| Theophostic Is A Movement Fueled By Ed Smith's Teachings that Has Taken on a Life and Theory of Its Own.
A RESPONSE TO ELLIOT MILLER'S EVALUATION OF TPM
-- by Jan Fletcher (For my letter to Miller click here.)
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Please note: Miller has altered this paper since Fletcher's response was published and page numbers have been changed his revised paper.
In this paper, Jan Fletcher, a Christian journalist from the Campbellsville, Ky. area, who published an e-book critiquing Theophostic Ministry in January 2004, responds to an evaluation of Theophostic Prayer Ministry published by Christian Research Institute, in June 2005, and authored by Elliot Miller. Fletcher argues that Miller refuses to see Theophostic as a movement composed of facilitators who often blend various inner-healing practices and disparate theological viewpoints. This issue -- how Theophostic is actually administered -- is of great importance. Yet, it is given scant treatment in Miller's paper. In his refusal to see the practical reality of how Theophostic's core theory is actually being delivered, experientially, to an unsuspecting Church, Miller omits asking the most important question of all: How is Theophostic Ministry, as a spiritual movement, playing out in the real world? Miller's evaluation also contains serious omissions of fact, and does a great disservice to the public in its endorsement of TPM's core theory and practice as biblical.
- Introduction
- Theophostic is a movement that has taken on a life of its own
- Has the shepherd been beguiled?
- The inner-healing movement draws people away from the gospel
- Christian Research Institute lacks biblical discernment
Introduction
Apologists rightly examine a ministry's teachings, and compare how closely those teachings align with biblical doctrines. In my e-book, Lying Spirits, I have extensively quoted people who have done just that. I have also listed papers, books, websites, presentations, and articles from a variety of people who have closely examined Ed Smith's teachings. Additionally, I have noted how Smith's teachings have changed with the April 2005 release of his latest training manual.
Pinning Smith's theology down is difficult because he has responded with hostility to critics, and he has rewritten his material without making it easy for the public to identify exactly what he changed and why. One unbiblical concept -- his previous “basic principle” that the Spirit of Christ gives healing truth to the lost and saved equally -- quietly disappeared. I found no reference in Smith's latest manual refuting this theological error, and I know of no effort on Smith's part to correct this error among the customers who purchased tens of thousands of books he claims to have sold that trained people using this basic principle of Theophostic.
Smith's propagation of such error inevitably leads some people to promote this Theophostic doctrinal belief. I found, on an Internet forum, a posting in December 2004 that illustrates my point. I've excerpted a portion of the message:
"I offer just a point of view from personal experience. I have myself received and am now giving to others the insight and freedom that comes when we use an approach to inner healing that has become known as Theophostic Prayer Ministry. (That name is Greek, and means simply "Light of God")
"It is the work of a practising psychotherapist in the USA named Dr Ed Smith .. and is founded on what he calls "Lie-Based Theology" .. in contrast to the traditional church committment to "sin-based" theology.
"I observe that it is somewhat controversial in some circles, but I have experienced it to be extrordinarily successful. The central premise of TPM is that we experience pain because we have at some time believed a lie. Our action to avoid the pain .. to cover it over, and our reaction to that which triggers the pain, all appear as problems, but are indeed consequences of the resident lie(s).
"By allowing God to firstly lead us to a place where the lie itself is revealed, and by receiving from Him, first-hand, His truth for that lie .. we can certainly be free, and free indeed, from the original distress, and all of its consequences in our lives.
"This 'allow God to lead us .. ' is no mean feat .. no trivial matter at all .. but training for practitioners exists and there are now many professional and lay persons trained and experienced in this ministry, as I am myself.
"By the way .. I have seen this fully effective with people who were not 'Christians' as such .. call Him 'The Universe' if you wish .. He's just as real."
"Kind Regards, Tony Burns, Auckland, New Zealand" [Bold added, Sic]
This Theophostic facilitator, who is trained and experienced in Smith's ministry, says to call God, "The Universe." Thus we find the actual Cross of Jesus Christ is so far in the background of this counselor's method as to make one wonder exactly what force or which entity in the spiritual realm is responsible for making this so "extraordinarily successful."
This is just one small example of how Theophostic is actually playing out in the real world -- an example that I quickly found when I "Googled" Theophostic and randomly clicked on several dozen of the first few hundred of the 8,000 web pages now indexed on the Internet by that search engine. Mr. Burns obviously got this theology from Smith's previous training manual, Beyond Tolerable Recovery, although, in the training manual, Smith did not advocate calling God "The Universe."
However, aside from the theological confusion Smith has generated among his disciples, there is another issue that goes beyond mere academic debate. This issue is how Theophostic trainees around the world work out, in practical terms, Smith's ideas on the critical importance of early -life memory retrieval, and his doctrinal views on the trinity, the person of Christ, sanctification and sin. As a result of how Theophostic is actually being delivered, I believe people are suffering real pain and real injury as well as serious spiritual deception.
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Theophostic is a movement that has taken on a life of its own
This issue -- how Theophostic is actually administered by this army of facilitators -- is of great importance. Yet, it is given scant treatment in Elliot Miller's paper "An Evaluation of Theophostic Prayer Ministry," published by the Christian Research Institute. Instead, Miller claims Smith showed integrity (which I challenge in my letter to Miller) in his willingness to change his teaching materials at what appears to be at the behest of Miller. Therefore, Miller's evaluation looks solely at what I would call the latest "laboratory" specimen of Theophostic Smith has produced under Miller's tutelage, as opposed to what it actually looks like deployed in the field.
What Miller refuses to see is that Theophostic is a movement that has taken on a life and theory of its own. You could say similar things about the Toronto Blessing phenomenon, or contemplative prayer, or any other experience-based religious concept. What the founder(s) say and what followers do seldom melds for long, and over time, things just get more and more divergent from solid biblical teaching, as each person's individual experience reshapes that person's theological view. Actually, Miller probably knows that what the founder(s) say in these experiential movements seldom stays the same for long. Their experiences continue to take them to what they consider new frontiers of understanding.
A case in point is Smith's evolving views of the spiritual life of a fetus. He says in his new training manual: “I am open to knowing more … For me this is no longer a stretch… I personally have no real problem believing that this is a true reality that is being spiritually revealed … Concerning the woman mentioned earlier, I believe she had feelings of rejection in the womb, but did not have the cognitive ability as a fetus to interpret them as such. However, later in life this emotional experience would become a platform for interpretation anytime anyone rejected her.” (Basic Seminar Manual p. 112-113)
Miller endorsed Theophostic's core theory and practice, and called it "elegant in its profound simplicity." However his paper contains omissions of fact, particularly concerning a libelous portion of a letter from Smith he reprints in his paper, and how he presents TPM's in-house promotional materials as legitimate peer-reviewed academic material. Miller also refuses to acknowledge that Smith uses guided imagery. Instead, Miller castigates critics for confirming what Smith admits in his 2005 Basic Seminar Manual. (Please click this link to a portion of my presentation at the Discernment Ministries conference for the detailed quotes confirming Smith's admission in his recent manual that he has not followed his own ministry guidelines.)
