Widsom Booklet 1
The Wisdom booklets were the main curriculum of the Homeschooling branch of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) called the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) They claimed to be giving children an education that was Biblically based. I believe it grew out of Bill Gothards 49 Character qualities. The Wisdom Workbooks slowly went through the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew’s chapter 5-7. Each booklet covered a small portion of the sermon, usually about a verse, and attempted to pull educational concepts to straight from these scripture passages. Since the Serom on the mount was direct instruction and teaching from Jesus Gothard considered it to be completely everything one needed to know in life.
Before we get to the read-through of Wisdom book 1, let me give some general thoughts. Since this is the first book, I haven’t read this particular wisdom booklet since I was probably about 6 years old. Families were supposed to do a book a month. 12 a year. So you would roughly finish the 54 booklets in less than 5 years. Thus I really should have gone through the books twice during my years of being homeschooled, but somehow my family only managed to make it to like book 51 to something, over the course of 12 years! We were slackers!
Also, I’ve heard many people say that the ATI curriculum was touted as being all you needed. That you did not need to supplement this with more traditional schooling methods. Even saying it was the equivalent of a post-secondary law and medical degree since each booklet had a law and medicine unit. I’m not really sure what the actual claims were, but this was in no way an adequate education in of its self. My Mother supplemented with other homeschooling materials. If there were children who only had this for an education, I am truly sorry! That constitutes negelet!
I wanted to read through a few of the wisdom booklets to get a better understanding of why I think and believe the way I do. Since I was so young when I was exposed to a lot of this material I really don’t remember what I was actually taught, I only know the effects it had on me while not really understanding why it had that effect. In my read-through of Wisdom Booklet One, I picked up on some of the subtle ways that these materials affected my worldview and belief system, my psyche and emotions, and my physical body. These materials helped to form my worldview.
In reading through the first book I found it to be both somewhat innocuous on the surface. Without an understanding of the ways IBLP tried to control thought, information, feelings, etc. the wisdom booklets can seem harmless. But when you look at them through a lens of trauma and abuse and cult control you can see a different picture. and it is the cumulative effect that does the harm. It is like what I learned in this book about how there can be different dimensions of interpretation, like when they taught us that with Adam and Eve 1+1=2, but in God’s math, it can also equal 1 (one flesh) and a multitude (the entire race of man). They also tell us how we can see both physically and spiritually. One the surface level you see one thing, but underneath it is something different.
None of this stuff goes any deeper than a precursory knowledge. It is not enough to be considered an adequate education. And often the information they do give us is out of context and somewhat useless.
Take for example the pen is mightier than the sword section. Here we get a couple of paragraphs about General Washington and the battle at Trenton and Princeton. But we are not given any precise information or details of the battle to give you enough knowledge to understand that event. They just want to get across the idea that reading an inspirational message was enough to rally the troops to win a battle. And in fact they seem to presuppose that the audience will already know things like what the American Revolution was, and who General George Washington was. We also learn that Lenin went down a destructive path because of a book he read. Here also seems to be a presupposition that the audience would know who Lenin and Karl Marx were and their significance. Yet this booklet in all other ways seems to be aimed at fairly young children who wouldn’t know any of this yet. I would say the information in the wisdom booklets might be enough for a child in the younger grades of elementary school, but even then they leave a lot to be desired. It certainly is not sufficient for older and highschool aged children. Yet this curriculum was intended to be used simultaneously for all ages.
Read through
Character Qualities:
The first page of the Wisdom booklet Starts with Matthew 5:1 “And seeing the multitudes, He went up onto a mountain; and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him.” And has the corresponding Character Quality of Alertness. And supposedly has a section on linguistics, History, Science, Law and Medicine.
The book starts with a section about character qualities by telling us why we MUST learn Character, essentially it is because it is the nature of Christ and God’s ultimate purpose for us is to conform to the image of Christ.
It sets up the assertion that Bill Gotthard’s character Qualities equal the desired Christ like behavior.
