Thread by @hlgriffin

.@IHOPKC folks-

Here are a couple of articles that come with a huge content warning of a common form of Clergy Sexual Abuse that uses the Roman Catholic Bridal Mysticism tradition to groom victims.

The first is about Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche. Why not technically clergy, Vanier carried immense spiritual authority & was considered a living saint until he died at 90.

Shortly after, survivors of his abuse came forward:
christianitytoday.com/news/2023/janu…

Here is another case about a different abuse & different victims, also using Bridal Mysticism:

cruxnow.com/church-in-the-…

Why should @IHOPKC people pay attention these Roman Catholic case studies on abuse?

There is a stream of Bridal Mysticism that has been prominent in Protestant circles for centuries & is part of the core DNA of IHOPKC.

@ihopkc Not everyone who is interested in the Roman Catholic Mystics & Bridal Mysticism uses this tradition to abuse.

It would be the furthest thing from their minds.

But the content & imagery of these teachings makes it incredibly easy for predators to hijack them for grooming.

@ihopkc Certain streams of Protestantism that are in the ancestry of Pentecostal/Charismatic groups inherited Bridal Mysticism from the Roman Catholics from a group of seventeenth century Quietists, who were suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quietism_…

@ihopkc Even apart from eroticized bridal mysticism, the Quietist emphasis on self-annihilation can easily become a way of spiritualizing trauma.

Abusers can easily use it to frame destructive actions of the abuser as being used by God for the purification of the victim's soul.

@ihopkc The most prominent names in the Quietest tradition to be inherited by Protestants are Madame Jeanne Guyon, François Fénelon, and Francis de Sales.

The condemnation of Quietism by the Roman Catholic church made these figures Saints to Protestants.

@ihopkc Lutherans, Moravians, Quakers, and other Protestant groups published translations of Guyon & Fénelon especially in the 18th & 19th centuries.

It is still common to find these authors in Christian book stores, especially those who serve a charismatic or evangelical clientele.

@ihopkc In the 19th century, many members of these Protestant streams joined in what is called the Keswick Movement or the Higher Life Movement.

@ihopkc Keswick is one of those common ancestors for everyone except the Reformed folks (who usuallyloathed the movement), but most of us have never heard the name even if it has shaped how we name our spiritual lives.

@ihopkc Billy Graham & Bill Bright are both heirs of the Keswick movement, but it was also deeply influential on Pentecostalism and the Holiness movement.

@ihopkc Earlier this year, I was studying the history of the Facts, Faith, Feelings Train featured in the back of the back of Bill Bright's The Four Spiritual Laws & traced its origins to Hannah Whitall Smith, a Quaker 19th c. Keswick Movement leader.

https://x.com/hlgriffin/status/1620908244880457729?s=20

@ihopkc While I was reading about the life of Hannah Whitall Smith, I stumbled upon a late 19th c. case of a minister using Bridal Mysticism theology to groom a victim.

The minister in question was Robert Pearsall Smith, Hannah's husband.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.…

@ihopkc It's pretty clear from other surviving sources that Bridal Mysticism, which Robert Pearsall Smith would have encountered as a Quaker through Guyon & Fenelon, was his script of choice.

@ihopkc Decades later, Keswick produced another Clergy Sexual Abuser who seems to have used Bridal Mysticism as part of his abuse.

Despite FILMING his abuse of young women, Watchman Nee is still beloved by charismatics & his reputation is largely unstained.
google.com/books/edition/…

@ihopkc One of Watchman Nee's colleagues had translated some of Madame Jeanne Guyon's works, heavily laden with Bridal Mysticism, into Mandarin early in their ministry, and they remain a classic among many Chinese Christians today.

@ihopkc Like many other latercharismatic leaders who abused their authority to sexually & financially exploit followers, Watchman Nee made a bid for restoration, including teachings on Spiritual Authority that treated leaders as divinely empowered & valorized the submission of followers.

@ihopkc Decades later, another heir of the Keswick convention, Bill Gothard, would cite Watchman Nee's book, Spiritual Authority, in his Master's Thesis at Wheaton.