If Smith himself cannot follow his own ministry guidelines, how can we expect his disciples to do so, consistently?
Miller, by his refusal to see the practical reality of how Theophostic's core theory is actually being delivered, experientially, to an unsuspecting Church, neglects to ask the most important question of all: how is Theophostic Ministry, as a spiritual movement, playing out in the real world?
Miller readily admits, "that TPM incorporates in its theory and approach concepts found in some schools of the wide field of psychology. These include the idea of a subconscious, the belief that psychological and emotional problems can be rooted in the past and that revisiting such past experiences may be necessary to resolve those problems, and the describing of such problems as wounds that need to be healed. TPM also uses psychological terms to describe phenomena believed to be encountered in the sessions, such as repression, dissociation, and abreaction (the acting out of repressed emotional conflict in sometimes extreme words or behavior)."
What are the ramifications of lay people in churches using psychological concepts of repressed memories, dissociation, and abreaction on people without being licensed, or trained in what can go wrong when these concepts are used with certain individuals that have a predisposition to overactive imaginations? Miller doesn't consider this a serious issue. Apparently, Smith's printed TPM guidelines, and Smith's performance in front of Miller (when Smith was apparently following his own guidelines during a TPM training session while Miller was present) is enough to put the matter to rest for Miller.
According to "Reinventing yourself," by Maryanne Garry & Devon Polaschek, an article appearing in the Nov/Dec 1999 issue of Psychology Today, "Some people may be predisposed to imagination-based false memories.Researchers at the University of Tennessee recently showed that those who score high on measures of both hypnotic suggestion and dissociation (did you ever pull into your driveway but not remember driving home?) are more likely than others to experience imagination inflation." (p. 64) Psychologists have known for years the risk of using recovered memory therapy. Under incompetent therapists -- lay or professional -- people may exit therapy believing falsehoods about themselves or other people. I suspect the risk may be all the higher for people receiving therapy from those who believe in the common occurrence of satanic ritual abuse (SRA), as Ed Smith does. He admits in a 1999 Theophostic Basic Training video that the majority of his clientele at that time were SRA survivors. Very high-profile cases of lawsuits involving recovered memory have also involved memories of fantastical SRA stories, as I noted in my book.
Yet, in footnote 15 of his paper, Miller seems quite at ease in his belief that lay Theophostic therapy has plenty of safeguards to head off any problems. He states:
"TPM is used by both professionally qualified counselors and lay ministers. The professionals use it because they believe it is an effective form of therapy and they will likely bring their additional resources to bear in helping the client apart from the TPM session; lay people can use it because the training Smith offers is sufficient to facilitate a TPM session, and he advises them not to use psychological terms or make diagnoses, and to refer the clients to professionals if they present problems that go beyond the scope of TPM. Mental health professionals who use TPM and lay ministers (e.g., in a local church that provides TPM as one of its ministries) are encouraged to establish relationships in which the professionals can provide supervision and consultation for the lay ministers." (p. 7)
Furthermore, Miller claims, "There are built-in constraints in the Theophostic process (when followed correctly) that should prevent TPM from leading its adherents away from the Bible." (p. 12) [Bold added]
His only concern regarding this entire, very important issue -- an issue that has generated much of the controversy over Theophostic -- doesn't come until page 23, when he finally admits the pain and suffering that come from bad Theophostic therapy. "If indeed the supposed perpetrator is innocent, simply not being publicly accused of wrongs he didn’t commit will not make up for the harm done to the relationship if the recipient still believes he did commit those wrongs. If this is a family member, then the consequences of this false belief would be severe."
Yes, Mr. Miller, the consequences are severe, indeed. You seem to think this is a rare phenomenon, yet you appear to have made little effort to do any genuine investigation to see if it truly is. I've had three people share their stories with me about how they fell victim to SRA/recovered memories/DID fantasies from people who were trained in Theophostic, which are posted on my website in various places. I profiled another case in my book, Lying Spirits, which you dismiss as just one case, although that one case tore apart at least two families. I've heard perhaps a dozen or so credible accounts of false memories without hearing the entire story in detail, and other people who have seen Theophostic come into a church, or community have told me they, too, have known people they believe were reporting false memories. I would have had more stories to profile regarding Theophostic but for one fact that you fail to consider: the utter shame and horror of what happens to people who succumb to making or being the recipient of false allegations makes most people reticent to expose themselves publicly to more pain. One pastor's wife refused to go public in my book after she repented from TPM-induced false allegations against her family, because she did not want to put her church through the public exposure.
Shortly before my presentation on Theophostic at the Discernment Ministries conference, a gentleman told me he had driven four hours each way to hear me speak. Why? Because a woman in his church, with no history of sexual abuse, had been talked into engaging in Theophostic Ministry. Within a very short time, she apparently recovered a memory of her grandfather forcing her to have oral sex while riding on a Ferris wheel. This gentleman was horrified that the TPM facilitator allowed this woman to leave the session with no warning that this recovered memory could be false.
These stories are out there, but reporting them fairly and honestly will require diligent, patient research.
Well, Mr. Miller, tell us all, please: Have you received any e-mails or phone calls from people claiming harm? If so, did you make an attempt to talk to those folks, or did you just summarily write it all off with the notion that these were all victims of "impure" Theophostic, practiced by people who didn't follow TPM official guidelines, and therefore, why bother?
Did you notice, in all your hundreds of communications with Ed Smith, that he didn't follow his own guidelines not to do guided imagery before he "cleaned it up" as he calls it? (Basic Seminar Manual, p. 72) Were the "built-in constraints" nullified when Smith failed to correctly follow them? When Smith was more "directive" in his counseling approach, (p. 72) how many people did he possibly mislead into having false memories? Will we ever know? I often find myself wondering if some of the women Smith put on stage in his live demonstrations will wake up one day and realize they've been exploited for the sake of Smith's financial gain.
In the face of Smith's own failure to follow his own guidelines, disclaimers have little meaning. After all, Theophostics's own founder can't stop doing guided visualization himself!
