Customer Reviews

The Secret Sect

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had looked for this book ever since it first came out and the workers at the Edgewood Convention in NM warned people not to read it. I was delighted to find it on Amazon. It is a very informative and well written account of this sect. Being in it most of my life, I had figured out many things, but there were still some shocking facts (which I don't doubt) in this book. I highy recommend this book to anyone still in this sect. It would also be very good for people who have relatives or friends in the sect.

This is the one and only book on the religion which is scholarly, with more than just "opinions" of "outsiders." This book really tells it like it was back when the religion was started. The religion implies in its current belief system that it was started back with the 12 and 70 when Jesus was alive, but it is not true, as proven by the author with pictures and newspaper articles from about 100 years ago in England. George Walker did not "hear" the gospel from two workers, he heard it from the man who actually started the religion himself. This disproves the belief that the religion started back in Jesus' day, which is the foundation for the religion's "everybody else is going to hell" belief system. The book was not written with emotion, but verifiable facts. Highly recommended for seekers of truth about this religion.

Back in the seventies I obtained a book by the same title. I have lost it and have been trying to find it for a very long time. Many of my family members belong to this sect. I am a former member. I even have a picture, from my childhood, of George Walker and James Jardine. It took me years to realize that I am, indeed, NOT "Going to Hell", because I practice my christianity in another church. My e-mail address is wandal@hi-line.net. I would welcome conversations about this matter and hope this book will be back in print soon.

I found this book to be balanced and informative. I must-read for anyone who is still involved in this sect. This book presents you with the facts, the conclusion you draw is between you and god.

This book reveals the real truth about a church group started in Ireland in 1897 by William Irvine which calls itself "The Truth". It is available at a very reasonable price (at this time, $14.45) on a web site administrated by an ex-member of the church at RIS http://workersect.org/2x206.html.

This historical account of the "Truth" helped me know who I am and what I have been taught through the years. Born and raised in this way it is a must for those who have children.

Around the year 1897, William Irvine, a preacher of the Faith Mission in Scotland and Ireland, received a revelation as he was reading the Gospel of Matthew, chapter ten:

[F]reely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

Following these teachings as best he could, Irvine struck out on his own, founding a new movement based upon his vision of a penniless, traveling ministry, as he imagined Jesus himself to have taught in the first century. Within a few years, a number of house churches had been established, and the movement began to spread to other lands. Observing that the first apostles carried no name other than that of Jesus, ministers insisted on remaining a nameless sect outside the public eye (hence the book's title, The Secret Sect). The movement nevertheless collected several nicknames, including Cooneyites (named after one of the of the first preachers to join the movement), Dippers (from Irvine's public baptismal rituals), and 2x2s (based upon the practice of ministers traveling two and two together, as was often the habit of first-century Christian evangelists).

Whether by deliberate misdirection or by accidental development, members of the sect quickly came to believe they could trace their origins back to the shores of Galilee, and that they were the only people on earth who were saved. All other groups, Christian or not, were apparently deceived by Satan. Irvine, himself, was excommunicated after a number of years, and his role in the foundation of the movement was suppressed. Members of the 2x2s, convinced of God's approval and their absolute discovery of God's true way, coined their own name for the movement: "the Truth." The name stuck, and continues to be the most commonly used name by insiders.

Today, more than 100 years later, membership estimates run between 200,000 and 600,000 worldwide, and the movement could hardly be called penniless anymore. A number of books have been written about this group, some more friendly than others (a few openly call the sect a cult). But this is the book that started the ball rolling, written way back in 1982. It's a fair, carefully researched historical account of how this Christian sect came into existence.

My interest in the book? It's my heritage. Yes, I grew up in "the Truth," though I'm no longer a member. The 2x2 movement is, in my opinion, wholesome and fulfilling ... as much as any fundamentalist, exclusivist religion ever can be. Members meet reverently for fellowship in small groups in homes, and continue to take turns housing a homeless, travelling ministry.

I doubt this book would be of interest to anyone not in some way connected to "the Truth." But for those of us who are or were, this is one of the most important books we'll ever read. For that reason alone I award it five stars.

It's unfortunately out of print. As of this writing, used copies on Amazon sell for between $70 and $213.

Highly recommended for anyone who, like myself, grew up in this sect. Balanced and fair, but honest accounting of history and practices. I knew quite of number of the names and places.

I have a Pentecostal bible college certificate of 3 yrs pastoral ministry training in l975. it is only the Holy Spirit who can lead us into truth and knowledge into Gods Word. He illuminates our mind and heart into the deep spiritual truths of Gods Holy word literally.