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Reprinted from Christianity Today

The Legend of John Todd

The Bewitching of the Churches

It is an embarrassment to have to write about the John Todd phenomenon (see page 38). Several Christian leaders who travel the nation nonetheless tell us that Todd is the most talked-about topic of these days. Letters continually land on editorial desks, asking in effect, "Is what John Todd is saying true?"

No, it is not. Todd was not at the pinnacle of a witches' conspiracy for global conquest as he claims to have been. He has not launched key organizations of the charismatic movement or the modern gospel music industry by signing a few checks for them from witch headquarters. He has not been to many of the places (like Duke University and Viet Nam) he says he has been.

His memory is fitful. He cannot even seem to remember his right age from one reporter to the next. Important details of the story he tells change from town to town. In 1973 he was a hero among certain charismatics. By 1978 he was well received as a supposedly converted witch by certain strongly anti-charismatic fundamentalists. Among them he tended to keep quiet about his former charismatic ties.

Todd has told many people about his conversion under Baptist auspices in San Antonio in 1972, but he has not breathed a word about how as early as 1968 he was a penniless storefront preacher in Phoenix who left trinitarian Pentecostalism for the Jesus Only brand. Instead he seems to indicate to his modern-day followers than in the sixties he was up to his amulet in witchly affairs.

Affairs? He has had many, according to the evidence. Indeed, even the legitimate witches blush: he has, they say, given the craft a black mark.

Some people call Todd an out-and-out liar. Some think he is out to make Bible-believing churches look silly--- a sort of witch's version of a practical joke. Others think he is an emissary of Satan sent to confuse and divide Christians. What we find almost incredible, and certainly depressing, is to learn of the number of Christians who have believed him. It is for this reason that we are devoting so much space to the subject.

Considerable evidence suggests Todd to be a sick man who must be helped before someone is shot to death. He has exploited and abused those who have believed in him. What is needed is for people to stop believing in him so that he can be helped. In this respect his best friends may be his worst enemies. Love and prayer, yes. Submission, no.

And what of the Christians who have been accepting Todd and his message? Realizing how they allowed themselves to be misled, they might become aware of how their defective love for brethren with whom they disagree made them easy prey for someone like Todd. One can disagree with distinctive charismatic doctrines, with political decisions of President Carter, or with the nature of certain religious music without blaming it all on witches.

We can learn too from the response to Todd. Some of us are altogether too gullible--- too quick to believe negative reports about those with whom we disagree, and not quick enough to believe substantiated negative reports about people who tell us what we were already inclined to accept. Many unscrupulous individuals take advantage of gullible Christians who would not be duped by a Jim Jones, but then give credence to the claims of a John Todd.

Those who accepted a key element in Todd's logic ought to be ashamed. The absence of evidence does not prove that one is telling the truth. If Todd said he fought in Viet Nam and murdered an officer in Germany but that no records are available because the Pentagon destroyed them, then our inability to confirm Todd's statements does not become proof that he is telling the truth. Records could be lost or destroyed, but in that case the assertion remains unsupported.

After one California pastor discovered some of the truth about Todd, he confessed in essence that he had allowed himself to be deceived, and he apologized for having had Todd in the pulpit.

That is the kind of apology that needs to be heard from quite a few pulpits.

The Legend(s) of John Todd

Is witch-turned-evangelist John Todd a prophet sent from God to warn America about an impending takeover by sinister forces, or a fraud?

Fundamentalists across America disagree over the question, charismatic leaders are fighting mad, and some supporters are stockpiling food, stashing weapons, and building fortified "retreat" hide-aways in preparation for a last stand against the hordes of evil.

Todd, 29, meanwhile has announced that he is through. He told friends in the Los Angeles area last month that he has been shot at frequently and that his house was firebombed. Therefore, he said, he will take no more speaking engagements; he, his wife, and three children will head for a secret retreat location.

"I tried to wake up the people in this country," he is quoted as saying. "But they didn't want to listen."

Until a year ago Todd was unknown in most church circles. On January 1, 1978, he joined independent Faith Baptist Church in Conoga Park, California. That same day he headed East where a speaking tour had been arranged by Pastor Tom Berry of the 3,000-member Bible Baptist Church in Elkton, Maryland. The tour, which began with two meetings in the Elkton church, was prolonged as word spread about Todd's sensational revelations.

"We've had many great preachers in our pulpit, but there was more talk around town after he left than with any other preacher we've had," reported Pastor Dino Pedrone of the Open Door Church in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where Todd addressed more than 1,000 people last February.

Pedrone, who had invited Todd on Berry's recommendation, recorded Todd's talks and circulated copies of them widely. The church, he said, gave Todd about $1,000 for a rehabilitation center for ex-witches that Todd supposedly was establishing. (Pedrone says he has reservations about Todd now, and that he would probably not invite him back.)

In June, a reporter covered Todd's appearance at a large Baptist church in Zionsville, Indiana, and United Press International flashed the story across the nation. Meanwhile, taped cassettes of his messages were being circulated everywhere, often anonymously. And for every person with reservations about Todd, there were others, including Berry, who seemed convinced that Todd's messages were authentic.