At first, I didn’t find the WoF authors quoted in
this interim chapter to be all that unusual,
considering the author’s precult traditions and
culture. Intimately familiar with the sources and
with some experience with the urban church
culture in the DC area, I was comfortable with
the nature of the specific quotes because they
were applicable and positive. The author
couched her involvement in the CoG in
Christian terms that associated thought reform
with her own error—a willful choice of
carnality, fueled by confirmation bias: “Since
the flesh is always at enmity with God, the cult
is a door to release sin and the lust of the flesh”
(p. 109). With its position at the book’s
midpoint, I considered that this section likely
noted a chronological record of the author’s own
thought processes at the time, long before she
exited the group.
I believe that both the author’s use of and
reliance on the writings of the charismatic
leaders of the WoF movement for guidance out
of CoG, and her current theological stance point
to her unwitting grooming and preparation by
one movement for the appeal of and
manipulation within another. Her return to
language of her precult and early church
experience likely provided comfort, but it could
be interpreted as an example of the long-term
influence of all high-demand groups and the
greater difficulty in leaving them compared to
the difficulty in remaining a member.
I identify personally with this very experience
because I prepared to walk away from a 4-year
Shepherding/Discipleship experience in the
Baltimore/Washington corridor. I relied heavily
upon WoF sources for confidence to exit.
Empathizing with the author, I found that the
painful process of confronting the short
experience of obvious abuse in a group known
to my exit counselor came far more easily than
my later, deliberate choice to dig deeper into the
more insidious spiritual abuse within WoF
theology. The latter heralded a profoundly
personal existential crisis. I then looked inside
the abyss of my own personal deficiencies that
made me particularly vulnerable to
manipulation. Seventeen years after my exit, I
still find myself peeling away layers of the
experience as a part of my ongoing personal and
spiritual growth. The author bravely begins this
difficult process and notes aspects of it in this
chronological, interim chapter in the memoir
section.
Having concluded the personal-history portion
of the book in a similar approach to that which
Deborah Davis employed in her contributions to
seminal writing about the CoG (1984), the
author then expounds upon her thesis that her
youth and spiritual immaturity as a Christian
made her vulnerable to cultic influence. Quoting
Enroth and Melton’s Why Cults Succeed Where
the Church Fails (1985), she applies several of
their concepts in her conclusion. Ultimately,
however, her thesis favors a spiritualized
“demand for purity” view without a critical
discussion of thought reform itself.
In a section focused on and entitled the Lure of
Cults, the author explains the factors that cults
exploit with young adults for the purpose of
recruitment and retention. She notes that a desire
for greater self-awareness, promised by the cult,
results in the paradoxical relinquishing of one’s
individuality to the cult. In addition to the appeal
of “dropping out” of society and the “freedom of
sexual expression” allegedly afforded by the
CoG, she cites the pressure of shared financial
responsibility borne by all members as a potent
retention tool (pp. 174–180). The author quotes
Enroth’s claim that 90% of recruits leave within
2 years (Enroth, 1985, p. 54) and identifies this
with her own 2-year experience. She attributes
to a spiritual cause Enroth’s observation that
Christians often rejoin other destructive cults
after they exit Bible-based cults the cause she
offers is rejection of Christ’s Lordship, which is
then compounded by the lack of Christian
resources for former cultists. For the Christian,
“the unadulterated Word of God,” in concert
with the support of family and friends, provide
the best solace after one exits a group.
Evangelical readers may find disappointment in
the author’s continued praise of additional WoF
ministries and individuals as helpful and healthy
resources for Christians in recovery. Her list of
cited authors includes Ken Hagin, the
Copelands, Fred Price, and Francis McNutt,
among others. She also documents the ministry
commission that she received through a personal
104 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
this interim chapter to be all that unusual,
considering the author’s precult traditions and
culture. Intimately familiar with the sources and
with some experience with the urban church
culture in the DC area, I was comfortable with
the nature of the specific quotes because they
were applicable and positive. The author
couched her involvement in the CoG in
Christian terms that associated thought reform
with her own error—a willful choice of
carnality, fueled by confirmation bias: “Since
the flesh is always at enmity with God, the cult
is a door to release sin and the lust of the flesh”
(p. 109). With its position at the book’s
midpoint, I considered that this section likely
noted a chronological record of the author’s own
thought processes at the time, long before she
exited the group.
I believe that both the author’s use of and
reliance on the writings of the charismatic
leaders of the WoF movement for guidance out
of CoG, and her current theological stance point
to her unwitting grooming and preparation by
one movement for the appeal of and
manipulation within another. Her return to
language of her precult and early church
experience likely provided comfort, but it could
be interpreted as an example of the long-term
influence of all high-demand groups and the
greater difficulty in leaving them compared to
the difficulty in remaining a member.
I identify personally with this very experience
because I prepared to walk away from a 4-year
Shepherding/Discipleship experience in the
Baltimore/Washington corridor. I relied heavily
upon WoF sources for confidence to exit.
Empathizing with the author, I found that the
painful process of confronting the short
experience of obvious abuse in a group known
to my exit counselor came far more easily than
my later, deliberate choice to dig deeper into the
more insidious spiritual abuse within WoF
theology. The latter heralded a profoundly
personal existential crisis. I then looked inside
the abyss of my own personal deficiencies that
made me particularly vulnerable to
manipulation. Seventeen years after my exit, I
still find myself peeling away layers of the
experience as a part of my ongoing personal and
spiritual growth. The author bravely begins this
difficult process and notes aspects of it in this
chronological, interim chapter in the memoir
section.
Having concluded the personal-history portion
of the book in a similar approach to that which
Deborah Davis employed in her contributions to
seminal writing about the CoG (1984), the
author then expounds upon her thesis that her
youth and spiritual immaturity as a Christian
made her vulnerable to cultic influence. Quoting
Enroth and Melton’s Why Cults Succeed Where
the Church Fails (1985), she applies several of
their concepts in her conclusion. Ultimately,
however, her thesis favors a spiritualized
“demand for purity” view without a critical
discussion of thought reform itself.
In a section focused on and entitled the Lure of
Cults, the author explains the factors that cults
exploit with young adults for the purpose of
recruitment and retention. She notes that a desire
for greater self-awareness, promised by the cult,
results in the paradoxical relinquishing of one’s
individuality to the cult. In addition to the appeal
of “dropping out” of society and the “freedom of
sexual expression” allegedly afforded by the
CoG, she cites the pressure of shared financial
responsibility borne by all members as a potent
retention tool (pp. 174–180). The author quotes
Enroth’s claim that 90% of recruits leave within
2 years (Enroth, 1985, p. 54) and identifies this
with her own 2-year experience. She attributes
to a spiritual cause Enroth’s observation that
Christians often rejoin other destructive cults
after they exit Bible-based cults the cause she
offers is rejection of Christ’s Lordship, which is
then compounded by the lack of Christian
resources for former cultists. For the Christian,
“the unadulterated Word of God,” in concert
with the support of family and friends, provide
the best solace after one exits a group.
Evangelical readers may find disappointment in
the author’s continued praise of additional WoF
ministries and individuals as helpful and healthy
resources for Christians in recovery. Her list of
cited authors includes Ken Hagin, the
Copelands, Fred Price, and Francis McNutt,
among others. She also documents the ministry
commission that she received through a personal
104 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 6, 2015