I suspect, following my random sampling of Google listings, that the "pure" variety of Theophostic is, indeed, the rarity. There are a lot of people trained in Theophostic who are eclectic in their practice. Here's a small sampling:
"Many have been my tutors in deliverance ministry - starting with Bill Schnoebelen who gave me a foundation and including Ed Smith who taught me the Theophostic method that deals with truth/lie issues, Cheryl Knight, Jo Getizinger and others of the C.A.R.E. staff who gave me profound insights into SRA and MPD, Liberty Savard who helped me better understand what binding and loosing really are, Ken Thornberg, and so on. To all of these, and to the survivors of ritual abuse themselves (especially my first client who really exposed me to the horrifying revelation of Satanism firsthand) I owe an immense debt of gratitude. I have learned from all of them and use many of their techniques. Along the way Yahweh has done some private tutoring and given me some keys that I have aimed to share on this website. The purpose of this article is to share one of those keys recently acquired and which has shown itself to be very effective…. One thing I have learned is that demon-stomping is a waste of time. The focus is all wrong. The focus must be the survivor and what he or she believes. But if you take the approach that only Biblical education is needed, you can end up in another blind alley, because - as Thoephostic teaches - there is a world of difference between experiential data and cognitive data. Where I go beyond Theophostic is in my use of flood-filling." [Sic] --From: http://www.nccg.org/deliverance/deliverance23.html
He goes beyond Theophostic into a new concept of flood-filling. How many more Theophostic-trained facilitators go beyond Theophostic into a new concept? Plenty, I suspect.
Here's another:
"Great credit must go to Dr. Ed Smith for his contributions to the development of listening prayer therapy. Dr. Smith uses the term 'TheoPhostic' to refer to the methods he uses. I have incorporated some of his insights into what I call 'Listening Prayer Therapy.' Others such as John Regier, Leanne Payne and John and Paula Sandford have contributed to what I present on this web site as self help listening prayer therapy. I take responsibility for the final product seen here, at the HealMyLife Seminars or in my counselling practice - Agape Christian Counselling - Toronto (416) 234-1850." From: www.healmylife.com.
We now have listening prayer. What's next? Maybe it's Reiki prayer?
Here's a woman, Alicia who recounts recovered memory/inner-healing Reiki-style on BipolarDisorderWebCommunity@groups.msn.com:
"i go to a massage therapist that does reiki energy therapy as well. she focuses and which chakra's are 'glowing' and focusing on healing that chakra by touch. i feel really good after. i would rather go there than to a psychologist...i don't have any issues to discuss with a therapist other than i feel this way or i feel that way. i've resolved all past issues and my life (other than my bipolar) is pretty charmed. anyway, tonight that lady did regression therapy using reiki...she was kinda out there to me...she asked to ask god why i chose my mother and tell her whatever he said. if you can focus enough to meditate, you could probably get a lot out of it." [Sic]
Considering Ed Smith's evolving beliefs in fetal memory, will some TPM-trained facilitators soon be asking similar questions, like "Why did you choose your mother?" No, I've got it: It will be this question: "Jesus, will you show this woman what lie she believed as a fetus?" Am I close?
In response to Alicia's post, a helpful person suggests this:
"I read one of your other posts about regresstion therapy and looked it up on the internet and there were lots of listings on there. It seems as if it is the going thing now. For those who are a bit leary and cautious of the New Age things because of your belief in God you can try Theophostic Ministry which basically helps to heals you of your past memories. Many people have been helped with these type services that both Alicia has mentioned and I have mentioned as well. I am fixing to start the Theophostic Ministry one so I can let you know more about it when I finish with it." [Bold added, Sic]
Yes, regression therapy is all the rage now -- it's the going thing. The Church and the World are both jumping on the regression therapy bandwagon. It's so popular, that some are offering Theophostic as part of a Bed and Breakfast getaway!
You can enjoy a stay at the Blue Rock Bed and Breakfast, and experience the "Marriage Refresher Package (available Sunday - Thursday) $350 - 2 nights lodging at B&B with amenities - 4 hours of personalized time with host and pastoral counselor Ed Hersh, MA." All with the amenities of Pennsylvania Dutch country, too!
"...do you need a break in routine and want to visit Pa Dutch country with its many attractions and Christian activities (eg. Sight and Sound theater)? We invite you to reserve some dates and enjoy the accommodations at the bed and breakfast at our advertised rates. During your stay you can optionally schedule some time with the Healing and Counseling Ministry ... Allow God to reveal Himself in new ways, take you to new levels of intimacy and restore the joy of your salvation through His transformational healing power. The counseling and healing prayer therapy is based upon distinctively Christian principles, however sensitivity is shown to those who may not completely embrace these principles." [Bold added.]
Jesus the healer is now part of a tourist package. Travel agents: Are you aware of this previously untapped market? Although, if Jesus offends your travel agency clients, Hersh will be sensitive about that issue. After all, he is a trained Theophostic facilitator, as he explains in his sales pitch:
Mr. Hersh is a "pastoral counselor and healing prayer therapist, completed a Master of Arts in Human Service Counseling at Regent University in 2001 and is currently completing a Doctor of Religious Studies program in Biblical Counseling at Trinity Seminary. Ed has completed both basic and advanced level training in TheoPhostic and Elijah House healing prayer ministry and is licensed by his church. Ed also teaches and trains lay counselors. Ed is a member of AACC, CAPS, HarvestNet network of churches and ministries (Ephrata, PA) and Living Hope." He suggests a donation of $50/hour and promises a "marriage 'tune-up.'" From:http://mysite.verizon.net/~vze2my3y/bnb_coun.htm
As newlyweds, my husband and I ran the first bed and breakfast on the North Oregon Coast, but we were in a different league from Mr. Hersh. We just served pastries and coffee without dishing up a spirit "Jesus."
Here's one inner-healing ministry that claims to be in sync with Smith:
"Is your prayer ministry similar to Theophostic?
"We have been through Ed Smith's Theophostic training and I believe if you asked Ed if we were similar he would say 'yes.' We have a similar approach and our beliefs are the same." [Bold added.]
What are they busy promoting? Let's look and see:
"One of our main prayer needs is our new Adopt a Survivor Program. We have numerous survivors who need intensive counseling and do not have the financial resources for these services. Intensive counseling (15-30 hours weekly) gives the SRA [satanic ritual abuse] survivor an opportunity to gain greater control over a dissociative system. Intensive sessions are more effective than one or two hours of conventional counseling per week when survivors are currently being pursued by cult groups. A survivor who remains dissociative and without safehousing is accessible to continued perpetration by a cult group who often tries to undo what is accomplished in one or two hour sessions per week. [Bold added]
"Many survivors continue to suffer needlessly with dissociation and cult perpetration because they do not have safehousing and /or funding to pay for the intensive counseling needs. If you have wondered how to help, won't you please consider a monetary gift to support a survivor through counseling. Also, please pray that God will raise up more safehousing for survivors coming out of cult backgrounds. Please note on your check Adopt-A-Survivor." From: www.care1.org.
