Ronald Enroth

Ronald M. Enroth (born October 28, 1938) is Professor of Sociology at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California, and a prominent evangelical Christian author of books concerning cults and new religious movements.

Early life and education

Enroth was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, the son of Swedish immigrants. His family attended an independent evangelical church in West New York in New Jersey. He met his future wife Ruth-Anne Johnson at high school, and she went on to a career in nursing. They were married in 1960 and have two daughters Kara and Rebecca.

Enroth majored in sociology and French in his undergraduate studies and in 1960 was awarded the B.A. degree from Houghton College, Houghton, New York. He was encouraged by his teacher at Houghton College J. Whitney Shea (brother of the gospel singer George Beverley Shea) to study the social sciences.

He proceeded to post-graduate studies in sociology at the University of Kentucky where he obtained both an M.A. in 1963, and in 1967 the Ph.D. in medical sociology. His doctoral dissertation examined the health care systems in rural eastern Kentucky, where small impoverished communities of snake-handling Pentecostal churches existed.

Academic Career

Enroth began his career in teaching sociology during his doctoral studies, and held the post of an instructor at Westmont College from 1965-67. He was appointed as an assistant professor (1967-71), and then associate professor (1971-76) at Westmont. He became a full professor in 1976.

Although Enroth's doctoral work was in the field of medical sociology, he has pursued research and teaching in the sociology of religion, new religious movements, social problems, and the sociology of deviant behavior. He holds memberships within four professional organizations: Americal Sociological Association, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion, and the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

He was the Social Science editor for the periodical the Christian Scholar's Review (1987-1990). He has also served on the editorial advisory board of the secular anti-cult movement periodical the Cultic Studies Journal. He also served for a number of years on the board of reference for the ministry the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in Berkeley, California. In 1987 he delivered the Tanner Annual Lecture at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois.

Writings

Enroth has written, co-written and edited a number of books and essays where he presents an evangelical interpretation of the sociology of cults and new religious movements. He has also written and edited works specifically concerned with the evangelization of adherents of cults.

He was an early chronicler of the countercultural movement within evangelicalism that was known in the 1970s as the Jesus People movement or the Jesus revolution movement. His co-written book The Jesus People covered para-church organizations that held to Christian orthodox doctrines, and also examined controversial groups whose orthodoxy was open to dispute among evangelicals (such as the Children of God).

Another early work of his examined the emergence, sociology and theology of gay churches within Protestantism.

In the late 1970s he wrote Youth, Brainwashing and the Extremist Cults, where he explored the dynamics of conversion and member participation through some case studies of various controversial minority religious groups such as: Hare Krishna (ISKCON), Children of God, Alamo Christian Foundation, the Love Family, the Unification Church (Moonies), the Way International, and the Divine Light Mission. Enroth argued there were characteristics to cult commitment that were aberrant, such as the separation of youth from their families, intensive and manipulative activities of instruction and recruitment, and tests of loyalty to the group. He argued that the sociological and psychological processes of recruitment and indoctrination involved some form of brainwashing or mind control. The final part of his study explored the spiritual problems he discerned with cults from the standpoint of evangelical Christianity.

Although Enroth argued in support of the brainwashing theory of cult conversions, he was nonetheless very critical of the tactics of secular anti-cult individuals who engaged in deprogramming. In the early 1980s Enroth criticized the views of the deprogrammer Ted Patrick. In an interview with Neil Duddy, Enroth rejected deprogramming as a remedy for dealing with cults. J. Gordon Melton also reported Enroth’s views about opposing deprogramming in Christianity Today magazine.

During the mid-1980s Enroth had a formal and frank exchange of views with J. Gordon Melton on a range of questions and methodological approaches to studying cults. This dialogue first appeared in an abridged version in Christianity Today in March 1984, and was then expanded into a book Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails. One of the important outcomes of this dialogue was an agreement between Enroth and Melton that a technically precise demarcation was needed to differentiate the Christian countercult movement from the secular anti-cult movement.

Enroth complained that Melton, together with co-author Robert Moore, had lumped Christians in with secularists in their 1982 book The Cult Experience. Enroth also accused David Bromley, Anson Shupe, and Lowell Streiker, of committing the same error in their writings. Enroth stated: "I recognize the distinction Gordon was mentioning between the Christian and the secular anticult movement, but he doesn’t, unfortunately, make the distinction in his published writing. We’re all painted with the same brush." (p. 30). Melton, who acknowledged the distinct differences between the two movements, promised to rectify this point in his writings. In the 1986 edition of his Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America Melton introduced religious studies scholars to the neologism Christian countercult as a means of demarcating it from the secular anti-cult movement.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s Enroth turned his attention on to the subject of marginal or fringe churches. In his studies Enroth has pinpointed church groups that operate outside mainstream denominations, that promote a legalist understanding of the gospel, and operate with manipulative processes of membership. He discusses these problems in Churches That Abuse and Recovering from Churches That Abuse. Enroth's discussion on what he calls "spiritual abuse" has been the subject of controversy (see below).

