WOLFGANG SCHNEIDER’S BIBELCENTER
Wolfgang
Schneider calls his Bibelcenter a nondenominational
website which offers Christian teaching. However, like other splinters of The
Way International (TWI), it actually
promotes the teachings and method of Victor Paul Wierwille and considers
evangelical Christian teaching to be full of error.
Schneider
was a staff member of TWI for many years, translated TWI courses and materials
into German and was Country Coordinator for TWI activities in Germany. So it is
no surprise that his web site continues to promote Wierwillism.
Schneider
offers his web site in both German (as Bibelcenter) and English (as Bible Center). Bibelcenter offers
articles, on-line courses, studies, links, background on Bibel Center and a
library of materials by four favorite authors. He states that he does not lead
a group as many other ex-Way leaders do, though his articles and courses embody
TWI teachings.
Schneider was in the upper echelons of
TWI leadership. He graduated from the 8th Way Corps, TWI’s
four year leadership training program, in 1980 and was ordained. He became
country coordinator for Germany and was chosen to teach the first live
presentation of the Advanced Power for Abundant Living class in German. The
Advanced class had a lot of prestige in TWI and was normally taught on tape, so
to teach it live was a high honor and called for teachers steeped in TWI
doctrine and practice. When TWI faced a leadership crisis after the death of
its founder, Schneider joined Chris Geer in confronting and opposing the three person Board of Trustees who controlled TWI. Schneider met
with Geer and the Trustees in Scotland in November 1987 to discuss error and
leadership in TWI (Passing of a Patriarch,
Epilogue). Soon the Trustees spurned Geer and Schneider, and in time Geer and
Schneider parted ways as well.
Schneider
used much of the material from TWI’s Advanced
class (and the Intermediate class) in his own course on manifestations of the
spirit, speaking in tongues, prophecy, etc. He absorbed TWI’s leadership
style and method. For example, Bibel Center’s method of developing and
promoting courses is based on TWI’s model, a method many other ex-Way
leaders have used. Other ex-leaders of TWI include Schneider on their lists of
ex-Way leaders who offer study materials which embody TWI teaching. This is
very important to ex-followers of TWI who want teaching and leadership like
that they had in TWI.
Other
ex-TWI leaders and followers identify Schneider as one of their own, and any
objective observer would identify Schneider and Bibelcenter
as Wierwillite in nature and origin.
Bibelcenter identified itself with The Way as late as 2002.
The Bibelcenter website included the phrase “December
1997, with initial ideas for a website with Christian content (in German) in collaboration
with and supported by The Way, Bonn…” (cited
in “Das Bibelcenter und ‘The Way International,”
[“The Bible Center and ‘The Way International,’”] Patrick
Chui, March 2005 on the website www.bibelkreis.ch/.../Das%20Biblcnter%20Maer...
). This article also notes that the homepage of “Association La Voie (Suisse)” [The Way Association, Swiss], www.la-voie-suisse.ch , listed courses by
Schneider in its “activity” section. Although The Way in Bonn and
in Switzerland were not under control of The Way of
New Knoxville, Ohio at that time, they saw themselves as continuing the work begun
by it.
The site includes articles by other ex-Way leaders such as
Vince Finnegan, who leads his own ex-Way splinter group. The article on the
background of Bibelcenter mentions nothing about TWI,
even though Schneider’s extensive involvement in it dominates the content
of Bibelcenter and provided him with an instant
following. Leaving out this critical piece of information keeps readers from
understanding the genesis and nature of Bibel Center.
Bibelcenter includes many articles, studies and terms which
parrot TWI teachings, such as the difference between Holy Spirit and holy
spirit, three days and three nights, methods of interpretation, speaking in
tongues, manifestations of the spirit, the nature of Jesus Christ, denial of
water baptism, denial of the Trinity and deity of Christ, use of figures of
speech, the state of the dead, the claim that the whole NT was authored in
Aramaic, much terminology, and so forth. It also mimics TWI interpretation of
particular Bible passages such as Matthew 27:46. Like other ex-Way leaders,
Schneider may teach differently than TWI on certain minor topics or
interpretations of specific passages, but he still embodies the core and bulk
of TWI doctrine and preserves many of its errors.
The
library section of Bibelcenter offers articles by
four authors not associated with Bibelcenter, which
are predictable given Schneider’s TWI background. One of them, E. W.
Bullinger, was used liberally by Wierwille and was the basis for several TWI
(and Bibelcenter) doctrines. Wierwille also
extensively plagiarized from Bullinger.
The
library also offers some articles by Anthony Buzzard, who is a favorite of
anti-Trinitarians like Schneider and other ex-Way leaders. The other two, Juan
Baixeras and John Bland, are also included because they are anti-Trinitarian.
Because
Bibelcenter is Wierwillite
in content, readers can find evaluations of, and answers to, many of
Schneider’s assertions and teachings in books and web sites which
evaluate The Way International, such as www.abouttheway.org
.
Dr. John
Juedes, 2011