How the ICOC uses the bible to manipulate, abuse, and traumatize you [Scriptural abuse]
I was a member of the International Church of Christ [ICOC] for almost 12 years. It was a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs: verbal abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, manipulation, mental breakdowns, narcissistic abuse, gaslighting, pressure, rejection, and VERY conditional love and acceptance.
All of the above-mentioned abuses have at least one thing in common: they were inflicted using the bible.
The ICOC doesn't use the word "bible". They say the "Word of God" or "God's Word". As we will see, this word choice is significant in the abuse.
One thing being in a cult like the ICOC is the power of language. Language or vocabulary used in cults are loaded weapons....
The bible is the ICOC's ultimate weapon of choice.
The ICOC is a Christian fundamentalist church cult. Christian fundamentalists use the bible literally. The bible is a historical book to fundamentalists. The bible is magic to them. It is, according to them, literally written by/inspired by God himself. They believe in the basic tenets of Christian principles, the first being that the bible is the "infallible" word of God.
So it makes sense why the ICOC uses the bible as a weapon.
In the ICOC's 'Word study', they lay the foundation for accepting everything they say as "truth". Once we agree to the bible being "God's word" and "infallible", they can then throw any scripture at us and we will capitulate to whatever they tell us the scripture means.
The ICOC would never call itself fundamentalist. But in practice, they are very much so. I remember constantly hearing them say, "The bible is the standard". One leader said, "if the bible says it, I believe it. God never lies."
See, the bible is the 'authority'. The ICOC acts like the bible is 100% objective and completely neutral. Their arrogance blinds them from any possibility of interpretation. In fact, they think there IS no interpretation of scripture. Whatever the church leaders interpret the bible verses to mean, is the "truth" according to them.
So, the result is that the ICOC's interpretation of the bible is perceived as 'objective truth'. Even worse still, this so-called 'objective truth' is, according to them, directly from God. In their fundamentalist view, all scripture is "God breathed" and should be taken literally.
There are exceptions to this, of course. They don't believe, for example, that when Jesus said it is better to "gouge out" one's eyes [or pluck one's eyes out] before allowing their eyes to fall into sin, the ICOC doesn't teach that we should literally gouge our eyes out. They say, "duh! It doesn't mean stab yourself in the eye, it just means being "radical" about rejecting/avoiding sin". Just like most Christian sects, there is an ongoing cognitive dissonance between what they profess and what they actually practice.
For the ICOC, they see the bible as a loaded gun that God or Jesus has handed them to use at will. ICOC members feel they are the "only true church" and that they are the only humans alive who God has certified to represent and interpret his "word" to the world.
ICOC logic goes like this: God's word = infallible = God's law = God's kingdom = ICOC church.
If you believe in one, you have to believe in them all.
So, to believe in the infallibility of the bible is to believe in the infallibility of the ICOC ("God's kingdom").
See how that works?
That's how you get indoctrinated. Subscribing to a familiar belief that the bible is from God is the Trojan horse that lets in the other extreme ideas, such as the ICOC being the "only true church".
The bible can be used to comfort and also to traumatize.
The bible can be used to build up and it can be used to tear down.
It's the same book.
I believe the bible is merely a mirror: it reflects what we already are on the inside. A pedophile will see permission to abuse children in the same bible as another sees slavery as a righteous act.
Still the same book.
The only difference is the person reading it.
The bible is only a mirror that reflects what we already are on the inside.
Not only that, but your personal lens and worldview and culture determine how you use the bible. Think about how different the cultural norms were during bible times compared to the world we live in today.
For example, women were considered property in bible times. Remember this scripture?:
This is not today's culture in America and most places on earth.
[This is also misogyny but that is for another discussion].
My point here is that there is no way the bible is objective when you have culturally-biased content like this. Ever since this was published and printed for mass consumption, male church leaders have been using this to justify not allowing women to teach or hold leadership positions or to even have a voice.
This may be hard for some of you to hear, but the bible is biased--- culturally biased, ethically biased, gender biased, etc. Treating the bible like a sacred text is problematic without also understanding that it is not only biased, but its words have been translated from Latin, Greek all the way to King James' English to modern-day English.
Think about it. The bible has many versions. Things get lost in translation. Governing councils (Look up the Council of Nicea) decided which books would be included in the bible and which did not make the editor's cut. That sounds more like the politics of men in power than God breathing the words into existence.
Remember this scripture?:
The ICOC tells us that the bible is ""God-breathed" because, well, that's what it says about itself!
Wow.
That's like the fox being asked to guard the hen house. Or better yet, imagine I tell you that you can trust me....why?....because I said you can trust me.
The bible never has to prove itself to be trustworthy. Look, I appreciate the bible for certain things. There is some timeless wisdom in there, despite the many translations and it's inherent bias, among other flaws.
Christianity won't allow us to just chew the meat of the bible and spit out the bones. We have to swallow it whole as objective truth that is 100% infallible. Why?
Why can't we just use it as a reference when it seems appropriate? Do we HAVE to believe that Jonah was LITERALLY swallowed by a fish/whale and lived in there for 3 days?
Is that faith or cognitive dissonance?
The ICOC wants us to put our faith in the bible moreso than God. Really, they want your faith in the ICOC doctrine, including their interpretation of the bible. Or as they emphasize, "God's word" or the "truth".
You can tell a lot about a church by how they interpret the bible. One church views Jesus as a messenger of love and another church views Jesus as a deliverer of punishment.
It's the same book.
The ICOC views the bible as not only a weapon against people to control, manipulate and shame them into submission but as a law book, a rule book, a "life manual" on how to get into heaven when you die.
