Like Kathy, I will preface this post by stating that these are my views. I believe them to be valid and am not posting them for the cause of causing disputes. For the record, I make no bones of the fact that I am very much opposed to Family leadership, controlling Family structure and a great many of its policies and doctrines.
Specifically, I believe that a large amount of Family doctrine is not only false and heretical, but distinctly anti-Christ in nature. Ed Priebe compiled Mo quotes about "The Gabriel Doctrine" and to date the Family has never come out with a statement saying that they do not believe that Jesus is the son of the Angel Gabriel. This is not something to be laughingly dismissed. Berg taught and re-emphasized this as solid doctrine for over two decades. I have yet to see even ONE Family member have the balls to publicly state, "This is heresy and I renounce it as evil." That to me is the acid test. They try to laugh it off as a theory, but when asked to personally denounce it as heresy and evil, they refuse to because they know good and well Berg said it, and to call it heresy is to call his teachings evil.
I don't believe the Family structure is essentially Christian, and I know its practices of Law of Love, child-adult sex, FFing etc. aren't Christian either. They are diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches. They are literally "doctrines of devils" and I mean that to be taken literally -- only demons could have inspired such horrible policies and doctrines.
However, I was in the Family for years and was a true believer. Before I slowly began to doubt the weirdnesses and have my eyes opened, I sincerely believed in these "doctrines of devils" and partook in the FFing and sharing. I still loved Jesus and believed the basic truth still, but was completely deceived in the later piled-on stuff and after I left the group I had to sincerely repent of this evil I had been involved in. It was like taking off a filthy garment and throwing it in the fire.
But did I lose my salvation during my years in the Family? No, I can't believe that. Were most of the people in the Family genuinely Christian, though just as deceived as I was? Yes, I believe that they were -- and are to this day. I don't endorse Family doctrine or policies in any way by saying this. I believe people became Christians and hung onto simple Christian faith DESPITE Family doctrines and policies -- certainly not because of them.
I think Family members live in an environment that is unhealthy and toxic, and that it is dangerous to simple faith. But as long as they're able to (miraculously) put all those things on a shelf, not really get into the depths of the doctrines of devils, that God preserves them in large measure. Like it says in Revelations, "But to those among you who have not known the depths of Satan...." meaning though their churches had doctrines inspired by Satan, these believers had remained in that church, yet were preserved and did not get into the depths of these hellish doctrines. And though Jesus warned them to repent quickly or he would remove their candlestick, he wasn't saying it was already removed.
I think that sincere Family members would be better off if the Family disbanded tomorrow. I think that each one of us and them will take years if not our entire lives to recover from the abuses we suffered or saw others suffer in that heretical group, and I beleive that we each have to fight to restore sincere Chritian faith. Even for us as FGAs this is difficult. How much harder for SGAs who for the most part, throw out Christianity along with the garbage of Bergisms. I certainly understand that.
You gotta ask yourself the question: what kind of "Christian" organization has SUCH a negative effect on its members that when they leave the FGs struggle to make sense of their faith and the SGs largely throw faith out? A very destructive environmetn with heresies and abuses mixed in does just that -- Christianty mixed with the cesspool of Berg's teachings.
I believe in its early days before the Pandora's box of Berg's teachings were opened publicly, that Christianity and true witnessing were very much in evidence (despite the cult-like control and pride and illegal activities). I'm not saying God led people into the group -- that's a separate discussion. What I'm saying at this point was that it was NOT yet an environment where Berg policy stood opposed to much of what we read in the Bible. Though tainted even from the beginning, Christianity was more pure back then. What it morphed into later was faith-destructive and not of God. But true Christian faith still survived: more in those who avoided getting into the depths of Satan. And those who really bought into Bergism and remained solid in everything he said, drifted further away from "the simplicity which is in Christ." Are some Family members not Christians at all? Clearly that is the case. We don't know everyone's hearts as Ray points out, BUT Jesus did say, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Notice the "ye". Jesus meant we could get a good idea of where someone was at, that it wasn't rocket science or looking for the pea under the walnut shell to try to recognize true Christianity in someone's life. I think Berg was totally gone as were a number of other top leaders and individuals. Ray not included. :c)
Well, these are rambling thoughts, and not a total representation of all my thoughts on the subject.