Email communications policy statement

Author of most of the articles on Deep Truths
David Brandt Berg, 1919-1994

My name is James Arendt. I was raised in Chicago, USA but have lived in Japan since 1972 minus a few years in other countries. I created this website to promote the teachings of Pastor David Berg. Many others have also found Pastor David's messages to be of value.

You are welcome to write me about sincere questions you have after reading articles on Deep Truths. I will respond to friendly emails in like manner. And I always appreciate postitive comments people send about the articles.

But please know that I will not take time to reply by email to,

1. debate with atheists and agnostics about basic Christian doctrines such as the existence of God, Who Jesus Christ is, the Bible being God's Word, creation verses evolution, etc.
2. debate with Muslims about the Bible, Who Jesus Christ is, and basic Christian doctrines. I meet Muslims from time to time in Japan and love them all. None of them have argued doctrine with me though they know I hold Jesus Christ as Lord.
3. debate with Christians about controversial doctrines such a post tribulation vs. pre-tribulation. rapture. The article by David Berg on the rapture is enough explanation in my opinion.
4. debate about what some may consider controversial doctrines taught in the Family International
5. debate with angry or bitter people who are offended about something on this site, or who may have an ax to grind against the Family International or its leadership, past or present.

I have done all of the above many times since Deep Truths was created in 2002, and have never experienced a win / win conclusion to any of the debates. It's always been lose / lose, a loss of time of both parties with no fruitful results. Only a handful of people who initially wrote a rather negative sounding email turned positive after I explained to them what seemed to me a misunderstanding on their part. It was not a debate. They received my explanation.

Over 90% of the email I get is good and positive, and I appreciate reading them. However some people seem to only want to debate and argue for reasons based on their pride. I have learned from experience that in every single case the debate has ended only with hard feelings and misunderstandings on both sides. I have come to the opinion that debating in cyberspace is of no merit whatsoever because one cannot truly know who the other party is, and therefore misunderstandings are bound to result. In the 3 dimensional world, person to person communication is not merely words, but tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions. I think it is pretty unreasonable to hope to win the other party over to one's way of thinking by a debate in the zero dimension of cyberspace. Even two people who love each other and are committed to each other such as a husband and wife may have different viewpoints about various issues of life. That's one reason why Jesus commanded us to love one another in spite of our differences. If communications can break down in the real world of 3 dimensions when we have physical methods to help soften hurt feelings such as touching the other person's shoulder, holding or shaking hands, or a pat on the back, how much more so in the non-dimensional world of cyberspace with only mere text to convey our thoughts?

So if you have a sincere question, a positive comment, or think you found something to be in error other than the doctrines taught on Deep Truths, please write! But if you are offended about something on this site, I suggest it is something that has to do with your relationship with God, or lack thereof, and has nothing to do with me personally.