and about trends and issues germane to SCP's mission. In April 1977 the ministry also released the first edition of the SCP Journal. Each edition of the journal includes analytic essays and book reviews tackling new religious movements, New Age, the occult and apologetics issues. Several editions of the journal have been thematic in content and focus, such as Volume 1, number 2 (UFOs),Volume 3, number 1 (Eckankar), Volume 5, number 1 (human potential movement), Volume 7, number 1 (A Course in Miracles), and Volume 16, number 3 (Witchcraft). Both the journal and newsletter remain in current production.

In the years spanning 1974-1988 the SCP staff included a number of apologists who had various essays and books published,in addition to their contributions in the SCP Journal and Newsletter. These included Frances Adeney, Mark Albrecht, Brooks Alexander, Robert Burrows, Neil and Linda Duddy, Dean Halverson, Karen Hoyt, and J. Isamu Yamamoto. Among the prominent books released in that period were Yamamoto's The Puppet Master (opposing the Unification Church) and Beyond Buddhism, Albrecht's book on reincarnation, and the combined staff effort in The New Age Rage. Several essays by SCP staff were published in Update, a periodical published by the Dialog Center, Aarhus, Denmark. Others had articles appear in widely circulated evangelical magazines such as Eternity and Christianity Today, and in mainline Protestant publications such as the International Review of Mission.

Although much effort has gone into the production of literature, the SCP also engages in other activities. It maintains an advisory-counseling telephone service for adherents of religious groups who are re-evaluating their spiritual commitments. SCP staff have also been involved in a few formal public dialogue events with representatives from the Neo-Pagan community in California.

In June 1980, Brooks Alexander represented the SCP in a mini-consultation group that met as part of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand. The group that Alexander joined was concerned with addressing the problem of new religious movements as a legitimate part of the Christian church's mandate to evangelise the world. A position paper known as The Thailand Report on New Religious Movements was produced.[13] A further outcome was that in 1982 a loose network of Christian countercult ministries was formed known as Evangelical Ministries to New Religions (EMNR). The SCP was one of the founder-member organizations in EMNR. However the SCP subsequently ended its membership in EMNR.

[edit] Local Church Controversy

During the 1970s and mid 1980s the SCP was embroiled in a public and legal dispute with the Local Church established by Witness Lee. The roots of the dispute are traceable to the time when the CWLF began its work. Around the same time CWLF began, a congregation of the Local Church began operating nearby CWLF's offices. A clash developed between members of CWLF and members of the Local Church.[14]

Toward the end of the 1970s some SCP staff had contact with ex-members of the Local Church. Alongside of complaints raised by ex-members, SCP staff examined the writings of Witness Lee and other Local Church authors. The SCP inferred from the data they assembled that the Local Church was not an orthodox Christian church. SCP staff believed they had detected heretical teachings and practices that deviated from both the Bible and classic evangelical theology.

Around the same time as the SCP were conducting their investigations, a number of other figures in the Christian countercult movement (such as Walter Martin and Jack Sparks) began delivering lectures and producing small booklets that questioned the orthodoxy of the Local Church.

In 1977 InterVarsity press released an 80 page booklet by the SCP called The God-Men: Witness Lee and the Local Church. It was updated and released as a full-length book in 1981 as The God-Men: An Inquiry into Witness Lee and the Local Church. The book presented the results of SCP's investigations into the theology and practices of the Local Church. The SCP findings alleged that the Local Church was promulgating heresy. The dispute between the Local Church and the SCP escalated into a lawsuit for defamation that was filed in Oakland, California in December 1980 and known as Lee v. Duddy. [15]

Over a period of four and a half years the pre-trial preparations and depositions, involved expenditure that brought SCP into legal debt with their defense lawyers. The defamation trial was scheduled to commence on March 4, 1985. According to Bill Squires "the lawfirm representing us withdrew from the case" and so the decision was taken to file for a reorganizational bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court. Squires states, "that move imposed an immediate stay on the plaintiffs' action against us, thus ending the financial drain of litigation. On that day, SCP, while continuing its larger ministry, officially dropped out of the lawsuit." [16] While SCP was prepared to defend the suit with witnesses, it was unable to appear in court due to its bankruptcy status.