This became the basis for Gothard's now infamous teaching of Umbrella of Protection.

@ihopkc Gothard's influence in fundamentalism, evangelicalism, & the charismatic movement was insidiuous & pervasive. The resonance with Watchman Nee & his teachings on spiritual authority found a pre-made landing pad in the abusive charismatic Discipleship/Shepherding Movement.

In 1980, Bill Gothard & his brother were under scrutiny by their ministry board for sexual misconduct against women & girls.

Like Nee before him, Gothard instituted a series of teachings to protect his authority.

chttps://x.com/hlgriffin/status/1728068748999839976?s=20

In the early 1980's, Gothard developed a reading of Matthew 18 as a procedure for confronting sin in relationships that became so pervasive for Boomer & Gen X fundamentalists, evangelicals, & fundamentalists that they cannot see that passage without a Gothard lens.

Survivors of Gothard's abuse & teachings have been warning us about this reading of Matthew 18 for years, but it's still serving abusers & silencing victims because so many church leaders think that this reading is Clearly Biblical.

recoveringgrace.org/2014/03/silenc…

A related set of Gothard abuse-enabling teachings took root in charismatic culture at this time, even as the Shepherding Movement was beginning to implode.

Most importantly, the teachings on Offense.

recoveringgrace.org/2014/02/silenc…

The Taking Up Offense Teaching of Gothard was taken up by charismatic teachers like Francis Frangipane & John Bevere, who may have had no idea how the teaching was constructed to silence victims of abuse.
google.com/books/edition/…

The Gothard Teaching of Not Listening to An Evil Report has also transmuted into charismatic teachings on it being a Very Holy Thing to not listen to Accusations Against A Leader. recoveringgrace.org/2014/02/silenc…

Charismatics have remixed these teachings and added their own spin, especially in classics that have trained the faithful to automatically treat any woman who says something they don't like as possessed by the Jezebel Spirit.

But going back to Bridal Mysticism teaching & the charismatic movement:

We know that Kansas City Prophet & Clergy Sexual Abuser Bob Jones used spiritual concepts to groom his abuse victims.

Because charismatics insist on doing internal investigations, sometimes with Trusted Leaders In the Charismatic Movement when they want to show they Take Abuse Very Seriously, accounts of Jones' grooming are vague.

Like Gothard and Vanier, Bob Jones was not technically an ordained minister, but still falls into the category of Clergy Sexual Abuse because he held tremendous spiritual authority that he used to groom his victims.

Bob Jones' spiritualized grooming techniques included encouraging women to undress in his office “so they could stand ‘naked before the Lord’ in order to receive a ‘word.’”

This isn't clearly using Bridal Mysticism, but it's the kind of behavior that is compatible with it.

The use of Bridal Mysticism for sexual grooming will usually start with referring to the Song of Solomon or other biblical texts that contain erotic imagery & have been interpreted to point to a higher meaning of the soul's spiritual union with God.

The Song of Solomon teachings are, of course, often referenced alongside teachings about the church being the Bride of Christ & the mysterious union & communion of Christ & the Church.

The spiritual leader then typically initiates the victim into increasing spiritual & emotional intimacy that will escalate into touching.

If the victim feels uncomfortable, he can always tell her that this is a higher, more mystical teaching that others would not understand.

All of this is easily escalated with charismatic emphasis on emotional connection with Jesus, ecstatic worship, & spiritual gifts.

Texts like the writings of Jeanne Guyon & the Cathoilc Mystics can easily be deployed for grooming.

The sexual abuse is often depicted by the abuser as an enactment of the mystical union of Christ with the church and/or with the soul of the believer.

Any distress of the victim can be spiritualized with Quietism as purifying suffering.

Even apart from Bridal Mysticism, clergy sexual abusers will often make reference to polygamy in the Old Testament if the victim is distressed that they may be committing adultery.

The pastor sees himself as a Great Man of God like King David who had many wives, as did Moses & the Patriarchs.

