Discusses the realities of spiritual abuse and religious addiction -- how they are defined, the reasons they exist and how people can move beyond vulnerable life patterns in order to enjoy a more lifegiving relationship with God and with a healthy faith community.

When religion becomes a means to avoid or control life, it becomes toxic. "Toxic Faith" shows how unbalanced ministries and misguided churches and leaders can lead followers away from God into a desolate experience of religion. Now Arterburn wants to bring readers back to the real thing.

Experiencing Healing from Painful Spiritual Abuse When religion becomes a means to avoid or control life, it becomes toxic. Those who possess a toxic faith have stepped across the line from a balanced perspective of God to an unbalanced faith in a weak, powerless or uncaring God. They seek a God to fix every mess, prevent every hurt, and mend every conflict. Toxic Faith distinguishes between a healthy faith and a misguided religiosity that traps believers in an addictive practice of religion. It shows how unbalanced ministries, misguided churches, and unscrupulous leaders can lead their followers away from God and into a desolate experience of religion that drives many to despair. Toxic Faith shows readers how to find hope for a return to genuine, healthy faith that can add meaning to life. In the words of the author, “I want to help you throw out that toxic faith and bring you back to the real thing.”

Currently there are at least four major, identifiable perspectives on how people best understand and recover from religious abuse. Both secular and faith-based (Christian) adherents can be variously identified in each of these approaches. This book examines these viewpoints and evaluates their various strengths and limitations. It concludes that each perspective is helpful to the extent possible, given the limitations of its respective philosophic or theological assumptions. This book summarizes each viewpoint and suggests a larger contextual perspective, helpful to better understand involvement in and recovery from religiously abusive environments. The conclusion is an integration of the various conceptual frameworks, and a different model (SECURE) is described that includes essential principles and practical strategies necessary for recovery from religious abuse. Suggestions are made for future research and study both for academics with interest in the cultic studies and counseling fields, and for various people negatively affected by religious abuse and in need of recovery.

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 God's kingdom.Written for both those who feel abused and those who may be causing it, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse shows how people get hooked into abusive systems, the impact of controlling leadership on a congregation, and how the abused believer can find rest and recovery.

The most destructive Frankenstein was created "in the name of God", among Brazilians in Somerville, Massachusetts. An unhealthy faith system it was established. As a result, many Brazilians may not trust any authority. They are becoming unable to discern who supports their integrity, and who not. Visibly, the mental health of some religious leaders became an issue. The questions that arise at the intersection of faith and mental illness are not easily answered. It is impossible to deny the damage caused by some leaders around the Boston greater area. Faith has been destroyed, lives have been lost and an entire generation has been spiritually, emotionally and psychologically mutilated. This book represents an action to take responsibility before God and the second generation of Brazilians in the United States. In order to understand the reasons behind this process of "deconversion" the challenge is to consider some aspects of religious addictions, mental health and spirituality. The Brazilian community has been diagnosed with a "spiritual tumor". This illness has the potential for causing isolation. Unless addressed, this sense of isolation and unproductive faith can be ongoing. Many of the Brazilians feel that their faith has been stolen, and it's time to take it back. Authentic accountability with each other could be the very thing that re-ignites our passion for Christ and His kingdom. Rev. Dr. Regina Pinto-Moura The Rev. Dr. Regina Pinto-Moura pastors the Shalom International Baptist Community in Somerville, Massachusetts. She also serves side by side with her husband, the Rev. Dr. Jota Moura Rocha. Ordained in Massachusetts in 2003, Regina earned a Masters in Counseling Psychology and Addiction from Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA. She has a Doctorate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for her studies in Ministry in Complex Urban Settings.