David Berg
Encyclopedia
David Brandt Berg frequently known by the pseudonym Moses David, was the founder and leader of the New Religious Movement formerly called Children of God, now called "The Family International".
, was the daughter of Rev. John Lincoln Brandt (1860–1946), a Disciples of Christ minister, author, and lecturer of Muskogee
, Oklahoma
. David Berg graduated from Monterey High School (in California
) in 1935 and later attended Elliott School of Business Administration.
Berg often said that his rich heritage played a key role in shaping his character and religious convictions. Many of his forefathers, as well as both of his parents, were deeply committed Christians. His maternal forefathers were German Jews who converted to Christianity in the mid-eighteenth century. They subsequently joined the Dunkards
, a conservative offshoot of the Church of the Brethren
. State persecution of the sect soon drove the Brandt family to America, where they settled in Pennsylvania and Ohio around 1750.
Dr. John Lincoln Brandt, Berg's grandfather, had a dramatic conversion in his mid-twenties and immediately entered full-time Christian service. For years he was a Methodist circuit rider. He later became a leader of the Alexander Campbell movement of the Disciples of Christ, a restoration movement that developed into the current Protestant denomination Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Virginia Brandt Berg, David Berg's mother, is the individual whom he credits for influencing him the most. Although raised in a Christian home, Virginia became an atheist and wild society girl during her college years. However, shortly after the birth of her first child, she broke her back in an accident and spent the next five years as a bedridden invalid, often hovering near death. Eventually she recovered and spent the rest of her life with her husband, Hjalmer, in active Christian service as a pastor and evangelist. Virginia and Hjalmer were no strangers to controversy. They were expelled from the Christian Church after publicly testifying of her "divine healing", which was contrary to church doctrine. They subsequently joined a new denomination, the Christian and Missionary Alliance
, shortly before David Berg's birth. In later years, their missionary zeal and disdain for denominational politicking often set them at variance with the conservative faction of that church's hierarchy, causing them to work largely as independent pastors and evangelists.
Berg spent his early years traveling with his parents, who pursued their evangelical mission with a passion. In 1924, they settled in Miami, Florida, after Virginia successfully led a series of large revivals at the Miami Gospel Tabernacle. This became Berg's home for the next 14 years, while his mother and father were pastors a number of Miami churches.
As is the case with many pastors and their dependents, the Berg family depended entirely on the generosity of their parishioners for their support, and often had difficulty making ends meet. This instilled in Berg a lifelong habit of frugality, which he encouraged his followers to adopt.
In the late 1930s, Virginia Berg returned to her favorite ministry, that of a traveling evangelist. David Berg accompanied her, and for most of the next 10 years acted as her chauffeur, song leader, and general assistant.
Like his father, Berg became a minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance
, and was placed at Valley Farms, Arizona
. Berg was eventually expelled from the organization for differences in teachings and for alleged sexual misconduct with a church employee. In Berg's writings he claimed the expulsion was due to his support for greater racial diversity among his congregation.
Fred Jordan, Berg's friend and boss, allowed Berg and his personal family to open a branch of his Soul Clinic in Miami, Florida
as a missionary training school. After running into trouble with local authorities for his aggressive disapproval with evolution being taught as fact in public schools, Berg moved his family to Fred Jordan's Texas Soul Clinic, in Western Texas.
Berg called on his followers to devote their full time to spreading the message of Jesus
' love and salvation as far and wide as possible, unfettered by convention or tradition, and to teach others to do the same.
Berg also decried the de-Christianization and decay in moral values of Western society. He viewed the trend towards a New World Order
as setting the stage for the rise of the Antichrist
.
Berg lived in seclusion, communicating with his followers and the public via nearly 3,000 "Mo Letters" that he wrote on a wide variety of subjects. His writings were often extreme and uncompromising in their denunciation of evil, yet he always admonished the reader to "love the sinner but hate the sin". He espoused doctrines that some mainstream Christians denounce as heretical
. However, his followers argue that his writings are permeated with a love of God.
