Psychopaths in the Church
St. Paul instructions to Timothy (a bishop) on how to care for his flock:
2 Timothy 3:1–9
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.
Having the form of godliness, but denying the power
The first thing I think of is a Pharisee. Having the form of a Christian while denying the power of Christ. Somebody who pretends to be a Christian. This description fits both a Pharisee and a KGB infiltrator. It also fits a psychopath (malignant narcissist) — psychopaths fool everyone and possibly they even fool themselves. These people are really unbelievers, believing only in themselves. Our Church tells us that Antichrist, after taking control of the whole world, will come to believe himself to be Christ, the 2nd Coming. This is when he will insist on being worshipped. This will be the second phase of Antichrist's reign. See book Ray of Light, Jordanville.
In the meantime, today, in our rapidly advancing pre-apocalyptic times, the demons are getting all excited. They are practicing for their grand finale. Mini-antichrists (malignant narcissists) are popping up everywhere these days, including in the churches, including the Orthodox Church. Some are not so hard to spot. But most, being well practiced, go undetected. It is easier for psychopaths to hide among Christians — Christians are usually easier to control.
One example of a II Timothy 3:5 person living in the Church today that I know: She was baptized as a young adult in 1980. Prior to her baptism, she had developed a serious habit of lying. Instead of allowing the grace of the Sacraments to heal her from lying, for 55 years, instead of seeking salvation, she used her learning and her position in the Church-setting to perfect her Art of Lying.
Whether the pretender is a Pharisee, a KGB agent, or a psychopath — either way, our priests (and we) are instructed, "...from such, turn away." We are not told to try to help them, or to go along with their pretense, or even to pray for them. Although, I'm sure careful private prayer with adding, "They will be done" would be acceptable. We are told to have nothing to do with them.
This concept, of having nothing to do with somebody who assumes the form of a Christian... I've seen where this idea has been applied in a broader sense to not just a person having the form only, but also to a whole group having the form only. Examples would be the cult-churches like Jehovah's Witnesses and those speakin'-in-tongues churches, (those are called "Charismatics"). Fr. Seraphim Rose wrote about them in his book Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future.
Be alert that Orthodox parishes, especially when isolated, are the perfect sub-structures in which a cult can develop.
I've seen 3 such parishes in the ROCOR before the 2007 ROCOR-MP union. One that went with the ROCOR-MP union was St. Silouan's in Walla-Walla, Washington. I only spent one weekend there, but cult was written all over it. None of the parishioners drink coffee because the priest does not drink coffee. Nobody thought to provide Sunday morning coffee to their many guests from all over who came to help them celebrate their feast day and to welcome them into the ROCOR. There were other indications of cultishness, but nothing seemed seriously harmful — just quirky.
Another cultish-parish, St. Innocent's in Rogue River, Oregon, 2002. After corresponding with the priest, my son-in-law, with his new bride and new baby, moved to Oregon intending to join that parish. Soon after they started visiting the parish, I had a lengthy phone conversation with the priest. After that phone call ended, I remember thinking, "boy, am I glad he's not my priest!" But the kids seemed happy, so I said nothing. But after about a month, one-by-one, the incidents started happening. My son-in-law started telling me things. Seemed like every Sunday he had another bad thing to report. Finally, and I'm being very careful how I say this... my son-in-law told me about the priest revealing confessions during the mandatory hour-long sermons. He would give 3 sermons each Sunday. One during the liturgy, another one after the liturgy, and again one at trapeza. None of the sermons were limited in time, and if you had to use the bathroom, you were out of luck. A particular sermon revealed a particular confession that was way too disturbing:
"... ... ... ... and I'm getting tired of you younger single men complaining about being lonely. Are you sure it's loneliness? — or is it maybe something else? something sexual? ... ... ... ..."
According to my son-in-law's telling of this incident, when the priest said that, then everyone looked around the room at each other with a face-expression of:
WHO confessed THAT! •
Up until then, I was only uncomfortable with my kids being in that parish. But now, hearing this, I was beyond uncomfortable. I was horrified. I told my son-in-law not to go back there. They ended up in the nearby OCA parish.
I found that this is exactly what happened in the 3rd cult-parish, (again before the ROCOR-MP union,) where members who did not conform were chased away, and they ended up in world orthodoxy or sometimes left Orthodoxy altogether. One case where a member left Orthodoxy altogether is that of Michelle Stewart. She writes about it in her book: Judas Girl © 2025
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I want my readers to notice what happens at this point in the story. The first thought the parishioners had was that they were the cause of this thing happening.. Which one of us brought this most embarrassing lecture upon our group? Nobody threw a tomato at the priest. They all just blamed themselves. And this attitude, my friends, is exactly the attitude of cult victims. Psychopaths themselves blame their victims — it is one of their favorite games. On their stage, THEY are the only ones who are allowed to play the part of the victim...
Diagnosed psychopath Tom Sells, executed some years back for serial rape/murder, once in an interview, speaking about a certain victim, he said, "I had to kill her. She would not stop screaming."
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I invite Orthodox victims to email me: joannahigginbotham@runbox.com
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