The Local Church continued its case against the other defendants named in the action. The other defendants did not appear in their own defense. The case for the plaintiff was heard in May 1985 before Judge Leon Seyranian and uncontested by any defendants (as none appeared and SCP was already officially cancelled out as a defendant). A decision was reached that awarded the Local Church with damages against the defendants.

[edit] Tal Brooke's Administration

In the late 1980s Tal Brooke became the president of SCP. Brooke has been a controversial figure in his writings that oppose New Age spirituality. Part of his interpretation of New Age is framed around a conspiracy theory. He regards New Age as a Satanic conspiracy through which people are spiritually seduced and they may even controlled by demons. However, he also interprets New Age as part of the human impulse for self-worship, and tries to chart those impulses in the context of late Twentieth century western culture. His advocacy of a conspiratorial interpretation of New Age differs somewhat from the standpoint that was taken by the SCP staff prior to his presidency such as in the SCP Newsletter (January-February 1984) and in the The New Age Rage (published in 1987).

Brooke's controversial stance on conspiracy theory formed part of a brief news report by Robert Digitale in Christianity Today magazine in January 1990. Digitale speculated on the apparent shift in perspective at the Spiritual Counterfeits Project under Brooke's presidency and with changes in the personnel of the ministry's board of directors.

The ministry under Brooke's administration continues to produce literature that analyses new religious movements and New Age, but also examines other spiritual trends.

[edit] References

  1. [17]Ronald M. Enroth, Edward E. Ericson and C. Breckinridge Peters, The Jesus People: Old-Time Religion in the Age of Aquarius (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1972), p.107.
  2. [18]Donald Heinz, "The Christian World Liberation Front," in The New Religious Consciousness, Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, eds., (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976), pp. 153-54. Also see Enroth, Ericson and Peters, Jesus People, pp. 102-106.
  3. [19]Edward E. Plowman, The Jesus Movement: Accounts of Christian Revolutionaries in Action (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1972), p. 75. ISBN 0-340-16125-6
  4. [20]Brooks Alexander, Reflections of an Ex, revised ed.,(Berkeley: SCP, 1984) (originally published in Right On, September 1973).
  5. [21]David Fetcho, "Last Meditation/Lotus Adept," SCP Journal, 6/1 (Winter 1984), pp. 31-36.
  6. [22]David Haddon, "The Houston Report on the Festival of Maharaji," Right On (January 1974).
  7. [23]The full story is recounted in Peter E. Gillquist, Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith (Brentwood: Wolgemuth and Hyatt, 1989). ISBN 0-943497-67-1
  8. [24]J. Isamu Yamamoto, "Preface," in SCP Journal, 6/1 (Winter 1984), p. 5.
  9. [25]This statement appears in the SCP Journal, 2/1 (August 1978), p. 2.
  10. [26]"The Changing Face of SCP: An Update," SCP Newsletter, 9/3 (July-August 1983), p. 1
  11. [27]TM in Court (Berkeley: SCP, 1978), p.74.
  12. [28]"US Court Appeals Rules Against TM Movement," New Religious Movements Up-date 3/2 (July 1979) [29]
  13. [30]J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America revised ed.,(New York & London: Garland, 1992), p.255.
  14. [31] Bill Squires, "The Lawsuit in Perspective," SCP Newsletter, 11/4 (November 1986), p.6.
  15. [32] Squires, "Lawsuit", p. 8.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Background Sources on SCP

  • "A Brief History of SCP," SCP Newsletter, 17/1 (April 1992), p. 16
  • "A Brief History of the SCP," (slightly different to the account in SCP Newsletter April 1992) [33]
  • Robert Digitale, "Major Shift at Spiritual Counterfeits Project?" Christianity Today, (January 15, 1990), pp. 53-54.
  • Peter D. Dresser, Research Centers Directory 1988, 12th ed (Detroit: Gale, 1988), p. 1224.
  • Ronald M. Enroth, "Evangelical Orthodox Church vs. Spiritual Counterfeits: New Denomination Debates Critic over Authority," Christianity Today, (August 7, 1981), pp. 33-34.
  • Donald Heinz, "The Christian World Liberation Front," in The New Religious Consciousness, Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, eds., (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976), pp. 143-161. ISBN 0-520-03083-4
  • John A. Saliba, "The Christian Response to the New Religions: A Critical Look at the Spiritual Counterfeits Project," Journal of Ecumenical Studies 18, 3 (Summer 1981), pp. 451-473.
  • Tim Stafford, "The Kingdom of the Cult Watchers," Christianity Today (October 7, 1991), pp. 18-22.