Cults and Evangelism

Although Enroth has explored sociological questions in many of his books, he has also been an advocate of Christian evangelism toward members of cults and new religious movements. In his book Evangelizing the Cults he recommends that Christians explain the gospel message to adherents. He emphasizes the role of prayer in this activity. Enroth urges Christians to adopt the style of evangelism used by St.Paul in his Areopagus speech in affirming the search while unwavering from the gospel.

In his recent text A Guide to New Religious Movements, Enroth reiterates many of these points. However he also suggests that Christians follow the example set in Christian missions literature of understanding the customs, culture and beliefs of groups and adopting a less confrontational attitude in evangelism and apologetics.

Controversies and Assessment

In general, Enroth's writings have been acknowledged in Christian circles as significant contributions on the subject of cults. In 1992 J. Gordon Melton made special mention of Enroth as an important figure in the Christian countercult movement. Unlike most of the apologists who concentrate on doctrinal questions, Enroth is distinguished as one of the few writers in the movement to both hold credentials in sociology and to apply sociological tools in his analyses. Melton stated that Enroth was "the single most widely read of the Evangelical Christian counter-cult writers." (Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, p. 336).

However, Enroth has been at the center of a controversy within the evangelical Christian sub-culture. In his book Recovering from Churches That Abuse, Enroth recounted the stories of some former members of the Cornerstone Community in Chicago (also known as Jesus People USA or JPUSA). As several people who, either have been members (like Eric Pement), or continue to be members of JPUSA (like Jon Trott) have been apologists in the Christian countercult movement, much heated debate has ensued between those who agree with Enroth and those who support JPUSA.

In Christian countercult literature there is a large genre of former member testimonies, which aims at informing readers of the difficulties individuals experience through cult participation. While some former cult member stories have sometimes been brought into serious doubt (e.g. the testimony of alleged ex-Satanist Mike Warnke), the role of conversion stories of ex-cultists into evangelical Christian belief remains quite important.

The critical stance that Enroth has taken is based on the stories of some former members of JPUSA who recount episodes where they allege the leaders of the community in Chicago subjected to them to certain kinds of spiritual abuse. Those who have supported Enroth's position argue that leaders in JPUSA need to be accountable to the wider Church community, and that the problem of spiritual abuse inside it must be exposed and renounced.

The people who remain with JPUSA maintain that Enroth has erred in his book by relying primarily on the stories of disaffected ex-members. JPUSA's response is that Enroth has been guilty of being one-sided. A special edition of Cornerstone magazine was released as a defence of JPUSA and a rebuttal of Enroth's book. JPUSA interviewed the sociologist Anson Shupe for an assessment of Enroth's methodology.

Enroth in turn has replied in an open letter to JPUSA. Other supporters of Enroth criticize JPUSA for relying on Anson Shupe. These critics dismiss Shupe as a cult apologist. Although the controversy erupted in the mid-1990s, a division of opinion remains between the two camps involved in this dispute.

References

Neil Duddy, "Interview: Dr. Ronald M. Enroth," Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements 6, 3 (September 1982), p. 62 (records Enroth's change of mind on the subject of deprogramming).
J. Gordon Melton, "New Directions on the Cult Scene: Alternatives to Deprogramming," Christianity Today, (August 5 1983), p. 37. (Melton discusses Enroth's shift in view on deprogramming).
- J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, revised ed., (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1992), pp. 336-337. ISBN 0815305028 (Melton's positive acknowledgement of Enroth's significance in the Christian countercult movement).
Beth Spring, "Better Ways to Combat Cults Are Being Developed," Christianity Today, (November 26 1982), p. 46. (Reports on Enroth's opposition to the tactics of secular anti-cult activists).
Beth Spring, "Who Decides What is a Cult and What Is Not?" Christianity Today, (November 26 1982), p. 48. (Reports on Enroth's rejection of Ted Patrick's approach to deprogramming).

Biographical Sources

Ronald Enroth's curriculum vitae at Westmont College ^*
Leslie R. Keylock, "What It Takes To Tackle the Cults," Moody monthly (July-August 1988), pp. 64, 66-68. (Biographical story on Enroth).