Then point 2 it tells us to memorize the operational definition. In this paragraph, we are told that “operational definitions go beyond the dictionary to include the practical function of the term.”
I think here they are setting us up to accept how Gothard changes the traditional definitions of words to mean something different.
A little later in the section, it tells us that “Alertness is a foundational character Quality to learn.” It gives us extra instructions, steps, and activities to practice. It asks you to think of practical ways you can incorporate Attentiveness into your daily discipline And gives examples like learning to sit still or to lean forward when listening etc.
this is only the beginning of a life time of adding to a growing and never-ending list of behaviors and rules that you must follow. I think it served to keep people busy and distracted and always critical and comparing. - Be alert to all the ways you are failing!!!
It also warns us to “expect God to give you specially designed situation to help you to understand the quality better and apply it more deeply” telling us to “Welcome Trials and temptations as character building”
Conditioning us to see God as the source of suffering. A punishing, hard knox, Old Testament sort of god. to just take whatever your authority tells you without question.
The last step in this section is to “Evaluate Progress” where you are instructed to look critically and judge your family members.
Wisdom Quiz
The next page is the “Wisdom Quiz” where you will be preemptively quizzed to see how well you understand the material you have not yet covered. This seems a little like narcissistic gaslighting. Where you are expected to be able to read your authority’s minds and know exactly what they think and feel at all times without being told. These quizzes served the purpose of making sure you knew your place. The true or false questions were often trick questions designed to make you question your ability to understand on your own and enforce the idea that Gothard’s wisdom booklets held a deeper truth than you were not capable of knowing and that you really needed to pay attention and learn. It was designed to cause self-doubt. It is gas lighting.
Lets just examine one of the questions:
Question 4: When Jesus saw the multitude He was aware of each individual, but He gave special attention to the men. True or false.
Then it tells you to read Matthew 14:21 and asks the question: What Direction does this give us to whether we should concentrate on men, women, or children in the ministry?
So what do you think, true or false, did Jesus give special attention to the men? A normal Christian answer would say we are all equal and God treats us so. You might even think about how Jesus sat with the little children, or how he talked with the woman at the well, etc. But if your answer is false, then you are WRONG!
See how this is gaslighting, subtly undermining your confidence and what you know to be true.
According to Gothard, the Answer is True. Jesus does give the men special attention.
Matthew 14:21 says “And those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” From this verse and the fact that we know the answer is True we are to assume the direction this gives us is that men are more important.
For one thing, this shows how liberally Gothard and Co. used Scripture out of context to drive home their point. It also shows the patriarchal bias of the organization. And as a little girl reading this, you learn your place as a subjugated person. And that that is God’s will for you.
Not all the questions are that bad. But the bad/subtly manipulative ones seem to be mixed in with other just ridiculous and inane questions. This is just one paragraph in a 30-page booklet that is one of 54 booklets which is only a small part of the IBLP material. Imagine the cumulative effect on the children exposed to this information, while all other sources of information are heavily controlled and the children are taught to fear.
The next pages are an overview or preview of the material that will be covered in the rest of the booklet and are divided by subject. The next page has another preemptive quiz. The Resource Quiz. We are asked, “How many of these questions can you answer before studying the resources?”
The first Question is. “Why must Christians learn math? And has 4 bullet points with more questions and the page number where you can find the answer. •How does mathematics amplify the nature of God? •What six character qualities does mathematics develop? •What numbers have special significance to God? Why is it important to learn mathematics from the Bible?
Obviously these are questions that the students would not know unless they had had enough IBLP indoctrination to know how their logic works. - Which is what would happen over time. - As you got further into the ideology you would know what they were aiming for and be able to think like they do and probably get some of these questions. It was just a way to indoctrinate and brainwash. With the presumption that the IBLP answers were right, and by having your own knowing undermined by doing enough of these quizzes it starts to become your worldview. And until you are at that level of indoctrination it had the effect of making you feel like you were not right and didn’t know the truth.