[edit] Representative Publications by SCP staff

  • SCP Journal (published since April 1977-)
  • SCP Newsletter (published since February 1975-)
  • Frances Adeney, "The Attractive Cults and how to counter them," HIS magazine, (March 1981), pp. 22-25.
  • Mark Albrecht, "UFOs: The Devil’s Chariots?" Christian Life 40/12 (April 1979),pp. 38-39, 59-60, 62, 65.
  • Mark Albrecht, "Eckankar: A Classic Study of a NRM," New Religious Movements Up-Date 4/4 (December 1980), pp. 36-41.[34]
  • Mark Albrecht, "Gnosticism, Past and Present," New Religious Movements Up-Date 5, 3/4 (December 1981), pp. 19-23.[35]
  • Mark Albrecht, Reincarnation: A Christian Appraisal (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1982).
  • Brooks Alexander, "The Final Threat: Apocalypse, Conspiracy, and Biblical Faith," SCP Newsletter 10/1 (January-February 1984), pp. 1, 6-8, 11-12.
  • Brooks Alexander, "Theology from the Twilight Zone," Christianity Today (September 18, 1987), pp. 22-26.
  • Brooks Alexander, Witchcraft Goes Mainstream (Eugene: Harvest House, 2004). ISBN 0-7369-1221-5
  • Tal Brooke, Lord of the Air: Tales of a Modern Antichrist (Eugene: Harvest House, 1990).
  • Tal Brooke, When The World Will Be As One: The Coming New World Order in the New Age (Eugene: Harvest House, 1989).
  • Robert J. Burrows, "Americans Get Religion in the New Age," Christianity Today, (May 16, 1986), pp. 17-23.
  • David Fetcho, "Disclosing the Unknown God:Evangelism to the New Religions," Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements 6, 4 (December 1982), pp. 7-16.[36]
  • David Haddon and Vail Hamilton, TM Wants You! A Christian Response to Transcendental Meditation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976). ISBN 0-8010-4151-1
  • Dean C. Halverson, Crystal Clear: Understanding and Reaching New Agers (Colorado Springs: NAV Press, 1990).
  • Karen Hoyt & J. Isamu Yamamoto, eds., The New Age Rage (Old Tappan: Revell, 1987). ISBN 0-8007-5257-0
  • Michael J. Woodruff, "Religious Freedom and the New Religions," International Review of Mission 57, 268 (October 1978),pp. 468-473.
  • J. Isamu Yamamoto, The Puppet Master: An Inquiry into Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1977). ISBN 0-87784-740-1
  • J. Isamu Yamamoto, Beyond Buddhism (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982). ISBN 0-87784-990-0

[edit] SCP v. Witness Lee/Local Church

  • Brooks Alexander, "Expert Opinion and the Bias of Experts," SCP Newsletter 11/4 (November 1986), pp. 11-15.
  • Brooks Alexander, "When Talk Isn’t Cheap and Speech Isn’t Free: The Abuse of Libel Law," SCP Newsletter 11/4 (November 1986), pp. 4-5.
  • Neil T. Duddy and the SCP, The God-Men: An Inquiry into Witness Lee and the Local Church, 2nd ed., (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1981). ISBN 0-87784-833-5
  • J. Gordon Melton, An Open Letter Concerning the Local Church, Witness Lee and the God-Men Controversy (Santa Barbara: Institute for the Study of American Religion, 1985). (Critical of the Duddy-SCP book)
  • Local Church articles replying to SCP and other critics, transcript of court documents in Lee v. Duddy [37]
  • Bill Squires, "The Lawsuit in Perspective," SCP Newsletter, 11/4 (November 1986), pp. 6-10.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • SCP Home Page [38]
  • "US Court Appeals Rules Against TM Movement," New Religious Movements Up-date 3/2 (July 1979) [39]
  • Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Lausanne Occasional Papers: The Thailand Report on New Religious Movements. Report of the Consultation on World Evangelization Mini-Consultation on Reaching Mystics and Cultists held at Pattaya, Thailand from 16-27 June 1980. [40]
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