Interview Articles

"Dimensions of the Cult Conspiracy: An Interview with Ronald Enroth," Christianity Today (October 23, 1981), pp. 26-27.
"Interview: Dr. Ronald M. Enroth," by Neil T. Duddy, Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements, 6/3 (September 1982), pp. 55-66.
Jordan Bonfante, " 'Apologist' versus 'Alarmist'," Time magazine, Vol. 149, no. 4 (January 27, 1997). (Profiles the differences in approach between Enroth and Melton) ^*

Bibliography

The Jesus People: Old-Time Religion in the Age of Aquarius (with Edward E. Ericson and C. Breckinridge Peters) (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1972) ISBN 0802814433

(Also released in England as The Story of the Jesus People: A Factual Survey, Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1972) ISBN 0853641315

The Gay Church (with Gerald E. Jamison) (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1974). ISBN 080281543X
Youth, Brainwashing, and the Extremist Cults (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977) ISBN 0310242711
The Lure of the Cults (Chappaqua: Christian Herald, 1979). ISBN 0915684519
A Guide to Cults and New Religions (ed.) (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1983). ISBN 0877848378
Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails (with J. Gordon Melton) (Elgin: Brethren Press, 1985). ISBN 0871789310
The Lure of the Cults and New Religions, revised ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1987). ISBN 0877849943
Evangelizing the Cults, (ed.) (Ann Arbor: Servant, 1990) ISBN 0892836717 (Also released in England by Word Publishing, 1991 ISBN 0850092310)
Churches That Abuse (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992). ISBN 0310532906
Recovering from Churches That Abuse (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994). ISBN 0310398703
A Guide to New Religious Movements (ed.) (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005) ISBN 0830823816

Selected Essays

"Cult/Countercult," Eternity, (November 1977), pp. 18-22 and 32-35.
"Any Preventive for the Cults?" Christian Herald, (March 1979), pp. 13-15.
"The Power Abusers," Eternity, (October 1979), pp. 23-27.
"Fantasy Games: Is there An Occult Connection?" Eternity, (December 1981), pp. 34-37.
"Legitimation Processes in Some New Religions," (with Neil T. Duddy), Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements 7, 3 (September 1983), pp. 42-54.
"Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails," (with J. Gordon Melton) Christianity Today (March 16, 1984), pp. 14-21.
"A Self-styled Evangelist Stretches God’s Truth," Christianity Today, (September 21, 1984): 73-75.
"Reverend Terry: All Things to All People," SCP Newsletter 11, 1 (Spring 1985), pp. 15-17.
"Brainwashing" and "Cults," in Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology. Ed. David G. Benner. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985), pp. 141-142 and 268-272.
"How Can You Reach a Cultist?" Moody Monthly 88, 3 (November 1987), pp. 66-68.
"Voices From the Fringe," Moody Monthly 90, 2 (October 1989), pp. 94-98, 100, 104.
"Friend of the Court or Friend of the Cult?" Christian Research Journal 13, 4 (Spring 1991), p. 39. ^*
"Ethical Problems in Exit Counseling," (with William M. Alnor) Christian Research Journal 14, 3 (Winter 1992), pp. 14-19.
"In the Wake of Waco," Christian Research Journal 16, 1 (Summer 1993), pp. 46.
"Cults, Cultism," in Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions. Ed. A. Scott Moreau. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000) pp. 249-251.

Assessment and Criticism

Review of A Guide to New Religious Movements ^*
Frank MacHovec, Review of Recovering from Churches That Abuse, Cultic Studies Journal, 13/1 (1996), pp. 119-120.
Douglas LeBlanc, "Conflict Divides Countercult Leaders," Christianity Today, (July 18, 1994), pp. 56-57. ^*LeBlanc reports on the controversy between Enroth and JPUSA.
JPUSA/Cornerstone magazine number 103 special issue devoted to defending JPUSA and challenging Enroth's interpretation of the community ^*
Jon Trott, "Is Abuse About Truth or Story: Or Both?" in Bad Pastors: Clergy Misconduct in Modern America, Anson Shupe, William A. Stacey, Susan E. Darnell, eds. (New York: New York University Press, 2000), pp. 155-185. ISBN ISBN 0814781470 (Trott from JPUSA criticizes Enroth's work).
Enroth's reply to the special edition magazine produced by Cornerstone/JPUSA

Apologetics Index profile on JPUSA (highly critical of JPUSA, provides link to Enroth's reply to Trott's essay "Is Abuse About Truth or Story", and argues JPUSA's case is dubious because of reliance on alleged cult apologists).^*

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