Spiritual Abuse: Religion at Its Worst

by June Hunt

Spiritual abuse whether through twisting scripture or threatening behavior inflicts emotional pain and blocks spiritual growth. It is one of the most common forms of abuse in the church today and often goes undetected, masking itself as "truth from a man of God." In this book, find out how to recognize the signs of spiritual abuse and how to know when others are using the Word of God to manipulate you (and others).

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2015

About the author

JUNE HUNT is founder of Hope for the Heart, a worldwide biblical counseling ministry, and hosts the award-winning radio program by the same name. Her numerous books include Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes, Healing the Hurting Heart, Bonding with Your Teen through Boundaries, and Hope for Your Heart.

Reviews

[Lavon Herschberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Good questions to ask, checklists to help assess legalism, spiritual abuse, etc., but super basic and better suited for a spiritually weak person coming from a spiritually abusive setting vs. a mature believer. Also somewhat Calvinistic, for what it’s worth.

[Ashley Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

By way of noting and explaining facets of spiritual abuse, I thought this was really good, especially the first half. The second half seemed to be really simplistic and even a little harsh at the end. There are a couple parts that confused me, such as the instance where the author talks about how abusive fathers can paint a picture of an abusive God. While she agrees that's the case, it appears that the answer that follows is: Become a Christian and trust God. As if those who struggle with this are merely not saved and that will fix it.

Another phrase that threw me off was where she states that God will convict some people on conscience level stuff, but won't convict others. Her supporting verse was out of Romans talking about everyone being responsible for his own life. Didn't seem to really fit the context.

All in all, not bad, but not super helpful on the solution side of things.
I do like her style of writing though!

[Zaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book. You can read it in a day. It's really good at describing what spiritual abuse is and how it relates to legalism.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is designed as a as a reference guide for those who've been through spiritual abuse. The book itself is well-written and well-ordered, and as a quick reference, I think it does a good job at covering all of the basics of a very difficult topic. I think it could probably be a little better structured, but they've done a good job at setting it up. I give it a three of five, minus two because it will not be a compelling case for those not experiencing it.