"Good & Evil"

December 2000
Written by a former member of over 17 years

"Good and Evil"

Another major theme in doctrine is exposing the natural way of looking at things or "The Knowledge of Good and Evil." The idea here is that when Adam sinned in the garden by partaking of the tree of The knowledge of Good and Evil, his mind and capacity to comprehend spiritual things was lost. Since then, he has only been able to judge on the basis of good and evil, essentially doing what is right in his own eyes. George teaches that according to 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, this natural faculty is still present in carnal believers. Most Christians operate on the basis of the knowledge of good and evil and therefore do not have the mind of Christ. Because of this, it follows that this is the reason why most believers do not see what the Geftakys group sees; they don't have the mind of Christ, but the natural man's mind. To get the mind of Christ, one must deny his own opinions and "lean not on your own understanding." By yielding to Christ's life, not relying on self, and not doing what you think is right, the life of Christ, along with His mind, become the believer's mind. Now, one is able to understand the many "revelations" that encompass George's teaching. George and many others always say, "These things don't come with mere bible knowledge, but only by revelation! You can't learn them in seminary. God must reveal them to you." As long a believer is stuck in the knowledge of good and evil, God is not able to reveal much of any significance to them. This teaching is reinforced at least weekly in the preaching, with several very intense workshops given on the topic over the years. It is a foundational doctrine in the Geftakys ministry. It is true that many simple Christians do not think about the knowledge of good and evil very much. Many simple believers just make decisions based on what they think is right and because they love The Lord. Is this carnality or child-like faith? The reader must decide.

Everything in the Geftakys ministry is done to the extreme. If some TV programming is bad, they do not watch any TV. If some people don't like R rated movies, going to movies is denounced from the pulpit. One brother from Africa had a problem with earrings, so none of the women workers in America were allowed to wear pierced earrings, even though the wives of African brethren wear them. Women in the assembly should not pierce their ears. No one in leadership lets their wives wear pierced earrings. Black and white spiritual values are seen in everything.

The Bible says that children should be spanked under certain circumstances, so the group spanks their children many times per day. Please take note that they in no way condone beating a child, but spanking in a careful, controlled way. Nevertheless, their children get many, many spankings. Recently, George's son Timothy Geftakys has espoused a more moderate view of families and child training. This is in response to the very apparent problems with many of the high profile member's adult children. Timothy's views, while not condemning the old ways, are a step in the right direction.