. (His remains have since been cremated
.) His organization is currently led by his widow Karen Zerby
(whom he took as a soi-disant "second-wife" in August 1969; known as Katherine Rianna Smith, Mama Maria or Queen Maria in the Children of God) and Steven Douglas Kelly (an American also known as Christopher Smith, Peter Amsterdam, or King Peter to the Children of God).
n passport when traveling.
He was also outspoken, and widely reputed to be an anti-Semite and a pedophile
.
In a child-custody case in the United Kingdom
Berg's granddaughter, Merry Berg, testified that Berg sexually molested her when she was a young teenager. Another of Berg's granddaughters, Joyanne Treadwell Berg, spoke on American television about being sexually abused by David Berg. Berg's adopted son, Ricky Rodriguez
, wrote an article on the Web site MovingOn.org in which he describes Berg's deviant sexual activity involving a number of women and children. Davida Kelley, the daughter of Rodriguez's nanny, Sarah Kelley, accused Berg of molesting her in a June 2005 Rolling Stone
article. In the same article, a woman identified as Armendria alleged that David Berg sexually abused her when she was thirteen years old.
Berg predicted several apocalyptic
events that did not occur. His most well-known prediction was that comet Kohoutek
(1974) would cause much havoc and possible destruction. This prediction was shared by others outside The Family such as Joseph F. Goodavage in the January 1974 issue of SAGA magazine. He also predicted that California would imminently fall into the ocean, the tribulation
would begin in 1989 and that the second coming of Jesus would happen in 1993.
Berg wrote or dictated nearly 3,000 "Mo Letters" ("Mo" being abbreviated from his pseudonym "Moses David"), which typically covered spiritual or practical subjects and were used as a way of disseminating and introducing policy and religious doctrine to his followers. Due to his obsession with secrecy, until his death, any photos of him appearing in the group's publications had his face covered with rudimentary pencil drawings, often depicting him as an anthropomorphic lion.
. They had four children together: Linda (known as "Deborah" in the Children of God); Paul, d. April 1973 (known as "Aaron" in the Children of God); Jonathan Emanue (known as "Hosea" in the Children of God); and Faith.
Berg also informally adopted Ricky Rodriguez
, the son of his second wife Karen Zerby
(who continues to be a leader of the Children of God). In the 1970s and 1980s sexually suggestive photographic depictions of Rodriguez (aka "Davidito") with adult caretakers were disseminated throughout the group by Berg and Zerby in a child rearing handbook known as "The Story of Davidito". In January 2005, Ricky Rodriguez murdered one of the female caretakers (also shown in the handbook) before taking his own life several hours later.
argued that Berg's leadership of the Children of God was based on charismatic authority
.
Early years (1919 - 1968)
Berg was born to Hjalmer Emmanuel Berg and Rev. Virginia Lee Brandt, the youngest of three children. Virginia Brandt, a Christian evangelistEvangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
, was the daughter of Rev. John Lincoln Brandt (1860–1946), a Disciples of Christ minister, author, and lecturer of Muskogee
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in Oklahoma....
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. David Berg graduated from Monterey High School (in California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
) in 1935 and later attended Elliott School of Business Administration.
Berg often said that his rich heritage played a key role in shaping his character and religious convictions. Many of his forefathers, as well as both of his parents, were deeply committed Christians. His maternal forefathers were German Jews who converted to Christianity in the mid-eighteenth century. They subsequently joined the Dunkards
Dunkard Brethren
The Dunkard Brethren are a small group of conservative Schwarzenau Brethren churches that withdrew from the Church of the Brethren.The Church of the Brethren represents the largest body of churches that descended from the original pietist movement began in Germany by Alexander Mack and 7 other...
, a conservative offshoot of the Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination originating from the Schwarzenau Brethren organized in 1708 by eight persons led by Alexander Mack, in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany. The Brethren movement began as a melding of Radical Pietist and Anabaptist ideas during the...
. State persecution of the sect soon drove the Brandt family to America, where they settled in Pennsylvania and Ohio around 1750.
