Hinton, J. (2001) The Devil Inside: How My Minister Father Molested Kids In Our Home And Church For Decades And How I Finally Stopped Him. Freiling Publishing.
Kindle edition purchased here: https://amzn.asia/d/3vHeB1V – Purchase price $10.99 AUD as of February 2025.
Trigger warning: sexual abuse survivors are advised to approach this book with caution, various sections may be triggering.
It’s strange to me when church leaders’ theology is “grace for all,” except for victims who were raped as children and have the guts to speak up about it. Many survivors have told me that they, not their abusers, were removed from church because they were “causing problems” by speaking up about their abuse and were crying out for help. Hinton, J. (2001) The Devil Inside
Our family’s experience with child sexual abuse within the “Truth” drove me to research the dynamics of abuse, the impact of abuse, reasons why perpetrators may abuse, and how other churches dealt with it amongst their congregation.
Jimmy Hinton writes a blog and interviews on numerous podcasts about his experiences as a minister in the aftermath of his father, the previous minister of his church, being reported as a child sex offender. Jimmy has spent a lot of time interviewing experts in the field and sex offenders themselves in order to educate people about how they can reduce the opportunities offenders have to abuse, especially in church. He does this through trying to understand HOW offenders do what they do, and so often get away with it undetected.
This book by Jimmy Hinton was on my list of books that I wanted to read for a long time. I finally purchased and read it last year while watching the “Truth” attempt to process the fallout from late overseer Dean Bruer being exposed as an alleged sex offender. It was a fascinating read for me – Jimmy describes the impact of the allegations on his family and church, the change in relationship with his father as a result, and the work he did in the church to support victims and reduce the risk of further offending.
The book covers Jimmy’s upbringing and journey to ministry (Chapters 1-3), the events around the allegations of his father’s offending and reporting (Chapters 4-6), the impact on his family (Chapters 7-8), impact on spirituality (Chapter 9: Where were you, God?), and his findings from interviewing his father and working with churches (Chapters 10-13), ending with a discussion of relevant theology and a message of hope (Chapters 14 and 15).
As I read, I couldn’t help but think this book needs to be read by everyone – parents, church members, victims, friends/family of alleged/convicted offenders – most especially by EVERYONE in a church that is rocked by an abuse crisis. Many people will find this book interesting:
- People wishing to understand how they can help prevent offenders from abusing children in their community will find this book very informative.
- People who feel misunderstood in their advocacy for survivors of abuse in their own family and church circles will read about other’s experiences and feel less alone.
- Survivors will see that there is a church leader in existence who understands the need to deal with perpetrators of abuse rather than dismissing victim concerns.
- Church leaders will read about how a minister reported his own father, the previous leader of his church and his childhood hero, and then helped his church through the major crisis that followed, supporting victims and their families, including his own, and hopefully be inspired by it.
- Christians suffering a spiritual crisis due to exposure of abuse close to them will be comforted by the fact that other Christians have trodden this path.
- Anyone struggling to believe a zero tolerance policy for abusers is possible will find hope, as Jimmy put in place exactly this in his church.
JImmy also writes a blog that contains some of the same material, which is well worth reading (https://jimmyhinton.org/). Jimmy Hinton addresses the denial aspect of CSA here:
While Jimmy’s blog is great, the book is worth a read in its own right, in my opinion. It helps with understanding the personal impact of the allegations and the cost of doing the right thing to him personally and his family and church – and the potential cost of NOT doing the right thing. The book is affordable and easy to read on a Kindle App on your smartphone even if sourcing the paperback is difficult.
Limitations of this book from my perspective included inadequate discussion of legal issues around alleged versus convicted offenders and church attendance (which will be country/state dependent) and juvenile offenders. However, these are things that churches need to work out as part of their policies around abuse, the need for which is discussed in the book. Local laws need to be taken into account in these policies by each church.
Overall, this book is a must-read for all ministry and elders who are expected to show leadership and support impacted people through abuse situations i.e. every single current worker.
Jimmy is a light shining in the dark, with his absolute certainty that reporting abuse and supporting victims is the right thing to do.
I’ll end with this quote from the book:
Being a church leader, an advocate, and a reporter of my father’s abuse, as well as having victims in my congregation, puts me in a unique position. I know that it’s possible to believe victims and to do everything in your power to protect them from their abuser at the same time. It’s possible to clearly communicate to an abuser that he is not welcome to come anywhere near your church building or your church family. It’s possible to cooperate with investigators and help them get a conviction so that victims can be safe. It’s possible to be completely transparent with your congregation and identify the abuser by name, warning your congregation not to allow their children anywhere near the said abuser. It’s possible to learn from our mistakes, to better educate ourselves, and to create better policies and practices to keep children safe. And it’s possible for a congregation to heal from the aftermath of abuse. I know these things, because I lived them. Jimmy Hinton (2001). The Devil Inside
Similar books I have read and found helpful that are relevant to sexual abuse and the church:
Salter, A. (2004) Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, And Other Sex Offenders. Basic Books.
DeMuth, M. (2019) We Too: How the Church Can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis. Harvest House Publishers. https://www.amazon.com.au/We-Too-Church-Respond-Redemptively/dp/0736979182
WINGS for Truth 