The ICOC views God as a harsh, demanding, narcissistic authority figure who is never satisfied. The "ICOC God" is the godfather, the mob boss. You must bow and kiss his ring. Salvation is not based on love and redemption, it is based on a pardon the "GODfather" grants you once you've degraded yourself enough and pledged to obey him for eternity.... to be "used" for his "glory".
This ICOC narrative is what drives their use of the bible. Abusers use the bible to abuse. Your discipling partner's word becomes God's word. Think about the way ICOC members have to get advice for everything. You can't even wipe your behind without seeking approval from your "DP" [discipleship partner]. All they do is give their opinion backed up by a bible verse that supports their viewpoint.
Most ICOC converts lack in-depth knowledge of the bible. If you listen to ICOC sermons or bible talk discussions or devotional meeting sermons, you will notice how flat and basic it is. ICOC sermons at the end of the day are just pep rally talks to juice up the members to recruit new members.
Meanwhile, they put the bible on a pedestal. Most Christian sects do this. They turn the bible into a deity.
The bible is just a book.
That is what the word "bible" means. "Book". [Look it up].
When religion turns it into the perfect, inerrant, flawless, "holy bible", holy scripture, and "the word of God", it turns this book into a weapon.
You don't have to obey a book. You DO feel the need to obey "God's word". And a cult that teaches the bible will use your perceived authority in the bible to disempower you and subjugate you.
ICOC members, as earlier stated, have little bible knowledge. They throw scriptures at people without context. If you have ever been the subject of one of the ICOC breaking sessions, you may have noticed that they hand pick bible verses to suit their agenda.
For example, if they want to "disciple" you about something...let's say, you're single and live alone and they want you to move in with other disciples [ICOC members] then they will use bible scriptures to enforce their opinion. I have sat in sessions like this where the women's leader is flipping open the bible to scriptures like Matthew 6:33, using the concept of "seeking the kingdom first" to persuade a single member to give up their apartment lease and move into a "kingdom household". If that doesn't work, she'll say to turn to another scripture, which might be 1 Peter 5:8
The leader will use this verse -and others like it- to instill fear in the person of living alone. The devil will devour them without the 'protection' of the group.
Notice, though, how this scripture was not written about single Christians being in danger living alone. No bible verse says that Christians must cohabitate with other Christians.
But scriptures are weaponized to manipulate your thoughts and behavior.
The ICOC does this often with things that there is no bible verse for, such as dating. They will use 2 Corinthians 6:14
This verse was not about "dating". Modern day dating practices did not exist back then when this was supposedly written. But it is the cornerstone, go-to verse for convincing members that they should only date other ICOC members.
The ICOC uses the bible as a "thought control" mechanism. Any time someone has a difference of opinion or an objection to the church, a church leader, or a cultural practice in the church, they get beat over the head with bible verses.
Scriptures are used as a thought-stopping technique. If you're angry, they grab you and flip their bible open and read:
Scriptures [like the one above] are used to SHUT DOWN your emotions or dissenting thoughts the church does not approve of. You are not allowed to be human and have a healthy range of emotions, i.e. anger. It is there to evoke shame in us in order to change our emotions or behavior.
The ICOC lacks empathy, listening skills, and compassion, so they hide behind the bible and shame/demonize emotions, dismissing feelings and intuitive prompting as "deceitful". The bible is the standard because as I was told, it never changes while our emotions constantly change, hence why we cannot trust our emotions. Or ourselves.
This explains why many of us get triggered when we hear bible verses after leaving the ICOC. We have Post traumatic stress from memories associated with the bible. The people using the bible as a weapon against us were often cruel, heartless, emotionally unavailable, lacked emotional intelligence, and were hypocritical. They claimed to be the only ones who were saved because they were the only church that truly obeyed the scriptures.
The more people claim to follow the bible, the more corrupt their character seems to be. Or is it just me?
Educate yourself on this topic. Explore it with a trusted mental health provider or friend. And, most of all, understand that the bible can be -and is- used according to interpretation. The power lies in the hands of the authority figure who determines what the bible verses mean.
My take is that the bible is what it means: a book. It is not magical. It is not perfect. It is not inerrant or infallible. The bible has flaws. I don't subscribe to the mythical ethos that the bible is the "word of God" that God mystically breathed into existence. It is like believing Santa Claus really left Christmas gifts under your tree while you were sleeping.
To be clear, this isn't knocking anyone's beliefs in the bible. Beleive what empowers you. I just don't see how the bible being a magical book empowers anyone. Why can't we just, as I mentioned already, take the bible as an allegorical book with some flaws AND some ancient wisdom in it that we can apply to our lives? Do you have to believe it is holy and infallible to be a Christian? Again, is your belief in the bible or in God?
After leaving the ICOC, and then leaving religion and church altogether, I took my time deconstructing my beliefs. I studied the history of the bible and how it came about. I put aside my emotions and previous indoctrination in my quest to understand my christian beliefs. The bible, I realized, was the core of the christian belief system.
The bible is the doctrine of the christian religion. The religion is based on the bible's teachings. In order to believe, for example, the existence and resurrection of Jesus, one must believe that the bible is sacred. The bible is thus viewed as the "word of God", literally.
This, I began to understand, is the root of many of the issues I experienced in the ICOC cult and in other churches I became involved with, including the Church I grew up in and the Catholic schools I attended.
What I had to understand is that the ICOC uses your belief in the bible against you.
If you don't believe the bible is infallible, then the weapon loses its power.
If you don't believe the ICOC is "God's kingdom" then their interpretation of the bible has no control over you.
OR
You come to your own interpretation of the bible and no longer allow other people's interpretations of the bible to influence you.
Until that day comes, you will be subjected to scriptural abuse.
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