Robert Passantino (11 August 1951 – 17 November 2003), was an American author and journalist who wrote on subjects related to

Christian apologetics Christian apologetics (, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Pa ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, and the

Christian countercult movement The Christian countercult movement or the Christian anti-cult movement is a social movement among certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist and other Christian ministries ("discernment ministries") and individual activists who oppose re ...

Career

Passantino lived and worked for most of his adult life in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

, and received instruction in Christian teaching and practiced as a professing member of the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. He emerged as an

apologist Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their fa ...

for faith in

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christianity during the 1970s. He and his soon-to-be wife, Gretchen, had already begun to collaborate in a ministry of Christian

evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

toward adherents of the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

when they became acquainted with the

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

pastor and

countercult The anti-cult movement, abbreviated ACM and also known as the countercult movement, consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of religious groups that they consider to be ...

writer Walter Martin. Martin was the founder of the apologetics ministry

Christian Research Institute The Christian Research Institute (CRI) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian apologetics ministry. It was established in October 1960 in the state of New Jersey by Walter Ralston Martin, Walter Martin (1928–1989). In 1974, M ...

. In 1974 Martin relocated the Institute from New Jersey to Southern California where he re-established his ministry in association with the Melodyland School of Theology. Martin officiated as the minister at the marriage ceremony of the Passantinos. The Passantinos assisted Martin in the ministry of the Christian Research Institute for approximately five years from 1974 to 1979. In that context Martin privately taught them the rudiments of the discipline of apologetics and of investigative reporting in countercult ministry. During the 1970s and 1980s Gretchen served as an editorial assistant in preparing revised editions of some of Martin's books such as ''The Rise of the Cults'', ''

The Kingdom of the Cults ''The Kingdom of the Cults'', first published in 1965, is a reference book of the Christian countercult movement in the United States, written by Baptist minister and counter-cultist Walter Ralston Martin.Michael J. McManus, "Eulogy for the god ...

'' and ''The Maze of Mormonism''. As a couple, the Passantinos began to develop their profile as speakers in evangelical churches delivering presentations about

cults Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

and general apologetics questions concerning the

existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

and the

historicity of the Bible The historicity of the Bible is the question of the Bible's relationship to history—covering not just the Bible's acceptability as history but also the ability to understand the literary forms of biblical narrative. Questions on biblical histor ...

. Together they then branched out from working at Christian Research Institute and began to operate their own apologetics and countercult ministry known as Christian Apologetics: Research and Information Service (CARIS). This ministry subsequently was renamed as Answers In Action. They founded Answers In Action with the intent to help both Christians and non-Christians apply logic and reason to religious inquiry and to assist in answering questions about apologetics, religion, philosophy, evangelism, and theology. Robert's approach to religion was to "represent their belief system as accurately as you would have them represent yours." Some of their initial writing appeared as researched chapters in Martin's book ''The New Cults''. Their first co-written book ''Answers to the Cultist at Your Door'' was designed as a popular apologetics handbook for Christians. The book consisted of brief chapters about the phenomenon of cults followed by specific chapters containing evangelical apologetic responses to the doctrines taught by the

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna may refer to: * International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a group commonly known as "Hare Krishnas" or the "Hare Krishna movement" * Hare Krishna (mantra), a sixteen-word Vaishnava mantra also known as the "Maha Mantra" (Great ...

, and the Way International. Passantino contributed an essay on Jehovah's Witnesses in

Ronald Enroth Ronald M. Enroth (October 28, 1938 – February 3, 2023) was an American professor of sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, and an evangelical Christian author of books concerning what he defined as "cults" and " new religi ...

's book ''Evangelising the Cults''. This essay centered a basic Evangelical apologetic argument that challenged the stance taken by Jehovah's Witnesses on three doctrines: the Trinity, Christ, and Salvation. He also contributed a lengthy essay that explored the theory, techniques, and application of religious research to the Evangelical Ministries to New Religions' symposium volume ''Contend for the Faith'' that was published in 1992. During the 1990s the Passantinos emerged as critical evangelical voices on a number of questions connected to

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

understandings about the subject of

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

and the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

. One of their early exposés, first published in ''Cornerstone'' magazine, concerned Lauren Stratford's fraudulent claims of

Satanic ritual abuse The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in North America in the 19 ...

. They were highly skeptical about claims concerning Satanic ritual abuse and they argued that the basis of these claims could be explained as a combination of

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...

. In both published essays and books they called into question what they regarded as misconceptions commonly held by Christians about the beliefs and practices of Satanist groups. This included their alarm at how Satanists were often accused in Christian literature or in popular media as being perpetrators of

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

. Passantino's commitment to a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

concept of

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

led to critical evaluations of theological, philosophical, and socio-psychological forms of

determinism Determinism is the Metaphysics, metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes ov ...

. Against a wide current of Christian and non-Christian opinion, the Passantinos published a controversial article in ''Cornerstone'' magazine in 1994, titled "Overcoming The Bondage Of Victimization: A Critical Evaluation of Cult Mind Control Theories", in which they criticized the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of "

brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...

" and "

exit counseling Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that seeks to dissuade someone from "strongly held convictions" such as religious beliefs. Deprogramming purports to assist a person who holds a particular belief system—of a kind considered harmful by thos ...

" models. The article was reprinted in a later edition of Martin's ''The Kingdom of the Cults'', but has since been removed due to allegations that it did not represent Martin's own views. The Passantinos were highly influential on other apologists as evidenced by the acknowledgements made by other apologists who refer to them concerning their input and research. This was particularly so because it was new and no one had really addressed the subject prior to the 1970s.

Death and legacy

Robert Passantino died on November 17, 2003, age 52, due to

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. He is buried at Westminster Memorial in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

. His wife, Gretchen, died from

cardiac dysrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

as a result of undiagnosed

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

on October 2, 2014, age 61, at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach. In October 2007,

Norman Geisler Norman Leo Geisler (July 21, 1932 – July 1, 2019) was an American Christian systematic theologian, philosopher, and apologist. He was the co-founder of two non-denominational evangelical seminaries ( Veritas International University an ...

and Chad Meister published a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in honor of the Passantinos, entitled ''Reasons for Faith: Making a Case for the Christian Faith''.

Bibliography

Books

* Robert Passantino, Gretchen Passantino, ''Answers to the Cultist at Your Door'', Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 1981. * Bob Passantino & Gretchen Passantino, ''Witch Hunt'', Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1990. * Bob Passantino & Gretchen Passantino, When the Devil Dares Your Kids: Protecting Your Children from Satanism, Witchcraft, and the Occult Ann Arbor: Servant Publications/Guildford, Surrey: Eagle, 1991. * Bob Passantino & Gretchen Passantino, ''L'ombra di Satana : come difendere i figli dall'occultismo e dalle pratiche demoniache'', Messaggero, Padua, IT, 1994. (in Italian) * Bob Passantino & Gretchen Passantino, ''

'' Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passantino 1951 births 2003 deaths American Christian writers American occult writers Critics of the Unification Church People of the Christian countercult movement

Career

Death and legacy

Bibliography

Books

Further reading

See also

References