Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Page 78
and synagogues are concerned with the worship of God and the sanctification of men and
women. These religious institutions, seeing each person as an image of God, must stand in
awe of the individual conscience. They may do nothing to diminish personal responsibility.
Religion can only be a liberating force. When Jews or Christians are scandalized by
oppression, the sense of scandal is, to quote Jacques Ellul, ―a result of the Judeo-Christian
roots of our civilization.‖1
Freedom is the basic theme which ties everything else in the Bible together,
from beginning to end. Freedom explains everything else in the Bible and
gives meaning to the whole adventure of election, grace, and redemption as
the Bible describes it It is certain that with the revelation at Horeb and the
accomplishment of Jesus Christ, freedom entered the world.2
The tragic irony of our human situation is that we need to be free in order to have
perspective on the conditions that enslave.
As soon as a person recognizes that he has been conditioned, this means that
he has taken a position with respect to this necessity. He situates himself
outside it in order to see it. Furthermore, he can define himself as conditioned
only if he is free. Unless he were conscious of freedom, or willed to be free,
he would not even know that he was subject to necessity.3
If the churches and synagogues were to stoop to the use of some ―heavenly deception,‖
that would, obviously, be a betrayal of their raison d‟etre. No matter how many adherents
they lose to the cults, religious institutions must be faithful in their defense of freedom.
Their present challenge is to raise up a generation which loves to be free and also
recognizes manipulation. Unfortunately, it is easier to state this in general terms than to
translate it into specifics. The book under review here will not help.
Notes
1. Jacques Ellul, The Humiliation of the Word. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 1985), 59.
2. Ibid., 58.
3. Ibid., 221.
Rev. Walter Debold is a member of the faculty of Seton Hall University in South Orange,
New Jersey. He is the author of The Vatican Document on Sects and Cults, forthcoming in
the Journal of Dharma (Centre for the Study of World Religions, Dharmaram College,
Bangalore, India).
A book review by Rev. Walter Debold on Why Cults Succeed Where the Church Fails by Ronald Enroth and J.
Gordon Melton. (1986). Cultic Studies Journal 3(2), 258-263.
and synagogues are concerned with the worship of God and the sanctification of men and
women. These religious institutions, seeing each person as an image of God, must stand in
awe of the individual conscience. They may do nothing to diminish personal responsibility.
Religion can only be a liberating force. When Jews or Christians are scandalized by
oppression, the sense of scandal is, to quote Jacques Ellul, ―a result of the Judeo-Christian
roots of our civilization.‖1
Freedom is the basic theme which ties everything else in the Bible together,
from beginning to end. Freedom explains everything else in the Bible and
gives meaning to the whole adventure of election, grace, and redemption as
the Bible describes it It is certain that with the revelation at Horeb and the
accomplishment of Jesus Christ, freedom entered the world.2
The tragic irony of our human situation is that we need to be free in order to have
perspective on the conditions that enslave.
As soon as a person recognizes that he has been conditioned, this means that
he has taken a position with respect to this necessity. He situates himself
outside it in order to see it. Furthermore, he can define himself as conditioned
only if he is free. Unless he were conscious of freedom, or willed to be free,
he would not even know that he was subject to necessity.3
If the churches and synagogues were to stoop to the use of some ―heavenly deception,‖
that would, obviously, be a betrayal of their raison d‟etre. No matter how many adherents
they lose to the cults, religious institutions must be faithful in their defense of freedom.
Their present challenge is to raise up a generation which loves to be free and also
recognizes manipulation. Unfortunately, it is easier to state this in general terms than to
translate it into specifics. The book under review here will not help.
Notes
1. Jacques Ellul, The Humiliation of the Word. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 1985), 59.
2. Ibid., 58.
3. Ibid., 221.
Rev. Walter Debold is a member of the faculty of Seton Hall University in South Orange,
New Jersey. He is the author of The Vatican Document on Sects and Cults, forthcoming in
the Journal of Dharma (Centre for the Study of World Religions, Dharmaram College,
Bangalore, India).
A book review by Rev. Walter Debold on Why Cults Succeed Where the Church Fails by Ronald Enroth and J.
Gordon Melton. (1986). Cultic Studies Journal 3(2), 258-263.