As I sit here I think about how I’ve always had 2 sets of information. One set for what I knew to be religiously right, AKA cult/fundamentalist ideology, and a separate see of info and rules for the rest of the world. and I was quite adept at going back and forth between them. which I think is part to the source of my anxiety.
After all of that, we finally get to the first unit entitled “Authority through Accuracy”
This section is on “why we must learn Mathematics”. The first point is “to discover the nature of God” we get one paragraph telling us God is accurate, absolute and predictable according to His laws and then it goes on to very roughly correlate that God is a God of balance because Jesus organized the multitude int groups of 100 and 50. Then it has you do a few simple division equations dividing 5000 people into groups of 100 etc. Then they say God is a God of balance and use one paragraph to talk about how in algebra you always have to balance out the equation to both sides are equal. (well, I guess that is enough algebra for anyone because that is all you get!).
Point 2: “To Develop Godly Character.” Here we are told that “in the process of learning math we will develop 25 vital character qualities…”
So enough with this math stuff, let’s get back to what’s really important here, Gothard’s character qualities.
We then Learn how the disciples demonstrated 6 different character qualities in feeding the 5000.
Point 3: “To become productive in our work.” This one talks about being good stewards and making the most of our resources just like the disciples did picking up the baskets of extra food. Then we get one more simple multiplication equation to answer.
In this paragraph, I see they are indoctrinating the child to start believing that they should own nothing. So much of this stuff seems inane but not abusive until you start adding it all up. Being told once that we need to be good stewards of God’s stuff isn’t bad. The message isn’t even wrong in itself But after hundreds of times along with constant messaging about yielding rights and dying to self etc., you just give in and believe it and everything that comes with it.
Point 4: “To Avoid loss and failure.”
Goes on indoctrinating by using fear-based wording loss, failure, and foolish. And then does a few more simple word problems.
Point 5: “To discern the importance of numbers to God” In this section we learn that the number 7 is for completeness, and 6 is for Man without God….. and we are asked to list all the places in the Bible we can recall these numbers.
the only observation I have here is just how much magical thinking is encouraged in this ideology. I have no issue with numbers having specific meanings, but often these types of thinking devolve into numerology or something similar.
The next section is “Why we must learn Mathematics from the Bible.”
Point 1: to establish the Authority of Mathematics. It talks about establishing absolutes that only come from God.
Point 2: To understand the Larger Principle behind mathematics. This section tells us that God gives us different dimensions for example, Adam and Eve equal 2, but on another dimension Adam and Eve equal 1, and also the multitude.
point 3: to make wise and accurate application of mathematical computations. “Without Scripture as a guiding rule man tends to missue mathematics to his own purpose which leads to destruction.”
once again the language is used on purpose, words like destruction, without God. really inane stuff here otherwise!
Well folks, that’s really all the math education you need right? never anywhere are the students actually taught to do math. they are only given a few very simple math problems and a lot of indoctrination rhetoric.
Linguistic Resource:
Next in the linguistic section, we get a little one-page history lesson that roughly correlates to the idea that the pen is mightier than the sword. We learn that General Washington won the battles at Trenton and Princeton because he read an inspiring message. And then we learn about a negative example of how words can be used for evil, learning about how Lenin read Karl Marx.
On the next page, we learn a few synonyms and antonyms for “to see” and then get to use them to fill in the blanks of a prepared statement about learning to see people like God, which in itself is indoctrination.
The next page we continue the theme by learning about the difference between Discernment vs Judgmental spirit.
the Spirit word is part of the indoctrination. Having a sprite was usually bad.
In The first point, there are 2 columns. One for discernment the other for judgement. It instructs us that “One who discerns will thoroughly examine himself…”
I can’t help but point out every time we are made to feel bad about or second guess ourselves and develop a self-critical spirit. This rhetoric is also used for victim blaming a lot. and it is gaslighting.
It then goes on to list several verses including several that are talking about judgement! Lol
On the judgment side of the chart, it says that the “one who judges will condemn others for their visible problems but fail to realize that their attitudes stem from root problems which have not yet been overcome.”