Polygamy is treated as a Biblical teaching that Otheer People Just Wouldn't Understand, so it has to be a secret, as so many other things, between the abuser & victim

Many victims of clergy sexual abuse do not think they are victims. Some may blame themselves as having committed adultery. They don't understand the brainwashing & think its their fault that this happened. It's easy for abusers to manipulate the victims into destroying evidence.

But other victims of clergy sexual abuse, especially if Bridal Mysticism or polygamy teachings are in play, don't see themselves as victims because they believe that they are Spiritually Married to their abuser, whom they see as their husband in a God-sanctioned polygamy.

Abusers isolate their victims. The mind control & brainwashing is almost always worse than the sexual abuse in terms of long-term damage. Victims may experience the abuse as emotionally intimate & caring & helpful for their spiritual sanctification.

Because they may believe they are in a special, God-ordained relationship with their abuser, victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse who are still under coercive control may feel extremely protective of their abuser & identify with him, especially if they seem themselves as married to him

The abusers usually tell their victims that Other People Won't Understand, so their special, God Ordained Relationship (add prophecy if the abuser is a charismatic) has to remain a secret.

The abusers are correct that most people wouldn't understand. Most Christians don't bother to educate themselves about Clergy Sexual Abuse & are more than ready to condemn the woman as an adulteress who was able to freely consent to the relationship.

Victims of this kind of abuse usually do have some understanding of how people will see things if their "relationship" with the abuser is exposed.

If they somehow break free from the abuser, they usually think of themselves as having had an affair that was mostly their own fault

If they do eventually realize how badly they were manipulated or brainwashed, they still risk everything if they come forward, especially in charismatic culture.

They will be called Accusers, Jezebels, Harlots who tempted the Great Man of God.

They will usually see their abuser hastily restored & lauded as a King David figure.

The women know that everyone will rush to caretake the man, while they will never be seen as Restored.

We don't know what has happened yet with IHOPKC & Mike Bickle, but we do know that this is a community that has been deeply steeped in Bickle's teachings on Guyon & the Roman Catholic Mystics & Song of Songs.

Even if by some incredibly unlikely outcome, the allegations against Bickle by multiple women spanning decades prove to be, as some of his followers insist, Wacky Accusers out to destroy his Calling, @IHOPKC should know about this form of Clergy Sexual Abuse.

@ihopkc We have seen from the leaked @netgrace_org report & the testimonies of survivors of still unacknowledged & uninvestigated abuse mishandling at @IHOPKC that abuse is not handled with any sort of competence in this ministry, despite protestations of Taking Abuse Very Seriously.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org Predators love to prey on people who love to pray, especially when the victims are not protected by leaders who have bothered to do basic due diligence to help their people understand abuse & grooming behaviors, let alone hold alleged abusers accountable.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org Predators will use anything that gives them power to manipulate & groom victims, especially spiritual authority, scripture, & respected teachings like the mystical tradition.

If the shepherds do not protect the flock, the wolves in sheeps' clothing will prey freely.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org In addition to finally doing perhaps the bare minimum on becoming aware of how sexual predators operate in churches & how to respond to allegations, charismatics need to be aware of how easily Bridal Mysticism teachings can be deployed by sexual predators. clergysexualmisconduct.com

@ihopkc @netgrace_org Every church, every movement thinks that their trusted leaders Would Never abuse anyone. They also think that if they were ever called upon to respond to abuse allegations, their sweet sincerity, good intentions, & biblically trained mind would insure they would respond well.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org Most leaders who respond to abuse are so in love with their own judgment that they won't even bother to Google "How to respond to abuse allegations without destroying the lives & faith of vulnerable people under my care."

They know God will bless their judgement.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org For charismatics, you get the added level of sentimental hubris where they are positive that God would give them a prophetic word if someone they trust were actually a predator.

Since that word doesn't come, the allegations must be Accusations from the Accuser of the Brethren.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org The good old days of internal investigations and letting powerful buddies whitewash leaders who have a Moral Failure before being Restored like King David are over, charismatics.

It's time to learn more. It's time to do better.

God is not mocked.

Ezekiel 34.

@ihopkc @netgrace_org @threadreaderapp unroll