Religious Life

Overview

• The religion of the Twelve Tribes is largely a combination of conservative Protestantism, the “Hebrew Roots” movement, the “Restorationist” movement, and their own new “revelations.”

• Many of their religious beliefs are tied to their social practices, and vice-versa.

• This page provides a summary of their religious beliefs. The menu on this site provides further details for doctrines that are not found in the Christian Bible.

Teachings

• The Tribe’s beliefs come primarily from the Christian Bible plus hundreds of additions provided by new “revelations.”¹

• “Freepapers” are magazine-style publications distributed by the Tribes in order to convey the Tribes’ unique beliefs & perspectives. They are geared for both public use and internal use.

• The Tribes also publishes the “InterTribal News” and it is distributed primarily for internal use (members).

• Hundreds of “teachings” from the founder are also intended for internal use (and are further studied at their “School of Prophets”).

Theology

• The Tribes receive many of their beliefs from conservative Christian teachings & values.

• However, the Tribes strongly condemn Christianity nowadays (despite having “Christian” as part of a previous official name for their group, and despite the additional similarities listed below).

• The Tribes believe they are the one and only true Church on Earth (a belief also held by several other religious groups). They believe that salvation cannot be found apart from the Tribes.

• Along with a number of other sects, the Tribes adhere to the concept of continuous revelation. Some of their new “revelations” cause them to depart from traditional Christian beliefs.

• Borrowing from the Hebrew Roots Movement, the Tribes put some Jewish Old Testament teachings into modern practice.

• In alignment with the Sacred Name Movement, the Tribes feel obligated to use Hebrew names for “God” and “Jesus.”

• The Tribes are one of many groups within the Restorationism Movement, believing that they have restored the original Church from the Book of Acts.²

• The Tribes align with Sabbath-keeping churches by resting from Friday evening to Saturday evening (though exceptions have sometimes been made for certain events or business opportunities).

• The Tribes are one of many intentional religious communities and are sometimes compared to the Bruderhof.

• The Tribes often provides Scripture references for their teaching. While the Scripture references normally have some topical connection to the Tribes’ teaching, the Scripture references sometimes do not actually support the Tribes’ teaching.

Top Unconventional Beliefs

• The original Church in the New Testament died not long after it was established.

• In the 1970’s, God restored the original Church in the form of the Tribes.

• The Tribes are the only legitimate Church on earth. They strongly condemn “Christianity.”

• There are no true believers in the world apart from the Tribes. Salvation is found only in the Tribes.

• Jesus is not the eternal second Person of the Trinity who became a human at His birth (in contrast with the majority belief within Christianity). Rather, He began his existence via a miraculous birth, though which he was able to “house” Divinity within Himself (an uncommon view typically known as Dynamic Monarchianism).

• God provides new revelations (beyond the Bible) to the Tribes’ leadership.

• Salvation requires giving up all personal belongings and money.

• Black people are cursed and are meant for servitude.

• The Tribes add a third (middle) category of humanity:³ people who aren’t saved but who are generally good. These people pay for their own sins after they die, and then face God on Judgement Day, who will give them a second life.

• Unique pieces of end times theology: (1) True believers will end up ruling galaxies or planets. (2) True believers can end up paying for their own sins in a 1000-year post-death punishment, if their life on earth was not sufficiently committed to God. (3) Some who leave the Twelve Tribes are considered condemned to hell for eternity.

Religious Gatherings

• Twice a day: each local community gathers for worship, singing, and dancing.

• Friday evening: The Sabbath begins at sundown with a festive celebration designed for inviting & evangelizing outsiders. The evening includes a meal, circle dancing, and folk music.

• Saturday night: The “Breaking of Bread” begins at 10:00pm with the sounding of a shofar, and is only for baptized members. This ceremony is somewhat similar to the traditional “Communion” (Lord’s Supper) that most Christians would recognize, but with several adjustments. Candles are lit and members participate barefoot.⁴ Soup is provided with the bread.⁵ The ceremony includes bowing, prayer, and singing. After self-examination, participants drink a “Victory Cup”⁶ if they lived a life of purity and unity during the past week, and they share about their spiritual victories or defeats.

• Jewish Holidays: The Tribes celebrate New Moon Festivals, Passover, Pentecost, the Day of Atonement, Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah, etc.

• After a death: There’s a meeting among leadership to decide which direction the dead member will go: heaven, “death” (1000 years spent paying for unforgiven sins, similar to the Catholic concept of purgatory), or hell (often referred to as “Tartarus”).

Footnotes

1. As they’ve published: “We are grateful for each revitalizing revelation we receive through the anointing [that is, the leadership].” ↩

2. Among most Restorationist movements, the underlying belief is that true Christianity was lost or corrupted shortly after the death of the original Apostles — a concept known as the Great Apostasy — and that a new specific group has been appointed by God to fully restore the original 1st-century faith, doctrine, and church structure. ↩

3. Most of Christianity has traditionally taught that there are only two categories of people: everyone who is guilty of sin, and everyone who has sinned but has accepted God’s offer of forgiveness/salvation. ↩

4. In past years, participants were required to wash their feet prior to the ceremony. ↩

5. Though members are not allowed to dip the bread in the soup. ↩

6. This “cup” is considered to be not the same as the Christian “cup” of the Lord’s Supper. ↩