Legacy
At the time of the schism, Irvine believed that all those who died in "The Testimony" prior to 3 August 1914 were saved, but that only those who followed his continuing message could be saved. Ironically, both the workers and Irvine firmly believed they had God's only true message on earth at that time, so now there were two "only right way" methods on earth, both of which arose from Irvine's revelations.
The larger branch of the church he founded (known variously as "The Truth", "Christian Conventions" or "Two-by-Twos") continues today. Because records are not kept, membership worldwide is roughly estimated at perhaps half a million worldwide. In addition, there are groups of both the Cooneyites sect and of Irvine-loyalist Message People (also sometimes called The Man and Message) which continue, although it is speculated that neither of the latter has experienced any growth recently.
Read more about this topic: William Irvine (Scottish Evangelist)
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)