Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities

by Len Oakes, Sarah Hamilton-Byrne (Foreword)

New religious movements—or so-called “cults”—continue to attract and mystify us. While mainstream America views cults as an insidious mix of apocalyptic beliefs, science fiction, and paranoia, with new vehicles such as the World Wide Web, they are becoming even more influential as the millennium approaches. Len Oakes—a former member of such a movement—explores the phenomenon of cult leaders. He examines the psychology of charisma and proposes his own theory of the five-stage life cycle of the two types of the messianic and the charismatic.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Psychology

262 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oakes accomplished for prophetic charisma what Lévi-Strauss accomplished for anthropology. He revealed an underlying structure of purported prophets. Oakes studied two dozen prophets by interviewing them, their followers, and analyzing their childhood. The traits and behaviors described therein are remarkably consistent from Indian gurus to American mystics. Oakes makes prophetic decisions seem rather predictable. He charts the evolution of cults and their prophets with very specific markers. Not all of Oakes descriptions dovetail exactly with all prophetic experience, no study can do that. But, he has presented enough information for us to see psychological patterns and structure in the behaviors of prophets. Oakes best achievement in this book was to outline the psychological progression of a prophet.

One small example of how Oakes’ study describes prophetic charisma: Oakes found that among prophets, each described a singular moment, an “a ha!” moment, a definite moment of calling. For some, it was a vision, for others it was a transcendental moment. But upon further investigation, Oakes found that their path to prophet was gradual and their transcendental retellings were born of charismatic necessity, rather than of historical fact. Often, these experiences were used to check challenges to prophetic authority. Surely, in the life of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, it is apparent to historians that his calling was gradual. The disparate accounts of the First Vision and early attempts at treasure seeking clearly show this progression. Further, his accounts of visions and priesthood delegation coincide with challenges to his authority during the Kirkland and Nauvoo periods.

Personally, I have only studied the life of one prophet, Joseph Smith (I was disappointed that Oakes paid only cursory attention to Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, or L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology). I saw him as a singular creation of nature. I was hard-pressed to explain his manner or motivations. Even after reading numerous books on his life, I was left unsatisfied. But any of my previous questions of singularity or motivation are now satisfied. Joseph Smith famously declared, “No man knows my history,” and that may or may not be true, but now we can all know his profile.

[Eva Stachniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it riveting. The psychological underpinning of charismatic leaders and their followers fascinates me and Len Oakes, himself a former cult follower, is one of the best guides into it. Rich, thoughtful, immensely gripping, if you like psychology, that is!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A former cult member, Len Oakes, leaves his cult and gets his Phd in Psychology. The group he left allows him to return and study them, and Dr. Oakes goes onto study the psychology of many charismatic leaders who form new religious movements.

I read this while I was reading a book on Stalin, and doing research into L. Ron Hubbard. Absolutely informative, and compelling reading.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Len Oakes conducts a very humanistic inquiry into the personality and psychological profile of the charismatic prophet. The book is rigorous and well researched but very engaging and readable. Oakes relies on case studies of cults and religious movements as well as a robust selection of secondary sources. In my opinion, a seminal work on the revolutionary religious personality.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I'm going to let this one sit for awhile before giving it a full review, but this was my first book on prophetic leaders as a genre and it was a very, very interesting read.