Gwen Shamblin : Remnant Fellowship : Weigh Down Workshop

A suburban Atlanta couple was sentenced Tuesday to life plus 30 years in prison in the beating death of their 8-year-old son, a case that prompted authorities to raid the family’s church because it supports corporal punishment. Prosecutors said Joseph and Sonya Smith beat their son Josef, locked him in a wooden box and confined him to a closet for hours at a time before he died in October 2003.

Unquestionably, the hottest Christian weight-loss program in churches right now is Weigh Down Workshop, founded in 1986 by Gwen Shamblin. It wasn't until 1992 that Shamblin began taking the program to churches.

Today, Weigh Down employs a staff of 80 and has been used in more than 17,000 churches around the world. Shamblin's recent book, The Weigh Down Diet (Doubleday), has sold more than 400,000 copies.

She's the author of a new book, The Weigh Down Diet, which teaches that "head hunger," the urge to eat even when the body doesn't need food, is really a "spiritual hunger." (Sample chapter: "Isn't Broccoli Righteous and Häagen-Dazs a Sin?") Weight loss the Shamblin way is a matter of "substituting God for food."

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is part of every major creed in the history of Christendom. It can be defined in the following way: In the nature of the one God there are three centers of consciousness, which we call persons, and these three are equal. Though the term ''trinity'' is not found in the Bible, the doctrine is nevertheless taught there. ''Trinity'' is merely the term employed by theologians and church historians in order to describe the phenomena of God they find in the Bible.

The doctrine of the Trinity is arrived at in much the same way as a scientific theory. A scientific theory, for the most part, is a reasoned explanation of observed (or unobserved, in some cases) phenomena in the natural world. Analogously, the doctrine of the Trinity is a reasoned explanation of what we observe to be the phenomena of God in the Bible. Church fathers, councils, denominations, etc. have been so overwhelmed with the evidence for the trinity in the scripture that there has been a universal creedal acknowledgement in church history. The argument behind the doctrine can be put this way:

• Premise 1:
  The Bible teaches that there is only one God.
• Premise 2:
  The Bible teaches that there are three distinct persons called God, known as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Conclusion:
  So, the three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - are the one God.

As this doctrine is believed on the one hand or challenged on the other, Christian life is found to be affected at its roots and over all its extent. Every doctrine is run up to it; every privilege and duty hangs on it... However a man may begin his career of error, the general issue is that the doctrine of the Trinity, proving an unexpected check or insurmountable obstacle in the carrying out of his opinions, has to be modified or pushed aside; and he comes to be against the Trinity because he has found it was against him.

Christians had earlier found fault with the Weigh Down Diet because it places no restrictions on what types of foods participants may eat (CT, Sept. 4, p. 50). Apologists and church leaders are now asking whether founder Gwen Shamblin holds heretical views of the Trinity, based on her comments on the Weigh Down Web site
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The controversy intensified after Shamblin posted a weekly e-mail communique to her followers on Aug. 10. ''As a ministry, we believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit,'' Shamblin wrote. ''However, the Bible does not use the word 'trinity' and our feeling is that the word 'trinity' implies equality in leadership, or shared Lordship. It is clear that the scriptures teach that Jesus is the Son of God and that God sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not send God anywhere. God is clearly the Head.''

Since then, Shamblin has been removed from the Women of Faith Web site, several influential evangelical churches have dropped her program, and some key employees have left. On Wednesday, Thomas Nelson canceled publication of Shamblin's new book, Out of Egypt, scheduled to ship to bookstores in late September.
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L.L. ''Don'' Veinot Jr., president of the apologetics ministry Midwest Christian Outreach in Lombard, Illinois, received more than two dozen inquiries about Shamblin from Weigh Down workers and coordinators after the Aug. 10 e-mail. Veinot phoned Shamblin after reviewing the Web site, but he says the conversation only confirmed Shamblin's stance that the Trinity is unbiblical.

Anti-Trinitarian?
''When I asked about her statement that the Father and Son are two separate beings, her reply was 'absolutely,''' Veinot says. ''Her views are closer to that of Jehovah's Witnesses than anything resembling the historic biblical faith.''

Veinot believes Shamblin's religious beliefs avoided scrutiny for so long because of the subject matter she teaches. ''Weight loss is not one of the high priorities in apologetics or counter-cult work,'' he says.

''The material on the Web site makes a distinction between the Father and Son that is heretical,'' Veinot says. ''She is clearly anti-Trinitarian.''

In the same Aug. 10 e-mail--which has since been deleted from the Web site--Shamblin tells followers that Christians grieve Jesus if they adhere to doctrines not found in Scripture. ''If God wanted us to refer to Himself, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as the 'trinity,' He would not have left this word completely out of the Bible.''

''There are a lot of words that contain biblical concepts that are not in the Bible,'' Veinot notes. ''The word Bible is not in the Bible.''

Thomas C. Oden, professor of theology and ethics at Drew University and former senior editor of Christianity Today, agrees that such a literal argument is ridiculous.
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... Oden says Shamblin's views mirror teachings on modalism and subordinationism rejected as heretical by the early church. As leaders in the early church debated their doctrine of God, some were drawn into the different extremes of modalism or subordinationism. Oden says there are a dozen key passages in Scripture on which the Trinitarian doctrine is based. Modalism overemphasizes the oneness of the Godhead at the expense of the three persons, while subordinationism overemphasizes the distinctiveness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the expense of the oneness of their being.