Can you imagine the cult-like conditioning that can happen after 30 hours of Theophostic therapy with folks who believe in such conspiracies? What kind of memories do you think people like that might recover about Uncle Joe, or Aunt Sue?
Here's a man who says he's "been Sanfordized, Ellel-ed, and Theophosticized."
He says: "I have had my bondages broken, my inner hurts healed, and my soul restored. All in all it has been quite an adventure."
I bet it has! He explains: "There are several 'schools' or 'streams' within the Inner Healing and Deliverance movement. The churches in our area have had a little bit of training in all of it, and a lot of training in some. I have benefited from the teaching on Inner Healing and Deliverance as taught by three major ministries: Elijah House, led by John and Paula Sanford; Ellel Ministries under Peter Horaban; and the Theophostic style Prayer Listening practised by Art Zeilstra and others. Of course there are many other good sources of help as well. My wife, 'Sweet Caroline', is a graduate of Ellel's 'School of Evangelism, Inner Healing, and Deliverance.' The Lord has used her many times to minister to me in almost every aspect of Inner Healing possible. It seems, like most Christians, I needed it all." [Bold added.]
He needed it all, and that statement pretty much says it all. Theophostic solo will never be enough to satisfy the continual craving for more inner healing among this self-centered generation.
Then, he goes on to describe the need to sever soul-ties -- another inner healing therapy other than Theophostic, as I don't recall reading that in Smith's training manuals. Apparently, sexual immorality gets a bit sticky in the spirit realm:
"The ultimate Soul Tie is made when we are sexually intimate with another person. During sexual intercourse we physically, emotionally, and spiritually become one. There is a connection between the two that continues long after the physical union is complete. This tie is a conduit over which both good and bad can be transferred from one to the other." From: http://www.ourchurch.com/view/?pageID=92736.
Here's a "Posting for an Inner Healing Prayer Team Member at the MIDWEST REGIONAL INTERCESSORY PRAYER MISSIONS BASE. For all your inner-healings, there are multiple positions available. Candidates: Must have completed the Theophostic Basic Training. In addition, the applicant must have or be planning on completing a Regional Freedom & Healing School, Freedom Fighter Internship or Equivalent as approved by the IH Director. Hourly experience and training requirements will be required prior to becoming certified team leader." [Bold added.]
Will this be the coming thing in church staffing positions? Will we now have an inner-healing director, taking her place right alongside the congregation's spiritual director, which is another fad that is leading people into unbiblical contemplative prayer?
Here's a woman who: "believed that I'd exhausted the best that the Church and the world had to offer." Well, there's the Church, and there's the World, and, then, there's Theophostic to the rescue! Apparently, to this woman, Theophostic's spirituality doesn't fit into either category. (Maybe it's just out of this world?) She continues the message referring to her earlier post of healing with TPM:
"He Himself [God] revealed the lies I was believing, and then gave me His truth to replace it. If another human being had done so, it would have merely lodged in my rational mind, having no affect on what was in my belief system. But because this truth was given to me by God directly, right into my 'believer', it had a profound and immediate effect. The problem came when I tried, in my enthusiastic joy, to share my healing with my former church. They were skeptical, to say the least, and downplayed both the ministry, and my healing -- saying they wouldn't believe it was true until I'd been healed for a year or more. Fair enough. But when the year, in fact when four years of healing, had passed - they remained skeptical."
Apparently, she left the church, now has a jaded attitude toward many churches, and doesn't "yet know where we 'fit' in, regarding a place to fellowship." From: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050312/msgs/482755.html
How many people have left churches following their involvement with Theophostic?
Here's an interesting idea arising out of Smith's belief in the universal healing of the Spirit of Christ for everyone. How does Theophostic play out in Roman Catholic circles? Is Theophostic melding into "Marian-phostic?" I suspect it won't be long before we hear of Mary's light bringing inner healing, too.
There's an Inner Healing Retreat offered Feb. 24-26, 2006 at the Manresa Jesuit Retreat House. The Manresa Jesuit House "are Jesuits and friends who share a common Ignatian spirituality, so called after St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. Ignatius had profound, mystical experiences of God when he was in the town of Manresa near Barcelona in Spain and in the years that followed. His experience taught him that God speaks to each of us in a unique way, that we who have received should give, and that our experience can be useful to others. We share those beliefs." [Bold added.]
Well, these folks certainly have the mystical/experiential pump primed and ready for a visit from a spirit Jesus. It's no surprise Theophostic has such strong appeal for this crowd. Here's a description of this Catholic retreat: "Weekend of Inner Healing, Charismatic Prayer, and Theophostic Ministry. This is a Charismatic Weekend. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, one seeks healing from emotional or spiritual wounds. There will be Eucharist and Reconciliation and time for personal prayer and reflection. Experienced teams of healers will be available as well as those trained in theophostic healing prayer." [Sic]
Here's a letter received by the MacNutts. Francis MacNutt, previously a Roman Catholic priest, is a well-known advocate of inner healing. From the MacNutt's' Christian Healing Ministries website:
"I want to thank you for your ministry's having changed my life ..."I came to Christian Healing Ministries with some anxiety and hope. In the past I had sought traditional therapy, but being the wife of a prominent Orthopedic surgeon in our small home town, was just placated, given medication, and told to decrease stress in my life. I was raised in an abusive, alcoholic, born-out-of-wedlock family, but was of the firm belief that I could get up, over it, and on with it. I came to your facility and met with prayer ministers Earling and Frieda, and was "cut free", resulting in significant changes in my life. I was free from my bulimia for 140 days; the changes in me were miraculous. I scheduled three days of prayer for inner healing, but, as time passed, talked myself out of it. About two weeks before I came to CHM, I began to binge and purge again and was spiraling out of control. I decided to give prayer for inner healing a try. For three days I cried, prayed, and was so deeply healed I cannot express my gratitude….God, my prayer counselors (David and Jean) and I worked through Theophostic healing and prayed for the release of the Holy Spirit and inner healing. I will never be the same." [Bold added. Sic]
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Has the shepherd been beguiled?
I fear, with Miller's endorsement, that the state of the Church is certainly not the same as it was in 1992, when Miller penned a much more accurate critique of another "healing" technique: "The Christian, Energetic Medicine, 'New Age Paranoia.'" (The web version of this article is not dated. However, the first footnote refers to a “recent Time/CNN poll” published in November 1991, so I am guessing the publication date was sometime in 1992.)
Note the following excerpts penned by the Elliot Miller of 1992. These quotes really amaze me, in light of the opposite tack that Miller took in his evaluation of TPM:
"In the view of many evangelical cult watchers -- including John Weldon, Paul Reisser, M.D., and myself -- this trend is providing the New Age movement with one of its most strategic opportunities to convert our culture. For many holistic health modalities pack pantheistic/occultic philosophy and spiritual experience that can beguile and win over the often unwary and vulnerable patient."
