Why We Left a Cult: Six People Tell Their Stories

by Latayne C. Scott

Stories of Cult Members and their decisions to leave the cult.

207 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

Author of about two dozen books, most published by major publishers such as Zondervan/Harper Collins, Howard/Simon & Schuster, Moody, Word Kregel and others. Over 150,000 copies sold. Now writing, in a patron-based ministry, books published by TSU Press (Albuquerque, NM): Passion, Power, Proxy, Release; Just You, Me and God; The Heart's Door; The Parables of Jesus; Time, Talents, Things.

New books: What Will Be Made Plain: An Amish Ghost Story (TSU Press, 2019), and (with co-author Beth Robinson) Protecting Your Child From Predators: How to Recognize and Respond to Sexual Danger (Bethany, 2019.)

Award-winning fiction: A Conspiracy of Breath; historical literary fiction based on the premise that a woman wrote the biblical Epistle to the Hebrews (TSU Press, 2017.)

If you'd like to read additional reviews of my books, you can access them on my Goodreads reader page here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2...

Reviews

[Diane Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an interesting look at 'cults' from the point of view of people who have been 'saved'. I learned an amazing amount about Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) and Christian Scientists (CS). However the portions about 'witchcraft' and the New Age are wide-ranging and confusing at best; leaving me to wonder about the veracity of the JW and CS information. There was only one person from a New Age perspective (I believe this is the person defined as a witch) - a nominal Catholic who used a variety of drugs and alcohol, who learned astronomy, hypnosis, Eastern mysticism and other New Age techniques. Interestingly enough, immediately after becoming saved as a Christian she and two other woman in the ministry "laid hands on a building being used for the devil's work and cursed its finances". Ohhh-kay, but not something my mama's pastor would advocate. The other person defined as a witch is from a different Christian cult - The Lighted Way - which incorporates Eastern mysticism with Christianity.

The book is set up in two parts; in the first the personal testimonies and life stories of the six are shared while the second presents a series of questions in the effective nurture of ex-cultists including personal costs/compensations of becoming Christian (or, at least, this brand of Christian), as well as mistakes made by Christians in witnessing to these hopefully-soon-to-be ex-cult members.

This really was a fascinating book regarding the Christian Scientists and Jahovah's Witnesses, but fails badly on the the New Age/witchcraft portions and so brings all the 'cultic' information in doubt. All in all, this book presents an interesting view of what this particular sect of Christianity (Southern Baptists?) believes to be cults.