The term, “spiritual abuse” has slowly made its way into contemporary Christian discourse over the last twenty years. Although the term began to appear in literature in the 1990s (The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Johnson and VanVonderen, 1991), the Bible talks extensively about the subject. Spiritual abuse often occurs along with other forms of abuse, such as sexual, emotional, and physical. Spiritual abuse has been defined as "a kind of abuse which damages the central core of who we are. It leaves us spiritually discouraged and emotionally cut off from the healing love of God" (Recovery from Spiritual Abuse, Juanita and Dale Ryan, 1992). In a position paper, Humphreys wrote in 2018, “Spiritual abuse is a form of emotional and psychological abuse. It is characterized by a systematic pattern of coercive and controlling behavior in a religious context. Spiritual abuse can have a deeply damaging impact on those who experience it. However, holding a theological position is not in itself inherently spiritually abusive, but misuse of scripture, applied theology and doctrine is often a component of spiritually abusive behavior." (Oakley, L & Humphreys, J; 2018).