If Theophostic's experience isn't beguiling, I don't know what is. This same type of wording is what I had hoped he would say about Ed Smith's TPM.
"What if the practice is not condemned by name in the Scriptures (a point Kline makes in defense of acupuncture, Applied Kinesiology, and “most” holistic health practices)? If it can be shown to be a part of or intrinsically related to something that is specifically condemned (in this case, spiritism — Deut. 18:11), or if it tends to involve or encourage unbiblical (in this case, occultic) concepts or behavior, it should still be avoided (1 Thess. 5:22). [Bold added.]
Instead, the Miller of 2005 claims I don't know what divination is. I really don't think he does anymore, although he certainly understood spiritism when he wrote this article. Here's one more quote from Miller's 1992 article:
"I recognize that in matters of discernment such as these -- where a practice is not specifically named in Scripture -- a Christian’s judgment cannot always be foolproof. It could be that a concept or practice we currently consider occultic will later be shown to be scientific. But if after careful, objective examination of the available evidence something appears to be occultic, we do well to avoid it. This is prudence, not closed-mindedness or paranoia." [Bold added.]
Where is your prudence, Mr. Miller? I ask this question because Miller also makes a lame attempt to portray Smith and company's mythologies as genuine neurological, scientific-based concepts in this section of his paper on page 5:
"Drawing on current brain theory, Smith argues that such primal traumatic experiences with their false interpretations are registered in the right side of our brains, while our ability to understand data intellectually and objectively is the function of the left side of our brains." [Bold added]
In the footnote after "brain theory," Miller cites E. James Wilder's article: ““Current Brain Theory and Basic Theophostic Ministry,” Journal of the International Association for Theophostic Ministry 1 (2003): 15–19.
The readers who trust Christian Research Institute will be deceived into thinking Wilder is a genuine scientist who has published a neurological theory in an academic, peer-reviewed journal. This article appeared in volume one of TPM's in-house journal. When I purchased Smith's Beyond Tolerable Recovery in 2003, I received an abbreviated version of this journal. It was nothing more than a huckster-type promo mouthpiece published by Smith's corporation, an entity with Smith as president, and his wife as treasurer, secretary, and vice president. (According to the Secretary of State, Kentucky, filing dated May 25, 2005.)
Along with Wilder's article, we find in this so-called journal “Memories From the Womb,” and “SRA Essentials,” where Smith claims: “he has invested thousands of hours working with SRA victims.” Are calls for submissions to this journal subject to committee review? No! Instead, we read this in the “promo” version: “If you have interest in writing an article, submitting a testimony, or ministry report, send a brief overview to Phostic@kyol.net, or mail to PO Box 489, Campbellsville, Ky. 42718 for consideration.” The mailing label on this promo version lists 720 Lebanon Ave., Campbellsville -- Smith's home address.
What kind of peer-reviewed science is that? Try finding this "journal" in any academic or scientific library, although, with its article on pre-natal memory, you might find it in a New Age reading room. True peer-reviewed academic articles are available for researchers. This one is not.
Let's take a look at what else Wilder has penned in addition to his "scientific" review of current brain theory. Wilder is a diehard believer in the most far-fetched theories of satanic ritual abuse. He is a co-author, with Smith, of Keeping Your Ministry Out of Court, a handy little tool for ministries that exploit the SRA mythology, and add to the false memory crisis, thereby running the risk of generating lawsuits from their victims. He says people who are survivors of satanic ritual abuse “almost always” are suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID). [p.70 Keeping Your Ministry Out of Court] People with this diagnosis often believe they have many “alters” — or other personalities.
From my book, Lying Spirits: "[Wilder] said, 'the objective [of satanic cult torture] seems to be a mind-controlled obedience to the group,' and occult rituals involve torture, murder, and sexual perversion. Wilder says, 'almost always' judges, law enforcement, politicians and wealthy or famous people including religious leaders, are involved, as are sometimes the client’s neighbors, church members and family friends. However, 'most often the suspects are parents and grandparents.'"[p. 70 Keeping Your Ministry Out of Court]
Here's how Wilder describes a hypothetical progression of memory recovery of a SRA victim:
"I was sitting on the porch when I was 14 remembering what it felt like to have sex -- but I had never had sex before. I had a flash of someone with his hand over my mouth raping me. I think it was a neighbor who raped me. I saw his ring -- my grandfather had a ring like that. We were in my grandfather's barn and there were people all around. I smell an awful smell. I see a fire with people in a circle and a calf hanging by a rope. No it was not a calf it was a girl. The girl was wearing my dress but they took it off and hung her there. It was me hanging there, but I am on the ground with my grandfather. I must be making this all up, but I have this strong feeling in my body that my body remembers the sex." (p. 71 Keeping Your Ministry Out of Court.) [Bold added.]
Wilder believes in body memories. In his Basic Seminar Manual, Smith once again defends his belief in body memories. Is his defense based on science or scripture? No, he bases it on his clients' experiences and feelings.
Can genuine scientific research pose a reasonable theory for exactly how the cells in your neck, or your knee or your hand store memories of trauma, or an even wilder hypothesis: retrieve memories that have been completely forgotten for decades? Maybe, scientists will develop a whole new class of anti-depressants for all that psychic matter that's hiding out in your wrist or elbow. Oh, but we find, when we dig a little deeper, that body memories arise from the quackery we suspected was there all along.
In “Body Memories: And Other Pseudo-Scientific Notions of 'Survivor Psychology'” published by the Institute for Psychological Therapies Journal, vol. 5, 1993, author Susan E. Smith says, the belief in body memories, “appears to be related to scientific illiteracy, gullibility, and a lack of critical thinking skills and reasoning abilities in both the mental health community and in society at large.” Ms. Smith also points out that this “notion of body memories has been recycled many times as a foundational or supportive theory in many quack counseling systems, eccentric philosophical systems, and pseudo-scientific or metaphysical health and healing cults.”
The only sensible part of Wilder's recovered-memory scenario is the last sentence: "I must be making this all up." Yet, as I say in my e-book, even reluctant victims who resist believing in the validity of their own recovered memories don’t dissuade Wilder. He laments that despite “emotionally powerful and graphic in detail” recovered memories that emerge during ministry sessions, these “do not necessarily convince the sufferer of their validity, let alone the legal system, of their uncontestable truth." (p. 71 Keeping Your Ministry Out of Court.) Wilder laments the fact that he cannot convince his therapeutic victims, or the legal system, of the "uncontestable truth" of these therapeutically induced delusions that even the women who have them suspect are lies!
