David Berg's Mission
The Man
Table of Contents
- The Man
- History
- Disenchantment with Organized Religion
- Revolution for Jesus
- Maria (Karen Zerby)
- A Sample Community
- Pioneering in Europe and Revelations in Israel
- His Message
- The Gospel Message
- Teachings about the Endtime
- Visions of Heaven
- Blessed Is He That Considereth the Poor
- The Message of Jeremiah
- An Iconoclastic Revolutionary
- The Law of Love
- Flirty Fishing
- Dreams and Visions
- All Things Change
- Moses David’s Legacy
David Berg Founder of the Family International
Over a decade has passed since the death of David Brandt Berg, the iconoclastic founder of the non-traditional Family International, formerly known as the Children of God. His principal legacy lies in the missionary movement that he founded, currently active in over 90 countries. He is also remembered for his controversial views, expressed in some of the nearly 3,000 "Letters" that he authored over three decades.
Working outside of mainstream Christian denominations, during the late 1960s, he and his wife and four children recruited, trained, and inspired thousands of predominantly unchurched young adults to carry out missionary work, and to ultimately create a worldwide missionary movement dedicated to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Full-time members have successfully maintained a cooperative, communal lifestyle since the founding of our fellowship.
Although David Berg was the leader of a militantly evangelistic organization, he chose to live in seclusion, communicating with his followers and the public via the nearly 3,000 epistle-like "Letters" that he wrote on a wide variety of subjects. His writings were often extreme and uncompromising in nature, yet he admonished the reader to "love the sinner, but hate the sin." Those who knew him described him as a warm, self-effacing, loving, and good-humored individual with the genteel manners of a kinder era. His writings are permeated with the same love for God and passion for winning others to Christ that has motivated the truly great missionaries throughout the ages.