[georgia_peach]

They failed because they were heresies--elevating the material above the spiritual & dragging the Gospel down into the muck of economics & policy.

> Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

- 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

[ggm]

No, I think its more likely they failed because of the practicalities of moving an entire welsh speaking village to bolivia, to build a new jerusalem. I don't personally ascribe social failure to heresy per se. After all, many heresies existed in New England, but it persisted, and did remarkably well. There was no shortage of bad behaviour in the puritan communities around Boston, they just managed their economics and social fabric better.

[georgia_peach]

The existence of personal shortcomings vs having one's entire social arrangement built upon a lie are very different things.