Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

It is interesting the kind of information that is available now that the internet is around. You can find out just about anything. I have recently picked up a copy of the R. B. Thieme, biography entitled "Robert B. Thieme, Jr. His Ancestry, His life" by C. G. Hunt. It was an easy and short read that just kind of dumps out some facts based on the research that Hunt did via public record archive research, etc.

One of many interesting things that were documented was the fact that prior to seminary R. B. Thieme Jr., had only taken two introductory courses in the Greek language. The school that Thieme attended only offered two Greek language courses, everything else regarding Greek literature was taught in English. The biography mentions that at the same time period, schools like Stanford offered 30+ courses in Greek, for literature majors with a concentration in Greek.

WOW, that is interesting information. The book is available from Amazon, here and it contains a lot of additional, documented information regarding the facts of Thieme's, personal life and training that he revealed about himself.

R. B. Thieme quotes regarding Roe v. Wade & abortion in general

"This is one of the wisest and most brilliant decisions that the Supreme Court has made in many, many, many years." R. B. Thieme

"Abortion is a decision between a patient and her doctor."

"A pastor has no right to impose his volition on others — that's tyranny from the pulpit... [People must] carefully consider what is taught in the pulpit so they can make their own decision before the Lord... I can't advise whether to abort - [that is] an intrusion of privacy and the freedom of another person."

"There is no life in the womb, that is arrogance!"

These are phrases that I heard many times. The quotes are taken from the dissertation: Neshamah: Is There Life In The Womb: A Critical Analysis Of The Teaching Of R.B. Thieme On The Origin Of Life.. Todd Campo

R. B. Thieme regarding pretty much every translation ever made.

"Psalm 100 verse 2, corrected translation: serve the Lord with a SUPER ABUNDANCE OF HAPPINESS! - That’s the correct translation. and in Psalm 100 if you have anything besides this: ‘serve the Lord with a super abundance of happiness’ then if you have anything beside this, then you do not have a good Bible, a good translation." (R. B. Thieme, Series:383 Lesson:0027 Minute:16:00, emphasis mine)

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. (1 Corinthians 2:1)

This is the beginning of a series of equations that supposedly represent the spiritual life of the Christian.

So, for any Thiemites, where exactly in the Bible do we get FHS + HIQ = SIQ? or Z + E = P/MGG for that matter.

Contrast this equation with 1 Corinthians 2.

So whether you like it or not, you are dependent on me.

OK, so these types of quotes are easy to find. One doesn't have to listen to many tapes to find this sort of quote:

"The soul is a receiver. The lungs of the soul are apertures designed to receive bible doctrine. Either directly in Bible teaching or in Bible study or through the storage area of the human spirit.

The mechanics of this thing involves several aspects: You can store doctrine in the human spirit and use it later. You can take it directly through Bible teaching; and when you have become mature enough, so that you are spiritually self sustaining you can read and benefit from the Bible, but the worst fallacy in the world is the idea that a born again believer can sit down and read the Bible and derive spiritual benefit. That is a farce and every evangelist says 'Now read your Bible every day and everything will be alright.' and reading your Bible everyday isn't going to mean a thing, you have to be taught. So the greatest farce in the world is that you, a believer, a new believer, can sit down and read the Bible and learn something. That's why the gift of pastor-teacher exists in the church and its a long time before you get to where you can read and understand. When you see a passage you may not understand it, but once you have categories of doctrine, you can identify categories and work it out. So, don't kid yourself, when the day comes that any new believer can open the Bible and become an expert that's the day when we won't need pastors and teachers and I'll go to Hawaii or I'll go back into the service or something. ... So whether you like it or not, you are dependent on me."
Bob Thieme

Who in the world ever said we don't need pastors or teachers? You gotta love this all or nothing logic with this guy. We have pastors and teachers so it must be impossible for anyone to read the Bible and learn from it. Sorry, there is another option. Christian's can read the Bible and grow because the Bible says so and Christian's should also submit themselves to Pastors and teachers within the local church because the Bible says that too. (Acts 17:11, 2 Tim. 3:15-17, Hebrews 10:25) Where did this guy come up with this stuff?

Thiemites on the web

Here are some interesting individuals that are Thiemites.

http://www.biblenews1.com/aboutus.htm

http://www.geocities.com/brainout1/

Wow. Toto, we're not in Kansas any more.

Also, here is a forum from a group that investigates cults. Here you can read current and former Thiemites as they interact with one another.

http://forum.rickross.com/viewtopic.php?t=1977&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Who said that?

Sometimes its just best to let an individual speak for themselves. These are quotes from Bob Thieme:

"1. No believer can attain spiritual maturity and become an invisible hero or glorify God apart from postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation.

a. This means that no believer can read the Bible and attain spiritual maturity. The Bible is our textbook, but the gift of pastor teacher is designed to communicate the specifics of the mystery doctrine that cause spiritual growth. Doctrine must be learned under authority, and that authority is vested in the spiritual gift of pastor teacher.

b. No believer can read the Bible daily for himself and discover and learn the mystery doctrine for the Church Age, and understand the mechanics of the protocol plan of God. It must be taught through authority. Authority is always the key to teaching. "

Now, there is some truth to these assertions. We do have pastors and teachers for a reason; to teach us and to shepherd us as examples to us. However, to assert that people can't grow and attain "spiritual maturity" by reading the Bible is a rather cultish teaching and completely contrary to both Scripture (Acts 17:11, 2 Tim. 3:15-17) and common sense.