When does a church cross the line between conventional church status and fringe status? What is the nature of the process by which any given group devolves into a fringe church or movement? What are some of the signs or indicators that a given group is becoming abusive of its members and is headed for the margins? When should a member consider bailing out?

Churches That Abuse answers these and other important questions about abusive churches.
» Full Entry

Important notice regarding the content and formatting of the online version of Churches That Abuse
» Full Entry

List of Chapters in Chuches That Abuse, by Ronald M. Enroth
» Full Entry

Information about the printed edition of Churches That Abuse, by Ronald M. Enroth
» Full Entry

“This has been a difficult book to write because it is a book that is critical of other Christians. One always runs the risk of being misunderstood and labeled “judgmental” or arrogant when you make evaluative statements regarding Christian believers and organizations outside your own immediate circle. The book is about churches and other Christian organizations that inflict psychological and spiritual abuse upon members through the use of fear, guilt, and intimidation.”
» Full Entry

Chapter 1 of the book, “Churches That Abuse,” by Ronald M. Enroth. An introduction to the problem of abusive churches.
» Full Entry

Chris Butler, aka Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa Jagad Guru, is the founder of the Science of Identity Foundation. He claims to be teacher of the entire world, a direct link to God and the only true follower of Jesus Christ.
» Full Entry

After ACB Nightline aired a negative report, Fresh Fire Ministries announced that Todd Bentley would be taking time off “to refresh and to rest.”

Watch the Nightline report to understand why…
» Full Entry

The Jerusalem Syndrome is a usually temporary but sometimes permanent condition that affects religious pilgrims - mostly Christian, but occasionally Jews - who begin to exhibit strange behavior while touring holy sites, sometimes proclaiming that they are ancient religious figures sent on a mission.
» Full Entry

Research resources on Christopher Hitchens.
» Full Entry

When you ’sow seed’ (in plain English: give money) to Todd Bentley, you’ll benefit from his “Deep Thoughts.”
» Full Entry

Todd Bentley’s meetings in Lakeland, Florida, are billed as “The Florida Outpouring.” Some view it as the next ‘wave’ after the Toronto Blessing and the Pensacola Brownsville Revival.
» Full Entry

Todd Bentley and the people he surrounds himself with talk about messages they claim to receive from angels.
» Full Entry

Michael Rood is a self-proclaimed Messianic preacher who was ordained as a Christian minister in The Way International (TWI). Rood has continued many of the themes and practices which made TWI theologically a cult of Christianity.
» Full Entry

Research resources on Michael Rood and his ‘Rood Awakening’
» Full Entry

Tucked away in the shadow of fortress-like mountains of southeast British Columbia, the town of Bountiful has managed to somehow avoid the wrath of Canadian law for over 50 years despite openly practising polygamy.
» Full Entry

Winston Blackmore was bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada until Warren Jeffs muscled him and others out of the way to become prophet in September 2002. Jeffs then excommunicated Blackmore, splitting the community of Bountiful nearly in half — about 700 people continue to follow Blackmore, while about 500 follow Jeffs.
» Full Entry

The Bountiful case has wide ramifications for Canadian law: If British Columbia charges either or both of Bountiful’s leaders, Winston Blackmore and Jim Oler, with the criminal offence of practising polygamy and loses, it opens the door for the free practise of plural marriage in the guise of religion. If B.C. loses, it could even open the door to other repugnant practices, such as female genital mutilation. Certainly, Muslim groups are anxiously watching to see what happens.
» Full Entry

Wearing heavy pastel-colored dresses buttoned up to the neck and reaching down to the ground, their hair pinned up into tight, tall waves, the women of the FLDS sect look as if they had stepped out of another century. What are the reasons behind their odd style of dress?
» Full Entry

Fresh Fire Ministries is headed by Todd Bentley, a Canadian preacher with a ‘Toronto Blessing’ type ministry.
» Full Entry

...Nobody joins a cult. You join a self-help group a religious movement a political organization.

They change so gradually, by the time you realize you're entrapped - and almost everybody does - you can't figure a safe way back out....
- Deborah Layton, Survivor of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple