Hiding History?

In recent years a myth has been spread on the Internet that the leadership in the Lord’s recovery has systematically concealed the “real” history of the local churches. Lacking firsthand knowledge of the events in question and the objectivity to differentiate evidence and conjecture, those who have propagated this myth claim to unveil an alleged […]

Facts Concerning Three Libel Lawsuits

Many saints do not know the story behind the libel lawsuits filed in 1980 and 2001, and some may be troubled because they do not know the facts surrounding those actions. The following factual account provides a very broad historical sketch of what occurred based on publicly available documents, including those from legal proceedings. In […]

Lawsuits and the Scriptures

On three occasions, twice in 1980 and once in 2001, some of the local churches and others filed lawsuits to obtain relief from defamatory writings, all coming from the same source but disseminated nationally and even internationally. Some have wrongly claimed that these lawsuits were filed to silence critics of our teaching. Others have claimed […]

Are the Local Churches Litigious?

A few irresponsible individuals have recently brandished, as “proof” that the local churches are litigious, a discredited list of organizations purportedly sued or threatened with lawsuits for criticizing the local churches. The charge is deceptive. To accuse a person or organization of being litigious is to accuse them of being unreasonably prone to take others […]

Facts Concerning Statements Attributed to Max Rapoport

Max Rapoport, an elder in the church in Anaheim, walked out of a meeting on August 13, 1978, and never returned. Although he had been informed six months earlier that Rapoport was attempting to undermine his ministry and foment a “revolution,” Witness Lee took no action publicly or privately toward him. Rather, Witness Lee travelled […]