Dr. John Lincoln Brandt, Berg's grandfather, had a dramatic conversion in his mid-twenties and immediately entered full-time Christian service. For years he was a Methodist circuit rider. He later became a leader of the Alexander Campbell movement of the Disciples of Christ, a restoration movement that developed into the current Protestant denomination Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Virginia Brandt Berg, David Berg's mother, is the individual whom he credits for influencing him the most. Although raised in a Christian home, Virginia became an atheist and wild society girl during her college years. However, shortly after the birth of her first child, she broke her back in an accident and spent the next five years as a bedridden invalid, often hovering near death. Eventually she recovered and spent the rest of her life with her husband, Hjalmer, in active Christian service as a pastor and evangelist. Virginia and Hjalmer were no strangers to controversy. They were expelled from the Christian Church after publicly testifying of her "divine healing", which was contrary to church doctrine. They subsequently joined a new denomination, the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
, shortly before David Berg's birth. In later years, their missionary zeal and disdain for denominational politicking often set them at variance with the conservative faction of that church's hierarchy, causing them to work largely as independent pastors and evangelists.
Berg spent his early years traveling with his parents, who pursued their evangelical mission with a passion. In 1924, they settled in Miami, Florida, after Virginia successfully led a series of large revivals at the Miami Gospel Tabernacle. This became Berg's home for the next 14 years, while his mother and father were pastors a number of Miami churches.
As is the case with many pastors and their dependents, the Berg family depended entirely on the generosity of their parishioners for their support, and often had difficulty making ends meet. This instilled in Berg a lifelong habit of frugality, which he encouraged his followers to adopt.
In the late 1930s, Virginia Berg returned to her favorite ministry, that of a traveling evangelist. David Berg accompanied her, and for most of the next 10 years acted as her chauffeur, song leader, and general assistant.
Like his father, Berg became a minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
, and was placed at Valley Farms, Arizona
Valley Farms, Arizona
Valley Farms is an unincorporated community in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Valley Farms is east of Coolidge. Valley Farms has a post office with ZIP code 85291....
. Berg was eventually expelled from the organization for differences in teachings and for alleged sexual misconduct with a church employee. In Berg's writings he claimed the expulsion was due to his support for greater racial diversity among his congregation.
Fred Jordan, Berg's friend and boss, allowed Berg and his personal family to open a branch of his Soul Clinic in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
as a missionary training school. After running into trouble with local authorities for his aggressive disapproval with evolution being taught as fact in public schools, Berg moved his family to Fred Jordan's Texas Soul Clinic, in Western Texas.
The Children of God/The Family (1968 - 1994)
David Berg (also known as King David, Mo, Moses David, Father David, Dad, or Grandpa to members of the Children of God) founded the organization known as the Children of God, later known as "The Family of Love" or "The Family" and currently "The Family International", in 1968.Berg called on his followers to devote their full time to spreading the message of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' love and salvation as far and wide as possible, unfettered by convention or tradition, and to teach others to do the same.
Berg also decried the de-Christianization and decay in moral values of Western society. He viewed the trend towards a New World Order
New World Order (conspiracy)
In conspiracy theory, the term New World Order or NWO refers to the emergence of a totalitarian one-world government.The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an...
as setting the stage for the rise of the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
.
Berg lived in seclusion, communicating with his followers and the public via nearly 3,000 "Mo Letters" that he wrote on a wide variety of subjects. His writings were often extreme and uncompromising in their denunciation of evil, yet he always admonished the reader to "love the sinner but hate the sin". He espoused doctrines that some mainstream Christians denounce as heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. However, his followers argue that his writings are permeated with a love of God.
Death
Berg died in 1994 and was buried in Costa de Caparica, PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. (His remains have since been cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
.) His organization is currently led by his widow Karen Zerby
Karen Zerby
Karen Elva Zerby is the current leader of the group formerly called the Children of God, a new religious movement. The group is now called The Family International...
(whom he took as a soi-disant "second-wife" in August 1969; known as Katherine Rianna Smith, Mama Maria or Queen Maria in the Children of God) and Steven Douglas Kelly (an American also known as Christopher Smith, Peter Amsterdam, or King Peter to the Children of God).