Wilder's coauthor, Smith, describes his disappointment at having to set aside his own "righteous indignation and desire for justice," when pressure from critics apparently caused him to pull his Level II Training Materials from the market. Smith admitted that he had "presented the material [on SRA] from an [Sic] 'this is what is going on' as opposed to what I actually KNOW to be tangible fact." (p. 323 Basic Seminar Manual) Yet, he still tells TPM facilitators to: “Connect with your local law enforcement agency and find out what they desire you do in relationship to them concerning this type of ministry [SRA]. Find out what they want you to do concerning reporting crimes, identities of potential perpetrators, etc.” (Basic Seminar Manual p. 327) [For more on continuing ethical concerns regarding Smith's views on SRA and body memories, see my presentation on TPM.]
It looks like Wilder's current brain theory in regards to SRA and body memories is a little far-fetched. His outlandish beliefs in SRA conspiracies disqualify him as an expert source in how the brain registers trauma, in my mind, as readily as any so-called scientific researcher who believes in alien abductions. Both SRA and alien abduction stories, as I pointed out in my book, arise from fantasies induced through recovered memory therapy.
I can only conclude that Christian Research Institute should change its name to Christian Propaganda Institute, if Miller continues this type of reporting.
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The inner-healing movement draws people away from the gospel
For the reader, I hope you can see, at this point, that the way Theophostic plays out in the real world is a far cry from Smith's supposedly pristine pure, registered-trademark, copyrighted-training-manual Theophostic invention that entranced Miller. In fact, even Smith's invention is anything but pure, and is nothing more than an amalgamation of various techniques that an "eclectic" Smith has pieced together, rehashing and reworking techniques that other inner-healing/SRA-deliverance proponents before him concocted and traded at the conferences they all flock to in search of new ideas. [Smith says he came from an eclectic background on p. 2, of his Basic Seminar Manual.]
They are ALL eclectic. It's the inner-healing "baseball card club." You've got your "Sanfordizers," your "Ellel-ers," and, your "Theophosticizers." You've got your schools of healing prayer, your healing rooms, your listening prayer, your prayer healing, and your prayer ministry ad nauseum.
Take your pick. For those mid-life upwardly mobile consumers who want to tour Dutch country, get your Theophostic "marriage-refresher" at a bed and breakfast. For those Marian worshippers who want a Charismatic experience, get a Theophostic healing at a Jesuit Retreat. If you're one of those daring types that just can't stop remembering those calves hanging from the rafters, and you crave those intensive cathartic fits, because afterwards, well, you just feel so much more a victim than a sinner, then indulge yourself in an intensive 30-hour SRA deliverance marathon session. There's a TPM flavor for everyone, even Alicia, the Reiki user, because, as Smith says: “God heals the lost and saved equally with no preference over either.” (Beyond Tolerable Recovery p. 116) Jesus will visit them all with his truth. Right, Mr. Miller? And, best of all the lost don't have to repent to get a healing. How convenient.
Even though I write in jest with the hope that people will understand how crazy these beliefs are, in reality, there is nothing funny about the plight of the therapeutic victims who have bought into the SRA myth. One woman, a new Christian, wrote to tell me she has spent $25,000 on such hucksters. I can actually imagine this happening if TPM facilitators are doing 30 hours a week of therapy. Let's see, at $65 per hour -- what one website offering Theophostic was charging - that's almost $2,000 a week. What a lucrative business that is!
Such pathetically deceived women may emerge from these sessions believing that they will finally be able to escape those phantom satanic programmers that have been programming them with mind-control techniques that even the CIA has never achieved to that degree -- programmers they didn't even know existed until they entered therapy. In fact, no one has such mind-control techniques -- they do not exist, except in the imagination of Ed Smith and other dreamers. (In his new manual, Basic Seminar Manual, p. 139, Smith says he has reports that Satanists are possibly “programming” women to fake Theophostic healing and “accepting the role of speaking for Jesus,” and that facilitators “may need to go to the memory where the person agreed to the programming.”)
However, the facts just cloud this issue, because the deception induced by inner-healing therapy is so great. The real cult-like programming happens in these mystical, churn-out-the-victim, inner-healing, money-making schemes that claim to be Christian counseling.
Tragically, such women have rejected the freedom that comes from simple, saving faith in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why? They love this lie of victimhood and the fawning attention it generates. Other women have realized the deception and embraced a living faith that rests upon sound doctrinal Christianity.
Miller wants to tout his counseling experience that "spans a 33-year period and includes directing a Christian hotline and counseling center, providing pastoral counseling, and counseling occult and cult-related problems through CRI." (p. 8)
I was sexually abused. I was interviewed on ABC's Prime Time, a national news program, in 1992, during which I proclaimed before millions of people my very real memories of being repeatedly raped by my stepfather when I was a teen. I have very real memories of a church deacon, who came into my life as a father figure when I was seven years old, and living in poverty with an ailing grandmother. He wrestled me to the floor, when I was 13, and had "dry sex" on top of me. This same man placed my hand on his private parts when I was just 12 years old.
He gave me explicit books telling me it was part of my sex education. This same church deacon taught me that the Bible said I had to be perfect in order to get to heaven, quoting Matt. 5:48. This man robbed both my innocence and my understanding of scripture, by twisting it in such an evil way. I later became an atheist, but, through God's mercy, eventually discovered REAL Christianity in 1996 at the age of 39. I tell the entire story the childhood sexual abuse I suffered, and how my Jewish husband and I, along with our children, became Christians in 1996 in my book, Counted Worthy to Suffer Dishonor: A Former Atheist Testifies to the Power of God. This book was published in 2002, and is available as a free e-book.
As a result of my childhood experience, Mr. Miller, I KNOW what the pain of real -- not imagined -- sex abuse is, and I KNOW what false teaching is, especially when it is this obvious. After all, who's the better expert on recovery of childhood sexual abuse? One who's treated it from the outside, or one who's lived it from the inside for over two decades and successfully surmounted it with the genuine power of the Holy Spirit?
I KNOW the solution to both the pain of sexual abuse and the deception of scripture twisting is God's REAL Light that comes from studying the scriptures illuminated with the power of the Holy Spirit. You have been bewitched into thinking a mystical Christ brings healing, and I am telling you that you are very, very wrong and I pray that you will repent of your endorsement that the core theory and practice of Theophostic is not unbiblical. It most certainly is, because Smith seduces women away from the Cross, and into their inner selves and their past -- a place that has no enduring answers at all.
I suffered terrible inner pain for over 25 years. I first began playing with razor blades and experiencing suicidal ideations when I was just 13. I slit my wrist and almost died when I was 16. Thoughts of suicide continued to haunt me until I was 39 years old. When I believed in faith on Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice, and trusted in God's promise of the resurrection, these thoughts left, and they have not had any power over me for nine years. Occasionally, if one of these old, self-destructive thoughts comes back, I IGNORE it, and it immediately leaves.
