http://www.apologeticsindex.org Apologetics Research Resources on religious movements, cults, sects, world religions and related issues Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:44:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/857-chapter-11-abusive-churches-will-always-exist http://www.apologeticsindex.org/857-chapter-11-abusive-churches-will-always-exist#comments Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:21:33 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=857
All of us have been exposed to the temptation of power, whether as parent, spouse, teacher, or worker. It has been said that human nature is always ready to abuse its power the moment it can do so with impunity. It should not be surprising, then, that the will to power sometimes invades the religious realm, and specifically the church.

One of the pressing needs of the Christian church is to assist in the development of discernment skills among believers so that the likelihood of following an aberrant teacher or a false doctrine is diminished.]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/857-chapter-11-abusive-churches-will-always-exist/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/809-chapter-10-abusive-churches-present-a-warning http://www.apologeticsindex.org/809-chapter-10-abusive-churches-present-a-warning#comments Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:02:44 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=809
]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/809-chapter-10-abusive-churches-present-a-warning/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/773-chapter-9-abusive-churches-make-leaving-painful http://www.apologeticsindex.org/773-chapter-9-abusive-churches-make-leaving-painful#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:18:23 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=773
Many have described the aftermath of abusive-church involvement as comparable to that of rape victims, or the delayed stress syndrome experienced by war veterans. It is recovery from what might be called spiritual rape. You feel like something has been lost and you will never be the same again." ]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/773-chapter-9-abusive-churches-make-leaving-painful/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/752-chapter-8-abusive-churches-discourage-questions http://www.apologeticsindex.org/752-chapter-8-abusive-churches-discourage-questions#comments Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:27:59 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=752
A common theme that I encountered during interviews with ex-members of these groups was that the discipline was often carried out in public-and involved ridicule and humiliation." ]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/752-chapter-8-abusive-churches-discourage-questions/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/742-chapter-7-abusive-churches-foster-rigidity http://www.apologeticsindex.org/742-chapter-7-abusive-churches-foster-rigidity#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:56:35 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=742
If life-style rigidity is a characteristic of most abusive churches, the role of subjective experience is equally crucial in understanding how such groups drift toward religious marginality.]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/742-chapter-7-abusive-churches-foster-rigidity/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/740-elitism-and-persecution-in-abusive-churches http://www.apologeticsindex.org/740-elitism-and-persecution-in-abusive-churches#comments Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:45:11 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=740
"God's Green Berets," "God's End-Time Army," the "faithful remnant," the special "move of God." As one ex-member put it, "We believed we were on the cutting edge of what God was doing in the world. I looked down on people who left our movement; they didn't have what it took. They were not faithful to their commitment. When everyone else got with God's program, they would be involved in shepherding just like we were."

A former member of a group known as The Assembly (headquartered in Fullerton, California, and discussed later in this book) said, "Although we didn't come right out and 'say it, in our innermost hearts we really felt that there was no place in the world like our assembly. We thought the rest of Christianity was out to lunch."]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/740-elitism-and-persecution-in-abusive-churches/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/738-chapter-5-abusive-churches-use-fear-guilt-and-threats http://www.apologeticsindex.org/738-chapter-5-abusive-churches-use-fear-guilt-and-threats#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:06:44 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=738
Authoritarian, manipulative fringe groups, on the other hand, encourage clones and promote cookie-cutter life-styles.

Flavil Yeakley, in his book The Discipling Dilemma, suggests that such groups value conformity, not diversity. "They tend to make people over after the image of a group leader, the group norm, or what the group regards as the ideal personality …. They are made to feel guilty for being what they are and inferior for not being what the group wants them to be."]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/738-chapter-5-abusive-churches-use-fear-guilt-and-threats/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/732-chapter-4-abusive-churches-misuse-spiritual-authority http://www.apologeticsindex.org/732-chapter-4-abusive-churches-misuse-spiritual-authority#comments Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:10:58 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=732
An ex-member of an east-coast fringe group commented that her tiny church was believed to be the full expression of God and had the mind of Christ. "When the leadership said something, it was taken very seriously as the absolute truth. I was part of what I totally believed was a sold out, godly, and committed church. However, after I left the church, my life was totally shattered."]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/732-chapter-4-abusive-churches-misuse-spiritual-authority/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/730-abusive-churches-then-now http://www.apologeticsindex.org/730-abusive-churches-then-now#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:39:28 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=730
In the present, like the past, Christian groups claim new divine revelation through inspired prophets or preachers who "receive a word from the Lord" regularly.

Like those in the past, today's movements express the conviction they alone are the repository of "truth," or that they have been chosen by God to restore a lost or dormant spiritual vitality. In short, the narrative of churches that abuse has important beginnings in our past.]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/730-abusive-churches-then-now/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/718-abusive-churches http://www.apologeticsindex.org/718-abusive-churches#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:20:27 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=718
In Chapter 2 of his book Churches That Abuse, Dr. Ronald Enroth describes a church where people -- thinking that they were placing their allegiance in the Word of God -- were actually placing their allegiance in a man and his interpretation of the Word of God. That is crucial to understanding why people were so easily deceived.

They thought that they were really obeying the Word of God. ]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/718-abusive-churches/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/716-churches-that-abuse-online-book http://www.apologeticsindex.org/716-churches-that-abuse-online-book#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:52:19 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=716
Churches That Abuse answers these and other important questions about abusive churches.]]> http://www.apologeticsindex.org/716-churches-that-abuse-online-book/feed 1 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/714-churches-that-abuse-notice-disclaimer http://www.apologeticsindex.org/714-churches-that-abuse-notice-disclaimer#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:50:28 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=714 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/714-churches-that-abuse-notice-disclaimer/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/712-churches-that-abuse-contents http://www.apologeticsindex.org/712-churches-that-abuse-contents#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:48:12 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=712 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/712-churches-that-abuse-contents/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/710-churches-that-abuse-publishers-information http://www.apologeticsindex.org/710-churches-that-abuse-publishers-information#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:45:37 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=710 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/710-churches-that-abuse-publishers-information/feed 0 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/707-churches-that-abuse-preface-acknowledgements http://www.apologeticsindex.org/707-churches-that-abuse-preface-acknowledgements#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:42:31 +0000 apologeticsindex.org http://www.apologeticsindex.org/?p=707 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/707-churches-that-abuse-preface-acknowledgements/feed 0