This is the second post in a series which will highlight the insights found in the book by Len Oakes while comparing his observations and conclusions to my personal experience inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). This work by Len Oakes titled, “Prophetic Charisma” – The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities (copyright ©1997 by Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, ISBN 0-8156-2700-9) has captured my attention. While I hope to find answers to certain questions which have been generated over the last three or more years, I also am excited about the additional inspiration which I anticipate from studying this material.

   The first post served as an introduction to Dr. Len Oakes, to the concept of “Prophetic Charisma”, the idea of a “prophet” as well as the notion that despite the many differences of those who live as a “prophet”, there are many similarities. Dr. Oakes believes that these similarities can be observed and conclusions drawn to help us not only understand the person as a “prophet”, but the followers and even society as a whole. I must admit that the prospect of learning from this book and the subsequent studies it will lead to, seem very intriguing.

   Dr. Oakes shares that his study involved three phases. “The first began in 1972 when I attended an encounter group run by a charismatic psychotherapist.” (page 3) Oakes “was twenty-four years old” at the time and he was so impressed he moved into the leaders home with a small group of other “followers”. “The relationship ended in 1975 when I moved on…Three years later this leader founded a rural commune. In 1980 I visited this community… At the time, I was enrolled to study psychology at the local university. During my visit, the leader invited me to join his group and to document its history, adding, “This will be the greatest social laboratory in the world. There is enough research to be done here to keep you busy the rest of your life”. (page 3-4) So began a ten year stay inside that group for Oakes. He married there and his children were born inside that group. He counted himself as “an inside outsider in the community.” “There were times when I defended the group passionately to outside critics, and other occasions when I flatly opposed the leader’s directives.” (page 4)

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   This work by Len Oakes titled, “Prophetic Charisma” – The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities (copyright ©1997 by Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, ISBN 0-8156-2700-9) has captured my attention. This book may be the source of several posts as we work through the research and conclusions of Dr. Oakes. The following is a short biography that would have been current as of the date of publishing. As a note, with a little research, I did find an address and telephone number for Dr. Oakes in Australia; however, they have not been verified.

“Len Oakes is a senior consultant psychologist with the Cairnmiller Institute of Melbourne, Australia, and completed his doctoral dissertation on the psychology of charisma at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is a member of the Australian Psychology Society, the New Zealand Psychological Society, and the International Society for Hypnosis and has published articles on communal studies, the psychology of religion, and the counseling issues associated with new religious movements. He is the editor of the journal Psychotherapy in Australia.”

   The foreword was written by Sarah Hamilton-Byrne. She wrote a book titled, “Unseen, Unheard, Unknown: My Life Inside the Family of Anne Hamilton-Byrne”. (link to more about the her book- http://www.leavingsiddhayoga.net/unseen.htm )   She explains the purpose and direction of Dr. Oakes’ work and applauds him for taking steps to explain some rather difficult questions. Since her explanation of the book is so precise, I will quote bits and pieces of the foreword with my comments interspersed, in order to set the direction of this series of posts. “In this unique contribution to our understanding of the social phenomenon of charismatic groups and those who lead them, Dr. Len Oakes explores the psychology of charisma and proposes his own theory of the five-stage life cycle of two types of prophets – the messianic and the charismatic – from their primitive narcissistic beginnings to their ultimately inevitable implosion or demise.” (page xi)

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