This power is not of me, but of Christ in me. The problem is that we have a generation of people who profess faith in Christ, but quickly resort to calling God, "The Universe," because they have no love of the TRUTH -- "Alathia" in Greek. Smith named his corporation Alathia, Inc -- a corporation that propagates, for a profit, a belief in a mystical Jesus that reveals the truth of our past. Jesus, who came in the flesh and now sits at the right hand of God, is THE TRUTH -- the Alathia -- and He reveals the truth about our FLESH and how we need to take up our cross and follow him in the present, not into the past. Smith's Jesus gives God's light to unbelievers who fail to repent, as both Smith and his followers assert, but this is unbiblical. This is an antichrist doctrine that draws people away from the Jesus who came in the flesh to a Jesus that suits their imaginations. It draws people away from churches into being Theophosticized in the name of better therapy.
Miller wants to dress this antichrist doctrine in the garb of therapy, but it's not medical, because there is nothing medical about a procedure involving a spirit Christ bringing healing universally to all who engage in Smith's therapy. Smith's "Christ" gives the same results as Reiki, and other inner-healing techniques, many of which denigrate Christianity yet still profess the name Christ. The peace Miller cites as fruit of the Spirit (p. 12) is a false peace more akin to cessation of suffering than the vitality of the living shalom of reconciliation with God for those who have embraced in faith the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Inner healing is the current fad for this "New Age" of the End-Times Church, a time when we should be more discerning than ever, yet, so many are willing to just call God "the Universe" -- it's all the same, it doesn't matter. Just get your healing -- your inner peace -- it works. Of course it does. Lying wonders do work, you know. Otherwise, why would scripture call them wonders? It's all part of the deception that God grants those who refuse to love "The Truth" -- Jesus as revealed in scripture -- and are willing to call him "the Universe." They'll get their healing all right, but they may end up selling their eternal inheritance in the process. It would seem that, like Esau, people today would rather sate their voracious appetites for fleshly healings than seek the eternal inheritance God has promised all who will believe in His name and trust in His almighty power.
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Christian Research Institute lacks biblical discernment
Most of these inner-healing therapies mix a toxic cocktail of recovered memory therapy with divination. Psychology Today called recovered memory therapy one of the 10 most misguided ideas of our time. Miller said I do “not appear to understand what divination is,” and accuses me of confusing it with spiritism. (p. 10) Other theologians would disagree. Miller is disputing valid differences of opinion in terminology in an effort to disqualify my research. He does more of the same to an even greater degree when he accuses me of having an “inexplicable anti-TPM agenda,” on page 23. I strongly refute this allegation in my letter to Miller.
The following excerpts, from an article by Dr. Orrel Steinkamp, "Divination Finds Further Expression in the Evangelical Church," published in the June/July 2004 Plumbline newsletter, disputes Miller's assertion of my ignorance.
According to Plumbline Ministries, "Steinkamp is publisher of The Plumbline newsletter and director of Plumbline Ministries. He has served as a missionary to Viet Nam, Professor and pastor in Australia, as well as America. Most recently he has retired from the pastorate (Assemblies of God) to pursue Plumbline Ministries full time. (He received his M.Div and Dr. of Ministry degrees from Bethel Seminary)." In the article, this is what he says about divination:
"Divination generally refers to attempts to learn 'hidden things' that cannot be known by normal means. Divination falls into two broad categories: mechanical and internal. Mechanical divination uses physical means to acquire hidden knowledge. Examples of this include such things as gazing into crystal balls, examining the livers or other internal organs of animals, interpreting the way arrows land after being thrown into the air, and reading Tarot cards. The internal category, sometimes called "soothsaying," involves conjuring up a spiritual entity during a trance or an altered state of consciousness. Sometimes this spirit entity will appear as a person, no longer living, who returns and speaks words of wisdom. Sometimes the spirit who is "called up" speaks "through" a medium. In Acts 16:16 the slave girl had a "spirit of divination." (It is interesting to note that, because there was often trickery involved, in the first century the word used for divination was also broadly used for the act of ventriloquism.)
"Whatever the category or method used, divination is an attempt to ferret out hidden (occult) information. The incursion of divination into the Church is of the internal rather than the mechanical category and its focal points are the visualization techniques employed in "inner-healing" and imaginative prayer... [Bold added. This is exactly the same concept I discussed in my book.]
"Among Christian practitioners who are teaching and experiencing inner-healing and imaginative prayer, there would be a heated protest to our use of the term 'divination.' But what else does one call the imaginative visualization (conjuring up) of a spirit entity, which presents itself to the person as Jesus himself? Let's call a spade a spade---this is divination!"
So, I guess, according to the Elliot Miller of today, who wants to strain a technicality in terminology, yet swallows Wilder's current brain theory with a single gulp, as well as Smith's antichrist doctrine dressed in therapeutic garb, Steinkamp is just as ignorant as I am. Well, at least I'm in good company! And, I'd suggest anyone reading this join the rest of us “outside the camp” of the inner healing Theophostic movement - those of us who call a spade a spade.
It's a real shame that the Christian apologetic organization founded by Walter Martin, Christian Research Institute, is currently plagued by scandal over allegations of financial hanky-panky and plagiarism. Bill Alnor, a former reporter, author, and now an assistant professor and the director of the journalism program at Texas A&M University, successfully defended his 428-page doctoral dissertation, "Borrowed or Stolen? A Study of Plagiarism in Religion, with an Emphasis on Contemporary Religious Media," on June 22, 2004. In his dissertation, Alnor documents line-by-line line plagiarism by CRI director Hank Hanegraaff. How ironic that Alnor would document plagiarism by CRI's director, while Miller republishes a libelous letter from Ed Smith accusing me of plagiarism, which I have never done.
Alnor, who founded The Christian Sentinel, says in an January 2005 Editorial Comment: "The Christian Sentinel for years has been ringing the alarm bell calling for the resignation of Hanegraaff and for donors to stop contributing to CRI. We have documented a pattern of out of control spending, a lack of biblical discernment on various issues, constant fundraising appeals (some of which are unethical), board of directors shenanigans, and deception and corruption ranging to the highest levels of CRI, while Hank and Kathy Hanegraaff’s salaries (combined including expense accounts and other perks) zoomed to more than $400,000 per year. We will continue to do this as we learn of new lies and deceptions inside CRI. Meanwhile the amount of CRI revenue reportedly spent on more fundraising (including telephone solicitors) utilizing huge mass marketing firms, has zoomed to almost 20 percent, while the average ministry norm is about a third of that." [Bold added]
Additionally, Alnor notes in his August 2004 Sentinel E-Update: "Are things getting too hot for Hank Hanegraaff and the Christian Research Institute in Southern California? Norman Geisler of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte told a supporter that Hanegraff [Sic] is moving CRI to the Charlotte area. In addition, the April 4, 2004 Charlotte Observer reported that Hanegraaff, an intense golf enthusiast, has become one of the investors in a multimillion dollar gated community and golf course called The Club at Longview in Union County, which contains a signature golf course personally designed by Jack Nicklaus."