Controversy
He lived in total seclusion and secrecy from his followers and, along with Karen Zerby is thought to have used a fake AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n passport when traveling.
He was also outspoken, and widely reputed to be an anti-Semite and a pedophile
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
.
In a child-custody case in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Berg's granddaughter, Merry Berg, testified that Berg sexually molested her when she was a young teenager. Another of Berg's granddaughters, Joyanne Treadwell Berg, spoke on American television about being sexually abused by David Berg. Berg's adopted son, Ricky Rodriguez
Ricky Rodriguez
Ricky Rodriguez, aka Davidito was a former member of the Children of God , now known as The Family International , who committed a murder-suicide in 2005.-Childhood and sexual abuse:Rodriguez was born in Tenerife, one of the Canary...
, wrote an article on the Web site MovingOn.org in which he describes Berg's deviant sexual activity involving a number of women and children. Davida Kelley, the daughter of Rodriguez's nanny, Sarah Kelley, accused Berg of molesting her in a June 2005 Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
article. In the same article, a woman identified as Armendria alleged that David Berg sexually abused her when she was thirteen years old.
Berg predicted several apocalyptic
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
events that did not occur. His most well-known prediction was that comet Kohoutek
Comet Kohoutek
Comet Kohoutek, formally designated C/1973 E1, 1973 XII, and 1973f, was first sighted on 7 March 1973 by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek. It attained perihelion on 28 December that same year....
(1974) would cause much havoc and possible destruction. This prediction was shared by others outside The Family such as Joseph F. Goodavage in the January 1974 issue of SAGA magazine. He also predicted that California would imminently fall into the ocean, the tribulation
Tribulation
The Great Tribulation refers to tumultuous events that are described during the "signs of the times", first mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet discourse...
would begin in 1989 and that the second coming of Jesus would happen in 1993.
Berg wrote or dictated nearly 3,000 "Mo Letters" ("Mo" being abbreviated from his pseudonym "Moses David"), which typically covered spiritual or practical subjects and were used as a way of disseminating and introducing policy and religious doctrine to his followers. Due to his obsession with secrecy, until his death, any photos of him appearing in the group's publications had his face covered with rudimentary pencil drawings, often depicting him as an anthropomorphic lion.
Personal family
David Berg married his first wife, Jane Miller (known as "Mother Eve" in the Children of God), on 22 July 1944 in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
. They had four children together: Linda (known as "Deborah" in the Children of God); Paul, d. April 1973 (known as "Aaron" in the Children of God); Jonathan Emanue (known as "Hosea" in the Children of God); and Faith.
Berg also informally adopted Ricky Rodriguez
Ricky Rodriguez
Ricky Rodriguez, aka Davidito was a former member of the Children of God , now known as The Family International , who committed a murder-suicide in 2005.-Childhood and sexual abuse:Rodriguez was born in Tenerife, one of the Canary...
, the son of his second wife Karen Zerby
Karen Zerby
Karen Elva Zerby is the current leader of the group formerly called the Children of God, a new religious movement. The group is now called The Family International...
(who continues to be a leader of the Children of God). In the 1970s and 1980s sexually suggestive photographic depictions of Rodriguez (aka "Davidito") with adult caretakers were disseminated throughout the group by Berg and Zerby in a child rearing handbook known as "The Story of Davidito". In January 2005, Ricky Rodriguez murdered one of the female caretakers (also shown in the handbook) before taking his own life several hours later.
Sociological views
The sociologist Dr. Thomas RobbinsThomas Robbins (sociologist)
-Life and work:Robbins obtained a B.A. in government from Harvard University in 1965, and a Ph.D. in Sociology, at the University of North Carolina in 1973. He subsequently held teaching or research positions at Queens College , the New School for Social Research, Yale University and the Graduate...
argued that Berg's leadership of the Children of God was based on charismatic authority
Charismatic authority
The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as "resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him." Charismatic authority is one of three forms of authority laid out...
.
External links
- TheFamily.org - Biography of David Berg on The Family's official website
- David Berg on xFamily.org, a wikiWikiA wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
about the Children of God - Jones, Paul (1998). "The Family (The Children of God)" New Religious Movements