''In the very early Trinitarian controversies, some people said that God reveals himself first in the form of the Father, second in the form of the Son, and third in the form of the Spirit, so that there are three consecutive modes of God's disclosure. It's a denial of the eternity of the Trinity,'' Oden says.

''Subordination was judged to be in error in ancient Christian tradition because it neglected the fact that the eternal God who becomes incarnate in the Son is nothing less than God," Oden says. "In the Incarnation, God submits to our human form without ceasing to be the eternal God.''

Oden says Shamblin fails to comprehend the basic elements of Trinitarian reasoning: ''She just doesn't understand the triune teaching and this puts her in opposition to the ancient teachings shared by Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox.''
[...more...]

Shamblin sent an e-mail to Weigh Down Workshop participants on Tuesday, September 12 in an attempt to clarify her stance on the Trinity and to urge others to stand with her.
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She goes on to outline her belief that understanding Christ's position in the Trinity is essential to implementation of the lifestyle advocated by Weigh Down.
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"The reason all of this is important is that if you do not understand that God is the clear authority and that Jesus was under God's authority, then you will not have a clear picture of what it means to be Christ like. Jesus suffered, obeyed, submitted, denied his will, and made it his food to do the will of the Father."

Later Shamblin writes, "I believe that Jesus and God are two separate beings." She also says that she does not believe that Jesus and God are equal in power and glory, but that "the head of Christ is God." The e-mail also tackles typical Sunday School illustrations about the Trinity, "This picture of God as one being but transforming himself into three forms, like water, ice, and steam, is confusing at best."

As a ministry, we believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible does not use the word ''trinity,'' and our feeling is that the word ''trinity'' implies equality in leadership, or shared Lordship. It is clear that the scriptures teach that Jesus is the Son of God and that God sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not send God anywhere. God is clearly the Head. Note this passage from 1 Corinthians 15:27-28 : "For he 'has put everything under his feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." Philippians 2:6 says that Jesus ''did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.'' Therefore, we feel that we grieve Jesus when we do not watch our words and their meaning—especially a word not found in either the Old or New Testament, writings that span centuries of God’s inspired word. If God had wanted us to refer to Himself, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as the ''trinity,''He would not have left this word completely out of the Bible.

Shamblin's statement of theology posted on her Web site once read, "Where I differ on the teaching in the Trinity that there is EQUALITY in power and glory of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; rather, I believe it is a clear line of AUTHORITY."

In a related development, Weigh Down faces questions about its handling of employees in connection with Shamblin's theological views and membership at Remnant Fellowship.
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"Anyone who leaves is labeled a devil," Carney said. "She orders them not to speak or fellowship with those who leave the ministry. There is a spirit of fear."

Carney said the atmosphere at Weigh Down is extremely difficult: "It's very exclusive. There is a lot of fear and there is a lot of redefining of scriptural terms."
[...more...]

As reports have surfaced this week that at least 35 Weigh Down Workshop employees were coerced to leave their jobs after they refused to attend a church formed by Weigh Down founder Gwen Shamblin, Shamblin has stepped-up defense for her dieting program and theology.
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Shamblin told Baptist Press she would not comment about former employees because her company is a privately-held corporation, but questions regarding the circumstances under which at least 35 Weigh Down employees left the company remain.

Anita Pillow, a member of Park Avenue Baptist Church and a single mother, told Baptist Press she was fired because she would not attend Remnant Fellowship, a church formed by Shamblin and her husband in 1999.
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And Pillow may not be the only employee who was fired or forced to resign from Weigh Down Workshop because of the Remnant Fellowship issue. A former high-ranking executive at Weigh Down told Baptist Press that at least 35 employees were pressured into resigning from the ministry because they would not join Shamblin's church and two others were fired.

The executive, who asked not to be identified, said even he was pressured to be a part of Shamblin's church.
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While no lawsuits have been filed, several former employees told Baptist Press they have retained legal counsel. For people like Pillow, it's a matter of getting their severance pay and moving on with their lives.
[...more...]

All the students surveyed agreed with the Workshop's basic tenet that moderate food quantity intake is an important aspect of weight management, but beyond that, some found the program's philosophy wanting.
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The Workshop says that some 60 denominations are cheering "amen" to its prescriptions, but officials declined to specify what denominations make up that endorsement list, citing only an unspecified Unitarian church and a single Roman Catholic Church. Mrs. Shamblin and her husband, David (Weigh Down's CEO), joined a number of families last year that withdrew from their respective churches to form what they refer to as Remnant Fellowship. There are no pastors, no elders, no deacons, and no church officials of any other kind.

Christ Community Church, of Carmel, Ind., initially hosted a Workshop, but discontinued the program after becoming uncomfortable with Weigh Down theology. Diane Gaskins, a former women's counselor with the Biblical Counseling Center of Carmel, Ind., expressed concern with what she feels is the Workshop's association of fat with theological fatheadness: "[Martin] Luther was a chunk. [C.S.] Lewis was a chunk. Am I to believe that I'm more spiritual than these chunky saints because I'm skinnier?"