The man who burned a Bible last year belonged to a small church group, Yahuwan, it was revealed for the first time yesterday.

A church pastor said the member from Vuniniudrovu Village, Sawani, Naitasiri, was angry because he believed the Bible had misled him for so many years.

He said they did not encourage members to burn the Bible. It was not their policy, he said.

This member involved was really angry, he added.

“But nothing happened to him after he burned the Bible,” he said.

Pastor Laisenia Yacarogo claimed they had copies of ancient scrolls which contain a lot of truths that were not in the Bible.

“The Bible has only 25 per cent truth in it and is incomplete. The other 75 per cent is in the scroll which was found in a clay pot at Euphrates which is now Iraq,” Pastor Yacarogo claimed.

“That’s why we do not believe in the Bible. We use the Bible to show the  difference between the scrolls and it.”

Yahuwan, he said, was ancient Hebrew for Christian.

“This small group started in 2011 by a few members who participated in a prayer and fasting session at Mount Korobaba in Lami,” he said

The members came from different religions, he said.

“This was when the true name of God was revealed, as Yahuwah the father and Yahushwah the son.

“We were just looking for the truth,” he said.

Jehovah, Jesus, Lord, were pagan names, he added.

The church  is based on ancient names, belief and practices.

“When we joined the church we also changed our names. Naming is very important because it’s a mark. Secondly, it serves as a meaning of identification, thirdly it describes a person’s character and lastly it describes a person’s position and it describes our destiny. That’s why naming is very important because it has everything of a human nature. Some die because of their names, it is powerful.

“We don’t believe in the Bible because it says there’re two Gods which is Jesus and Jehovah. We use the Bible just to compare it with our scriptures. We don’t believe in the Bible anymore because we don’t believe in the names Jesus and Jehovah. We have also seen the meaning of LORD in ancient Hebrews as Babel.”

The church has hundreds of members throughout Fiji.

“We don’t have programs in church and our meeting is done in random places. Not in a particular place.

The church is registered as the Covenant Family of Yah Ministry.

Pastor Yacarogo said after they were formed they were contacted by an American church group, Seekers of the Truth, who confirmed to them that Yahuwah (Heavenly Father) was from the ancient Hebrew as recorded in the scrolls found in the Euphrates desert. The content had been translated into English and copies had been sent to the Fijian church.

“They will be coming to visit us but we do not know when.” Pastor Yacarogo said.

The Fijian church members:

• Pay tithes (one tenth of their earnings) to look after poor, widows and their families

• Firmly belief that people should work hard. Faith without works in dead.

• Are teetotallers. They don’t drink alcohol and kava or smoke

• Eat all food.

• Worship on Saturday as their Sabbath (Day of Rest).

• Don’t commemorate Easter, Christmas because they believe they are pagan practices.

Edited by Maraia Vula