AJ the Irish Lass' Ramblings

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Spiritual abuse is something that exists in so many settings, yet many people aren’t aware of it or minimize its significance. Fortunately, Remy Diederich offers a fresh yet informative perspective that I think effectively blows a lot of misconceptions straight out of the water.

Even with all the useful information contained in its pages, this book is easily read in a few sittings. Its division into five parts covers defining toxic faith and spiritual abuse, practical steps for dealing with spiritual abuse, recovery, steps to take after leaving, and how to rescue your faith community from spiritual abuse.

In addition to Remy’s personal story involving spiritual abuse, he also shares input from other spiritual abuse survivors that helps shed light on the various ways spiritual abuse rears its ugly head. Though they are relatively brief snippets into the lives of these people in a spiritual abuse setting, they help demonstrate the destruction that toxic faith causes.

Through clear examples from Scripture and the words of spiritual abuse experts like Thom Ranier and Dr. Ron Enroth, we gain a clearer perspective on how spiritual abuse becomes an issue. I think that Remy’s citing of past pastoral experience helps bring a very real sense of authority to his writing – he has seen enough of the effects of spiritual abuse to spot it and call it out.

Other especially useful parts of this book include FAQs on issues not specifically dealt with in the chapters that are worthy of mention and resources for further reading/study on spiritual abuse. If you’re looking for a relatively quick read on spiritual abuse and recovery from said abuse, you won’t go wrong with this book.