Point 2: tells us that the discerner will check the accuracy of all the facts first while the judger will form opinions and then find evidence to fit his opinions even if it be out of context.
um, the only thing I have to say here is that is an overly simplistic way of viewing things, and also it describes Gothard and IBLP perfectly!
Point 3: the discerner will deal with the offender privately, and the judger will publicly expose those he condemns. And warns that the judger will also be judged for the same thing or for having a critical spirit.
I see this as indoctrination to get people to shut up and not publicly point out abuses. and to blame them for having a critical spirit if they do dare speak up.
In the next section, we continue on the subject of “how to develop the spiritual skill of seeing people as Jesus saw them” Here we are given an exercise to go to a supermarket and inconspicuously observe the people to write down our observations. We are given 5 levels of seeing: general observation, general distinctions, specific receptions (inward attitudes), precise discernments (basic needs), and mature comprehension (cause and relationship between outward symptoms and inward attitudes)
So now they have us going out and comparing and judging people. It is good conditioning!
In the next section, we learn about why there are different languages. Here we learn about the Tower of Babel and get a list of the major languages. Then we learn about Greek and why God chose it for his word. I read through these 2 pages and I think there is quite a lot of conjecture. Then there are a couple of pages learning Greek words and basic parts of grammer/speech etc
History Resource:
Honestly, this resource felt more like a geography lesson than a history lesson. But I suppose they covered, once again on a precursory level, the events of Jesus’s ministry. They Spend several pages on giving a short description of what Jesus did in each place. And then for the activity, we get to use a map they provide to figure out how far in miles each of these places are from each other. So it’s a little lesson on how to use a map. But without any actual instruction on how one does that. I suppose that is up to the parent to teach.
Next is the science resource:
In this section, we are going study the eye and learn “How does God relate your spiritual vision to your physical vision”
They tell us that Jesus sees people both physically and spiritually. And then we learn about different eye problems and are told what the spiritual equivalent is. As usual, it’s a very broad interpretation and a lot of liberties are taken to correlate physical vision problems to spiritual vision problems.
Also, notice how it’s all about the problems. More subtle messaging that you are a problem and are lacking and need fixing.
It was interesting relearning about these vision problems, but again, this unit is in no way enough education for anything more than a kid in elementary school. Once again they have an odd way of presupposing the audience already has some knowledge and familiarity with the subject even though it seems to be aimed at young children. It would make a nice Sunday school lesson though!
Next is the Medicine Resource:
“How does our sight affect our strength”. In this section, they correlate seeing danger as the activator of the fight or flight response of the nervous system. So we get a surface-level overview of the nervous system where we learn the signs and symptoms of being in a sympathetic state. We are given an antidotal story of a man with a bad heart lifting 1800 lbs to save a child’s life.
Antidotal stories seem to be one of Gothard’s hallmarks. He often uses them as proof positive of his suppositions. Sometimes in the place of any facts at all!
The unit ends by telling us “why we must be alarmed every time we see sin.”
just a little fear-mongering.
It teaches us there are times to flee and times to stand firm and gives us bible verses that somehow they think apply. Another activity is to read passages of Paul’s journey and mark whether he fled or stood firm.
This quick trip down the autonomic nervous system has reminded me of all I have learned about the polyvagal theory and the effects of complex trauma on the body. It seems they knew about how this all works. it was literally what they taught us in the first book! Did they know how much they were messing with my nervous system setting me up to stay in a sympathetic state all the time? Did they have a clue that the way they taught me the Character Quality of Alertness was to make me hyper-alert at all times?
Anyway, That is all folks!
These 30 pages are supposed to last a month. I would say it is closer to an appropriate amount of material for about a week’s worth of study as supplemental material for a Bible or religion class. Not the whole kitten kaboodle! If you would like to read through the booklet yourself you can find the PDF here.
I hope to go through a few more of the wisdom books. I would like to see if they get any more advanced as you go through them. But since this was designed for all ages, they must cater to the lowest common denominator, so probably not. but I have a feeling the conditioning and indoctrination get worse.