Werner Arn

Werner Arn (born August 5, 1942 ; † November 20, 2016 in Wattwil ) was the founder and leader of the Christian fundamentalist community "Adullam" with supporters mainly in Eastern Switzerland, Southern Germany and South Tyrol. He lived in Wattwil, where he has been running a kind of pension since 1988, which also serves as a meeting room and sermon place. He also led the “Christian Information Service” (CID), which sees itself as an institution that wants to educate about the sectarianism of all churches and free churches .

Life

Arn grew up in Winterthur and received an Evangelical Reformed education. After training as a primary school teacher , he taught in Winterthur and Neftenbach . At the age of 26 or 27, encouraged by a colleague, he claims to have studied the Bible and been converted through reading it. He began to set up a house group , but with his form of piety could not find approval within the Evangelical Reformed Church. After he did not find a fellowship in various free churches that seemed to him to be in accordance with the Bible, extensive "educational work" began about the sectarianism of the churches and free churches. For this purpose he founded the "Christian Information Service" (CID).

Arn was married to Elisabeth Arn (née Bosshart, † June 9, 2016) and had seven children.

Teaching

Arn did not publish any scriptures or tracts because, in his opinion, the Bible was sufficient. The teaching is spread orally. Documenting his teaching is therefore difficult.

Arn called the ecclesiologia a key point of his teaching . He claimed that after the Bible , the Christian primitive church no organization was why for Bible-believing any human church organization should be rejected. Arn therefore strictly separated himself from the organization of the regional and free churches. On September 15, 2006, for example, he referred to the major churches in Annaberg-Buchholz (Saxony) as " Whore Babylon ". Arn always emphasized that his religious community was by no means organized. The community he leads is therefore not a sect due to the lack of a tight organization typical of the sect . In fact, it is not registered as an association and there is no membership.

According to Arn, the Catholic Church is to be regarded as a particularly bad sect because it has adopted too many pagan elements. In relation to the Protestant churches he took the view that they behaved like Pharisees and were too much under modern influences, not least with regard to the role of women. On the occasion of the appointment of a female pastor , he said around 1986: "A woman as a pastor is the devil." He also criticized the property owned by the regional churches. He accused free churches of making lazy compromises and of being “ charismatically infiltrated”, even if the majority of the supporters of the free churches are born again Christians.

The will of God can only be determined by reading the Bible. Arn's sermons as well as those of his followers are strongly end - time oriented. Arn often indicated that the end of the world was near, but did not make a decision whether it would be in the very near future or in fifty years. Unconditional obedience to the will of God to be fathomed is commanded.

In principle, all customs and church traditions that cannot be found in the Bible are rejected. This applies emphatically to the veneration of saints , the baptism of infants and Christmas . The latter has a pagan origin.

The general ban on dancing, especially for dances where it is possible to change partners, is justified by the fact that dancing is the beginning of fornication . This is justified not from the Bible, but from empirical knowledge .

Women are forbidden to wear men's clothes and vice versa (cf. Deuteronomy 22: 5 LUT ). According to Arn, this meant that women were not allowed to wear pants . Women's pants are understood as an expression of the emancipation of women (against men) and are therefore rejected. The changeful European development, which from the 19th century on led to the reintroduction of women's trousers , was ignored by Arn.

There is a de facto ban on television , as positive and constructive programs (e.g. documentaries) are only broadcast very rarely. For true Christians, it is a waste of time.

The adullam

Surname

"Adullam" is originally a place name from the Old Testament. In 1 Samuel 22,1 LUT and 2 Samuel 23,13 LUT there is also talk of a "cave (of) Adullam" where King David found protection. In this sense, Arn understands his work as a place of refuge for people who seek protection. The name originally only referred to the Christian “Adullam” guesthouse in Wattwil on Waisenhausstrasse, which has been in operation since 1988 and which also serves as a retirement and nursing home. It is used by both outsiders and supporters of Arns.

Hotel grape

In addition to the Pension Adullam, Arn also ran the Hotel Traube in Ebnat-Kappel from June 2004 to 2008 . Since then, it has mainly served as a meeting place for Sunday services and Bible studies.

The restaurant was run according to "consistently Christian principles". Therefore, there was a strict ban on dancing and alcohol. This contributed to the fact that the location was avoided. There were no televisions in the hotel, as pornographic or mystical programs were often broadcast.

Hotel Traube AG filed for bankruptcy on December 16, 2013. In May 2014 the company was deleted from the commercial register.

Bible study groups

The Adullam family meet in Bible study groups. Beyond that, there is no formal structure. As a rule, the leaders of the Bible study groups go through a 3-year Bible school, which must correspond to the teachings of Arn. Those who did not accept their teaching could not take a higher position. The CID operates road missions . Arn also gave lectures for this organization of his. Occasionally he tried to rent a hotel for this purpose, but was usually unloaded again when those responsible found out more about him.

criticism

Sect experts consider Adullam to be a typical sect. Arns supporters deny this accusation with reference to the allegedly nonexistent structure and the lack of hierarchy. According to the critics, a sect-typical organization does not require a formal structure (such as that of an association). In fact, only Arn's interpretation of the Bible is binding within the community, the biblical commandment of obedience is thus a commandment to obedience to Arn.

Arn, as he himself admitted, was happy to accept donations. However, he vehemently denied demanding a tenth of their gross income from his followers. However, there are numerous reports from outsiders and visitors to Adullam and at events that Arn claimed tithe “for the Lord”. Since according to his ecclesiology only he and a few others really served the kingdom of God worldwide , his invitation to tithe is in fact synonymous with the invitation to give the money to "Adullam" (or to himself as its owner).

Members of Adullam would also show typical changes for members of the sect (isolation from the outside world, righteousness etc.).

Arns' doctrine of salvation is heavily dependent on works to be performed. The followers are accused of minor "sins" (defined by Arn followers) that cannot be found in the New Testament. This makes members feel pressured. In order to be “in salvation” again, the wishes of the community are followed unconditionally.

Web links

• Adullam page on Relinfo.ch
• Wolfgang Mischnitz: Christian Information Service - CID ( Memento from May 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), on the information and advice service of the Catholic Church in Austria
• Article The Host of God from Facts, August 12, 2004
• from ( Memento from November 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) from Das Magazin from November 21, 2009
• Sekten-Dorf , broadcast by Swiss television on March 23, 2005

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Mischnitz: Christian Information Service - CID ( Memento from May 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), on weltanschauungsfragen.at (Catholic Church), accessed on March 8, 2016.
2. ↑ Georg Schmid and Georg Otto Schmid (eds.): Churches, sects, religions . Theological Verlag Zürich (TVZ): Zürich ⁷ 2003, p. 111.
3. ^ Matthias Ederer: Article Adullam in the Wissenschaftlichen Bibellexikon , accessed on March 8, 2016.
4. ↑ Commercial register and business information from Moneyhouse , accessed on March 8, 2016.
5. ↑ Hotel unloads cult leaders. , Thurgauer Zeitung of May 15, 2014, accessed on March 8, 2016.
6. ↑ Relinfo.ch , accessed on November 22, 2016.
7. ↑ Patrick Dütschler, Catholic International Press Agency ( Memento of the original from November 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 117 kB) 
8. ^ The sheep and the end of the world , tagblatt.ch of November 21, 2008