Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 80
spiritualized into something else‖ (198). The book ends with a typical ex-Christian
Scientist‘s comment: ―It‘s nice to be real.‖
This book is one of many written by former church, temple, or cult members describing
their experiences before, during, and after their involvement. This one is specific to
Christian Science and provides details of how it differs from traditional Christian belief and
practice. It reflects more disillusionment than anger or resentment and is valuable in its
insightful comparisons of church practices and their similarity to mind control techniques of
other groups. It is clearly and concisely written, well referenced, and fulfils its goal to
evaluate Christian Science ―from a secular psychological viewpoint‖ for readers who want to
understand its ―stark realities‖ and to reassure ―those trying to recover from them‖ (p. 15).
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of Self
The Church Universal and Triumphant: Elizabeth Clare Prophet’s
Apocalyptic Movement
By Bradley C. Whitsel
Syracuse University Press (Religion and Politics Series: editor, Michael Barkun),
2003. 221 pages, $19.95 for paperback edition, ISBN 0-8156-3000-X (pbk.)
For better or for worse part of my personal history is linked with the apocalyptic group, the
Church Universal and Triumphant, comprehensively analyzed in this new book by Bradley
Whitsel. In 1980 I ended my brief, fringe membership in CUT and began a controversial
stint as a vocal critic of the group and as a ―cult deprogrammer‖ personally responsible for
reversing the devotion of dozens of committed CUT members. CUT was only one of many
groups that lost members due to my interventions, but few attracted my attention as much.
So I begin my review, in fairness to the reader and the author, with the disclaimer that I
hardly claim disinterest or lack of bias. I will also claim, however, that I have read and
studied a wide variety of apologetic and critical material about CUT during the past 25
years, so my bias is relatively tempered.
When I first browsed through Bradley Whitsel‘s study it impressed me with the author‘s
choice and sequence of chapter topics, long list of references, a solid index, and extensive
notes with easy page references. He began this project originally as a political science
doctoral dissertation. The author visited the group headquarters in Montana in 1993 and
interviewed members and defectors as well as the CUT Messenger, Elizabeth Clare Prophet,
in 1994. His goal was to analyze CUT as a millenarian sect in its relationship to the outside
world. He described CUT as an armed, apocalyptic, New Age religious sect prepared for
survival and self-defense that recovered from an intense period of doomsday paranoia
without a violent outcome. He also reports on several significant events that caused a
radical decline in CUT membership and support in the decade following Elizabeth Prophet‘s
March 15, 1990 doomsday prophecy.
On that day thousands of anxiety ridden group members either descended into elaborately
constructed (though not all habitable) underground shelters or personal survival spaces only
to emerge the next day with essentially nothing changed in the world outside. Whitsel
compares and contrasts CUT with several concurrent millennialist groups that did experience
or perpetrate violence and death, i.e., Aum Shinrikyo, the People‘s Temple, the Order of the
Solar Temple, Heaven‘s Gate, and the Branch Davidians. In Chapter Two Whitsel traces
CUT‘s ideological roots in the ―I AM‖ Activity movement launched in 1934 by Guy Ballard
and Edna Ballard. Mark Prophet had been a member of an ―I AM‖ splinter group in the
1950s before breaking away to start his own Lighthouse of Freedom, later named the
spiritualized into something else‖ (198). The book ends with a typical ex-Christian
Scientist‘s comment: ―It‘s nice to be real.‖
This book is one of many written by former church, temple, or cult members describing
their experiences before, during, and after their involvement. This one is specific to
Christian Science and provides details of how it differs from traditional Christian belief and
practice. It reflects more disillusionment than anger or resentment and is valuable in its
insightful comparisons of church practices and their similarity to mind control techniques of
other groups. It is clearly and concisely written, well referenced, and fulfils its goal to
evaluate Christian Science ―from a secular psychological viewpoint‖ for readers who want to
understand its ―stark realities‖ and to reassure ―those trying to recover from them‖ (p. 15).
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of Self
The Church Universal and Triumphant: Elizabeth Clare Prophet’s
Apocalyptic Movement
By Bradley C. Whitsel
Syracuse University Press (Religion and Politics Series: editor, Michael Barkun),
2003. 221 pages, $19.95 for paperback edition, ISBN 0-8156-3000-X (pbk.)
For better or for worse part of my personal history is linked with the apocalyptic group, the
Church Universal and Triumphant, comprehensively analyzed in this new book by Bradley
Whitsel. In 1980 I ended my brief, fringe membership in CUT and began a controversial
stint as a vocal critic of the group and as a ―cult deprogrammer‖ personally responsible for
reversing the devotion of dozens of committed CUT members. CUT was only one of many
groups that lost members due to my interventions, but few attracted my attention as much.
So I begin my review, in fairness to the reader and the author, with the disclaimer that I
hardly claim disinterest or lack of bias. I will also claim, however, that I have read and
studied a wide variety of apologetic and critical material about CUT during the past 25
years, so my bias is relatively tempered.
When I first browsed through Bradley Whitsel‘s study it impressed me with the author‘s
choice and sequence of chapter topics, long list of references, a solid index, and extensive
notes with easy page references. He began this project originally as a political science
doctoral dissertation. The author visited the group headquarters in Montana in 1993 and
interviewed members and defectors as well as the CUT Messenger, Elizabeth Clare Prophet,
in 1994. His goal was to analyze CUT as a millenarian sect in its relationship to the outside
world. He described CUT as an armed, apocalyptic, New Age religious sect prepared for
survival and self-defense that recovered from an intense period of doomsday paranoia
without a violent outcome. He also reports on several significant events that caused a
radical decline in CUT membership and support in the decade following Elizabeth Prophet‘s
March 15, 1990 doomsday prophecy.
On that day thousands of anxiety ridden group members either descended into elaborately
constructed (though not all habitable) underground shelters or personal survival spaces only
to emerge the next day with essentially nothing changed in the world outside. Whitsel
compares and contrasts CUT with several concurrent millennialist groups that did experience
or perpetrate violence and death, i.e., Aum Shinrikyo, the People‘s Temple, the Order of the
Solar Temple, Heaven‘s Gate, and the Branch Davidians. In Chapter Two Whitsel traces
CUT‘s ideological roots in the ―I AM‖ Activity movement launched in 1934 by Guy Ballard
and Edna Ballard. Mark Prophet had been a member of an ―I AM‖ splinter group in the
1950s before breaking away to start his own Lighthouse of Freedom, later named the
