Harold Bussell

Harold L. Busséll is a pastor, author, and contributor to the Cultic Studies Journal. He has a B.A. from Bethany College in Biblical Studies, M.A. in Psychology from Santa Clara University and a Doctorate of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological Seminary. Between 1968 and 1970 he served with Teen Challenge Paris, a Christian outrach program that works with drug addicts in Paris, France. His book Unholy Devotion - Why Cults Lure Christians, (later renamed, By Hook or by Crook : How Cults Lure Christians) talks about his experiences while in Europe. Bussell has written, "my wife and I were involved with an Evangelical youth mission based in Switzerland. We were with the group only six weeks, but it was almost seven years before I had overcome the psychological damage caused by their cult-like control and spiritualization....Questioning a leader was considered an act of rebellion against God and His chain of command." Bussell went on to become a pastor in Saratoga, California. He also served as one of the Deans at Gordon College. Serving as Senior Pastor from 1984 to 1996 at the First Congregational Church in Hamilton, Massachusetts, a mainline church affiliated with the United Church of Christ. Since April, 1996 he has held the Senior Pastor at El Montecito Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara, California. The New York Times recognizes Bussell as an author who has written books about mind control and religious groups. Christianity Today noted Bussell as a pastor who has "experienced spiritual warfare." Paul R. Martin has noted Bussell's opinion on recovery from what they refer to as cults, that "a clear understanding of the gospel is the single most important issue in a cultist's recovery and future immunity from further cultic involvement."

Books

 * Later published as:
 * Later published as:





Articles

 * "Why Evangelicals are Vulnerable to Cults" Cultic Studies Journal Vol. 2, Num. 2
 * "Checks on Power and Authority in the New Testament" Cultic Studies Journal Vol. 3, No. 2, September 2004