Investigative journalist Julie Roys says she is withdrawing from an upcoming conference she had launched in order to “be sensitive to the safety of the survivor community” following a controversy over content in her 2017 book, Redeeming the Feminine Soul.
One of the hallmark characteristics of someone who has been spiritually abused is that they do not trust themselves. This has been one of the deepest wounds for me to heal, but the one that has made me feel the most empowered as a daughter of God. I would love to share with you how spiritual abuse disconnected me from my intuition and how I am slowly taking it back.
The biggest lesson I've learned over the past year is that God’s character is Father, not the arbiter. The constant analysis we seem to do about how we’re “doing spiritually” is something God is much less interested in than holding us, giving us adventures, and using our passions to change the world. Many Christians do not live in that reality yet, however. Or at least this version of God is not often communicated in sermons.
Spiritual abuse is so heartbreaking to me for so many reasons. It cuts us off from life-changing realities that free us. It makes us focused on ourselves and our shortcomings rather than celebrating and protecting the communal, collective body. But worst of all, in my opinion, spiritual abuse distorts our very view of who God is. Through many years of therapy, consuming spiritual resources, and just spending time with God outside in the sun, I have the healthiest, most loving view of God I’ve ever had. But it took untangling these five corrupted views of God to get here, and they still rear their ugly heads at times.
Healing from spiritual abuse is one of the messiest but freeing things someone can do. It takes guts, faith and a validating support system to wade through years of twisted Scripture, distorted views of God, and the feeling of injustice that accompanies realizing that you’re a victim. Here are six things victims of spiritual abuse need to know:
Spiritual abuse is so insidious because the logic behind it can often sound completely biblical. Of course, as Christians, we want to be obedient. Of course, we want to make godly use of our time and energy. But spiritual abuse takes advantage of our inclinations and twists Scripture and biblical concepts to gain power. Here are seven biblical concepts that spiritual abuse takes too far and corrupts:
Young people are crying out for a change, in the world and in the church. As hard as the evangelical church has fought to be different from the world and show itself as "the real deal," it has also largely become legalistic, controlling, fear-led and manipulative. Here is an overview of what spiritual abuse is and how we can deal with it.
Last May, Gerson Moreno-Riaño was appointed as the 12th president of Cornerstone University, a small, Christian liberal arts school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The day before his formal installation in October, Cornerstone’s faculty voted no confidence in his ability to lead as president, citing a culture of “fear and suspicion” and the last-minute departures of at least eight faculty and staff. Before working at Cornerstone, Moreno-Riaño served as Regent University's executive vice president. Now, several former Regent employees are calling the pattern at Cornerstone eerily familiar.
It's no secret that the evangelical church is in the middle of a reckoning when it comes to the membership of younger generations. I have personally left a church that I felt to be spiritually abusive. And while I haven't the Church, I've certainly thought about it. But certain convictions kept me on a path that I believe was best for me spiritually and kept me from reacting only out of bitterness and hurt – even if I did leave the particular church that I felt was harming me. Here are three reasons why I still am part of the evangelical church (for now).
Christian media and publishing company Zondervan has announced that they will be suspending the promotion of two books and indefinitely halting a documentary by best-selling author Christopher Heuertz following allegations against him of "spiritual and psychological abuse" by nearly three dozen people.
