The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

By David R. Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen

Book Overview

In a breakthrough book first published in 1991, the authors address the dynamics in churches that can ensnare people in legalism, guilt, and begrudging service, keeping them from the grace and joy of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556611609
• ISBN13: 9781556611605
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Very eye opening!!

This is an amazing book that will help open your eyes to notice signs of control and abuse. This book has helped educate me and my family learn how to spot genuine and false leadership. I HIGHLY recommend this book!!

Something all of Jehovah's Witnesses should read

This was the first book that was recommended to me after I came across all kinds of information on the internet about the Watchtower Society and was looking for answers. My husband and I both left the Jehovah's Witnesses after being deep in it for 10 years. The subtle power of spiritual abuse, indeed!!! We were completely blinded all those years. Not anymore. This is an excellent book to get started with. I thank God for it.

One of the best of it's kind

Full disclosure is probably necessary at this point: I not only attend the church where the author (David) preaches, I work for him, too. I can attest to his personal integrity and his commitment to proper, evangelical Biblical exegesis. This book is one of the top two or three on the topic, and I highly recommend it to others. It's insightful, timely, and has plenty of examples to help "shine the light" on bad situations. I know it's effective, too: we receive hundreds of messages every year from those who have read the book and now feel liberated to love God again. In no way does the book encourge parishoners to villify their pastors, or go looking for occasions to "feel abused." It does, however, help expose an all-too-frequent phenomena of pastors who, in the name of God, abuse their authority to achieve their own destructive desires. God Bless!

The message of God's grace abounds in this book

It has been my experience that many Christians who speak of God's grace and mercy in fact live grace-less lives and inflict their grace-lessness on others. The result can be hurting souls that writhe in human-induced torment only to hear that they are resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Or, they walk away from God because they are unable to tolerate the pain caused by the legalistic demands of others. Or, they give up on reading the Bible because their God-given intellect can't reconcile with the narrow, rigid interpretations that are presented as the one and only truth by their spiritual authority figures. This book helped me find a way to feel whole and Christian. While reading of this book, I was often dumbstruck with the authors' ability to describe in accurate detail the source of many hurts, confusions, and fears. (I thought their comments about the children's chorus "Be Careful Little Eyes What You See" were right on target! That song always gave me the willies!) I read this book with a healthy dose of skepticism. I resisted and continue to resist the tendency of some people to define themselves as a "survivor" of this or that type of abuse. Abuse of any kind follows a continuum. My personal experience wasn't nearly as extreme as some of those related in this book. I did not end this book feeling more convinced that I was a victim than when I began. I simply understood the dynamics and subtleties of the abuse more clearly. I recommend this book highly. I don't know that folks who participate in inflicting spiritual pain on others will recognize their behavior in this book. So often, they have the best of intentions and sincerely believe that there way is the (only) right way. But I think folks on the receiving end of abuse will have many "aha!!" moments while reading. Shalom and God Bless!