Spiritual Abuse in the Church: Relational Theology and Healing

Introduction: Defining Spiritual Abuse

Veenhuizen's dissertation explores spiritual abuse, using Relational Theology to distinguish a healthy spiritual relationship from one characterized by spiritual abuse. In Relational Theology, God offers a bilateral covenant of unreserved love and commitment—with the gifts of blessing—to anyone who accepts His offer. Spiritual abuse sharply contrasts with this covenant. Because spiritual abuse has existed for quite some time, theological writers such as Veenhuizen and mental health professionals have all addressed its causes, discernment, and treatment.

Foundation of Relational Theology

Veenhuizen's dissertation correctly observes that there are various definitions of spiritual abuse (Veenhuizen, 2011). The most inclusive one found in this review comes from Lisa Oakley's "Developing Safeguarding Policy and Practice for Spiritual Abuse" (Oakley & Kinmond, 2014). After studies and interviews with numerous survivors of spiritual abuse, Oakley and her team concluded that spiritual abuse is "coercion and control of one individual by another in a spiritual context" (Oakley & Kinmond, 2014, p. 89), which can include: manipulation and exploitation, forced answerability, control of decision-making, forced secrecy and muteness, pressure to conform, exploitation of scripture or the pulpit to control conduct, forced obedience to the persecutor, the idea that the persecutor is somehow "divine," and segregation from others—especially outsiders (Oakley & Kinmond, 2014, p. 89). As Veenhuizen points out, spiritual abuse is caused by the misuse and distortion of authority and power; manipulation and control; the use of elitism and persecution; rigid lifestyle and experience; and the suppression of dissent through discipline (Veenhuizen, 2011, pp. 12–13).

In order to understand and treat spiritual abuse, Veenhuizen explores Relational Theology. According to this framework, God offers a covenant of unreserved love and commitment with the gifts of blessing to anyone who accepts His offer. This stands in sharp contrast to spiritually abusive relationships, which result from individuals pursuing their own needs to the detriment of healthy, interdependent relationships. Our covenant with God, ourselves, other people, and creation can prevent and thwart spiritually abusive relationships (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 65). According to Veenhuizen, spiritual abuse can be evaluated as plainly conflicting with the covenant offered by God in scripture and lived faith (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 19). In sum, anything or anyone that misrepresents or destroys a person's ability to direct his or her own life, or to distinguish and grow toward an interdependent community bond, is abusive (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 75).

Spiritual Abuse in Scripture and Christian History

The environments that engender and maintain spiritual abuse have existed for a very long time (Anonymous, 2012). In the Old Testament context, priests, prophets, and kings who possessed power by virtue of the "seat of Moses" mistreated believers through spiritual abuse, directly conflicting with God's covenant (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 41). In the New Testament context, Jesus explicitly challenged these religious leaders and their mistreatments of the law and of believers. He recognized that the fulfillment and administration of the law received by Moses from God had been appropriated by legalists—particularly the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees—who used it for their own advantage, just as many religious leaders had done in Old Testament times (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 48).

Veenhuizen warns that a developed system can become the persecutor, commanding allegiance and binding even the system's own leadership (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 91). A clear historical example is the Roman Catholic Church, which took the power conferred by its spiritual leadership and abused it through measures such as selling indulgences and forbidding believers from reading the Bible. This spiritual abuse eventually led to the Protestant Reformation, commenced by Martin Luther in 16th-century Europe. Reformation Protestantism recognizes that Catholicism holds the essential articles of faith, but asserts that Catholicism so drapes those articles with superfluous and sometimes false doctrines that the majority of believers cannot access the true foundations of faith (Veenhuizen, 2011, p. 80).

Conclusion

Veenhuizen's dissertation explores the phenomenon of spiritual abuse, made more difficult to address by the fact that various definitions of the term exist. The most inclusive one found in this review is "coercion and control of one individual by another in a spiritual context," potentially including: manipulation and exploitation, forced answerability, control of decision-making, forced secrecy and muteness, pressure to conform, exploitation of scripture or the pulpit to control conduct, forced obedience to the persecutor, the notion that the persecutor is somehow "divine," and segregation from others—especially outsiders. In order to understand and treat spiritual abuse, Veenhuizen explores Relational Theology, whereby God offers a bilateral covenant of unreserved love and commitment—with the gifts of blessing—to anyone who accepts His offer. Spiritual abuse can be evaluated as plainly conflicting with this covenant offered by God in scripture and lived faith.

Conditions for spiritual abuse have existed for quite some time. In the Old Testament, priests, prophets, and kings spiritually abused believers. In the New Testament, Jesus challenged religious leaders who spiritually abused believers. Christian history likewise includes spiritual abuse; one of the most notable instances involves the Catholic Church's sale of indulgences, its restriction of believers from reading the Bible, and its overlay of superfluous and sometimes false doctrines on the articles of faith. This ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther in 16th-century Europe.

The pathway to spiritual abuse is laid by the personal issues or addictions of leaders. "The dark side" of church leadership is manifested in and perpetrated by leaders who are narcissistic, paranoid, passive-aggressive, compulsive, and/or codependent, playing out in "toxic faith systems" with persecutors, co-conspirators, enablers, victims, and outcasts. In contrast, God's offered covenant encourages a growing self-discovery that strengthens the believer and stimulates him or her to develop and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to enhance the well-being of the entire community. People are created in and meant for community. Their necessary relationship with each other in spiritual community involves a bilateral covenant with God and other people, grounded in growing maturity, healthy interdependence, grace, empowerment, and intimacy. Religious communities should be challenged to examine their systems and discern whether they reflect God's bilateral covenant or are perpetuating religious abuse.

While Veenhuizen stops short of discussing the actual healing of spiritual abuse victims, spiritual leaders are often the "first responders" who help those victims. Those assisting spiritual abuse victims should establish a sense of safety, help the victim remember and mourn the abuse, and support the victim in reconnecting with the loving community. This can be accomplished through healthy and comprehensive pastoral care, congregational leadership, and institutional management. Despite differing semantics, clinical psychologists who have studied the treatment of spiritual abuse appear to agree with Veenhuizen's framework, having developed parallel approaches: stabilizing the victim, reprocessing the abusive situation and the patient's reactions to it, reintegrating the reprocessed abusive incidents into the patient's life, and reintegrating the patient into the community.

Works Cited

Anonymous, 2012. Spiritual abuse rising in many places, it seems. [Online] Available at: http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2012/04/spiritual-abuse-rising-in-many-places.html [Accessed 19 May 2016].

Berry, B. O., 2010. Spiritual Abuse in the Christian Community. Orlando, FL: Asbury Theological Seminary.

Childers, M., 2012. Holy havoc: Chaplains as first responders in healing spiritual abuse. Chaplaincy Today, 28(2), pp. 37–42.

Gabriel, K., 1988. Power in the contemporary church in the light of sociological theories: Max Weber, Michel Foucault, and Hannah Arendt. In: J. Provost & K. Walf, eds. Power in the Church. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, Ltd., pp. 29–38.

Marich, J., 2015. Understanding and Treating Spiritual Abuse. Kindle ed. McLean, VA: NetCE.

Oakley, L. R. & Kinmond, K. S., 2014. Developing safeguarding policy and practice for spiritual abuse. Journal of Adult Protection, 16(2), pp. 87–95.

Veenhuizen, G. R., 2011. Spiritual Abuse: When the System Becomes the Persecutor. Portland, OR: [University].

Wang, C.-A., 2007. The Use and Misuse of Pastoral Power: A Theological Reflection on the Issue of Spiritual Abuse. Toronto: Emmanuel College of Victoria University.