While CRI's director Hanegraaff plans his retreat behind the gates of a multi-million dollar exclusive community a coast away from CRI, his organization may be deceiving hundreds of thousands of Christians. Miller's ill-conceived endorsement of Theophostic is given along with his strong rebuke to his "colleagues in discernment ministry" -- the very critics who are trying to warn the flock, in love.
These critics are NOT reaping an undisclosed profit by cloaking a private enterprise that sells training materials with no board of directors save husband and wife under the guise of a “ministry” truly international in scope and influence. Yet, they have been called liars, and "triggered, polarized and antagonistic" by Theophostic supporters. These critics have also been recipients of "angry and bitter attacks." While Smith pays fawning heed to Miller's investigation, his supporters come after critics like attack dogs, following in the footsteps of their leader, making it impossible to focus on the intellectual exchange of ideas. Miller has experienced the licking of this fawning dog, but not its bite.
Here's an example from Smith's Basic Seminar Manual of how Smith responded to one pastor who questioned Smith's theology.
In a passage on page 99, Smith tells the story of being the presenter at a conference to a local [Campbellsville?] congregation. The evening prior to the conference, Smith and his wife went to dinner with the pastor and his family. Smith says: "During the meal, the pastor and I dialogued about this new method of ministry (Theophostic Prayer Ministry) I was using. He had a problem believing that past experiences could have that much bearing on a person's present life. He believed that when he came to Christ, the cross took care of all of his past. He thought a person's past should no longer have power over his life. He quoted ... (Phil 3:13). He claimed that he was walking in victory by faith and had no need to look backward."
Smith then proceeds to psychoanalyze this pastor and describes the "defense he had erected to keep from acknowledging his painful past."
Look at Smith's tactical response concerning this critic:
"His wife later confided in me and described a man who was emotionally distant, often angered by insignificant issues, compulsive in maintaining control and continually in conflict with church members. It seemed that his past was not so far removed after all."
Note how Smith wormed his way into this couple's marriage and gained the woman's confidence to the point where she slandered her own husband behind his back. It's interesting, isn't it, how Smith responded to this pastor's apologetic discernment. This is the "fruit" of Theophostic, and the kind of tactic that makes critics feel like they were just bitten by a snake.
This same story appears on page 82 of Smith's previous manual, Beyond Tolerable Recovery, but the part about the wife confiding in Smith about her husband's failings is missing. Instead, Smith says: "It turned out, we later discovered, this pastor had a difficult childhood which was causing him trouble in his family and present ministry." In the new manual, we get a fuller picture of this same story. Smith's admission that the wife confided in him, not we (Smith and his wife), is very revealing. Did Smith and his wife work as a team to pit this married couple against each other in order to discredit this pastor's testimony to the power of the Cross of Christ? That's my theory, based on the two versions of this story.
Another example of Smith's “fruit” is his rage. I can attest to Smith's kitchen-sink style of fighting. Smith admits on page 6 of his Basic Seminar Manual, that in the last year (mid 2004-2005) "some of the deepest and most painful places of my renewal journey" came "after eight years of receiving ministry." He says, "The greatest example has been in my suppressed anger. I once prided myself in my spiritual ability to not express anger. The truth was that I was filled with rage..." Now, that is the truth! However, as someone who's been the target of his fiery blasts of hot air and lies, I wouldn't call it suppressed. If Smith has been suppressing anger, you could have fooled me. He has expressed it quite freely to his critics. Smith's temper is all the more proof that this "perfect peace of Christ," he claims to have is a fake peace. After eight years of receiving ministry, this man admits he is still filled with rage.
Miller says one of the constraints, or tests, that Smith uses to determine the validity of Theophostic ministry is the fruit produced in the person's life following TPM. Miller defines Smith views in footnote 36: “Fruit include the following changes in the recipient: experiencing perfect peace in the area where there was once pain and conflict; having a sense of compassion rather than any former bitterness, anger, or desire for retaliation toward the perpetrators; and undergoing a permanent transformation in the area of her mind that received ministry, so that nothing triggers the old reactions anymore.” [Bold added.]
Smith is filled with rage after eight years of TPM: What a testimony against Theophostic! And, yet Miller calls Smith a man of integrity, and castigates his critics.
Miller says, "... none of them [critics] do their subject justice. Why? Ed Smith reports that no one who has critiqued TPM has initiated direct contact and dialogued with him besides CRI. No one who believes he is an erring brother in Christ leading others astray has attempted to win him over to sound doctrine. No one has gone to the source to make sure he or she understood him correctly. We did so and found him to be very approachable, reasonable, honest, open to correction, and reliable in following through with his commitments; in short, we found him to be a man of integrity." (p. 27) [My letter to Miller argues that Smith is not a man of integrity.]
Just look at what happened to that local pastor who "attempted to win him over to sound doctrine." It appears Smith convinced the man's wife to defame her husband so that Smith could disprove this pastor's testimony to the power of the Cross. Other critics may face the same luring temptation to divulge personal information, under the TPM therapist's “tell me all about it” come on.
I had one Theophostic-trained therapist call me on the phone in mid-October 2004, and try to get me to talk about my past childhood sexual abuse, my feelings, etc., all under the guise of wanting to express his disappointment that Ed Smith had made such a fool of himself in his libelous letter about me to the Campbellsville, Ky. newspaper. I believe he used this guise as bait in his attempt to draw me into a therapy session over the phone, then, later, hotly denied it. He was another man seeking to worm his way into women's homes. (2 Tim. 3:6) I warn women about these men.
In conclusion, if CRI donors' money has been mishandled and misused, and, if copyrighted material has been plagiarized and resold, these items will all perish at the end of the world anyway. As sad as it is that a ministry like CRI has been plagued by allegations of mishandling these items, they are temporary. But, mishandling the truth is another matter, altogether. Miller's endorsement of Theophostic may cause souls to be deceived, thus misleading people into squandering their heavenly treasure, and that is irreplaceable.
These critics who've endured bitter attacks know "field" Theophostic is a movement fueled by Ed Smith's "laboratory" teachings that has taken on a life and theory of its own. Thousands are being deceived. I pray, you, the reader, will not be among the victims.
@2005 Jan Fletcher. Permission is granted to reprint this document as long as attribution is given to the author. Thank you.
(One Lying Spirits reader has observed that the problem with Miller's evaluation "is that it is clinical and theoretical. It is not investigated on a practical level.")
E-mail Jan: countedworthy@mac.com
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