Mike Warnke

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Michael Alfred "Mike" Warnke (born November 19, 1946 in Evansville, Indiana) was a Christian evangelist and comedian who became one of evangelical Christianity's best-known experts on the subject of Satanism until an investigation revealed his testimony of having been a reformed ex-Satanist was a hoax.

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[edit] Early life

Warnke was the son of Al "Whitey" Warnke and Louise Warnke. In 1955, Warnke's mother was killed in a car accident in Tennessee. Three years later his father died, leaving Mike an orphan. Mike was taken to foster parents in San Bernardino, California, where he graduated from Rim of the World High School in Crestline in June of 1965. In September of 1965, he enrolled at San Bernardino Community College but withdrew after one semester. On June 2, 1966, Warnke enlisted in the United States Navy as a hospital corpsman.

According to Warnke's account in The Satan Seller, he had a religious experience on August 27, 1966, and he received Jesus into his life as his personal Savior. The following year, he married his first wife, Sue Studer. In 1969, Warnke went to Vietnam for a five-month tour of duty where he won a Purple Heart and five combat ribbons. He returned to the United States in 1970.

Shortly thereafter, Warnke received help from Congressman Del Clawson to get out of the Navy as a conscientious objector. After his discharge, Warnke took up with San Diego evangelist Morris Cerullo and began to become known as a 'former Satanic high priest.' Warnke and Cerullo traveled the country with a 'Witchmobile' that demonstrated different (alleged) Pagan and Satanic practices. After a falling out with Cerullo left Warnke on his own, he wrote the book that would make him famous.

[edit] Book and recordings

In 1973, a book appeared in the Christian press that purported to be Warnke's life story. "The Satan Seller" was written by Warnke with help from David Balsiger and Les Jones. The book told of Warnke's orphaned childhood and his introduction into Satanism by a mysterious acquaintance from college named "Dean Armstrong". It then details Warnke's descent into sexual orgies, alcoholism, and drug dealing. In the midst of this, he rose in the ranks of Satanism to the level of "high priest". However, Warnke was later removed from his perch by an attempted murder - a heroin overdose - that left him angry and disillusioned. He then joined the U.S. Navy, went to Vietnam, and came home as an evangelist. The story ended with Warnke happily married to Sue Studer in California.

The book launched Warnke into mini-stardom as he became a popular speaker at Christian meeting places such as Melodyland in Anaheim, California. Warnke then traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to attend a nine-month Bible college. At this time Warnke was a practicing charismatic Christian. After nine months, Warnke graduated from the Bible college.

In November 1975, a recording was made in an Indiana coffeehouse of Warnke giving a talk about his conversion from Satanism to Christianity. This recording was later made into Warnke's first album, Alive. In 1976, Alive was widely played on Christian radio. That same year, Warnke divorced his wife, Sue Studer, while he was having an affair with another Bible college graduate, Carolyn Alberty.

In 1977, Warnke released his second album, Jester In The King's Court, and appeared on the cover of Harmony magazine, a Christian trade publication. The following year, Warnke's Vietnam experiences were publicized on his third album, Hey, Doc! But a disagreement with his record label, Word Records, and the artist and manager led to a three-year hiatus in Warnke recorded material. In 1979, he allegedly beat his now second wife, Carolyn Alberty, who left him. That same year, Mike Warnke met Rose Hall, a thrice-divorced mother of three from Kentucky. In 1980, Warnke moved to Kentucky to Rose's farm.

Problems with the recording company meant that Warnke did not release any new material until 1981. Throughout the 1980s, Warnke released several recordings: Coming Home (1981), Higher Education (1982), Growing Up (1983), Stuff Happens (1985), One In A Million (1988) and the VHS home video Do You Hear Me? (1989).

[edit] Extravagant claims

In 1982, Warnke began to exaggerate his achievements. As the 1980s progressed, the number of degrees Warnke claimed multiplied from two Bachelor's degrees to two Master's Degrees to a Doctorate of Philosophy. Warnke's career received a major boost when he appeared in a May 16, 1985 story on "20/20" featuring ABC News reporter Tom Jarriel. Warnke told of fingers being cut off, ritual sacrifice, animals being killed to use their blood in a sacrifice, and many other gory details. After Warnke's appearance on "20/20," he became a well paid 'expert' on Satanism. By 1989, Warnke and his wife were reportedly making over a million dollars apiece annually. He was frequently cited as an expert on the occult by Christian radio host Bob Larson and the Chick Publications stable of authors.

[edit] Eastern Orthodoxy

While Warnke had been a Charismatic Christian during the 1970s, he maintained a growing interest in the Eastern Orthodox tradition and was eventually ordained by an "independent bishop" claiming to be Orthodox but not a part of the mainstream Eastern Orthodox Church. Warnke incorporated his own small Orthodox denomination in 1982 called the Holy Orthodox Catholic Church in Kentucky (HOCCK). He continued as a Christian comedian and purported expert on Satanism during this time to a largely Evangelical and Charismatic audience, and did not publicize his conversion.

[edit] Investigation and downfall

In 1991, Cornerstone magazine launched an investigation into Warnke's life and testimony. The previous year, that magazine had debunked the story of Lauren Stratford, who had written Satan's Underground, a book in which she claimed to have been deeply involved in Satanism to the point of being present at a Satanic ritual where her own child was sacrificed (the child in question never existed). After this exposé, Cornerstone journalists Mike Hertenstein and Jon Trott investigated Warnke. Their investigation included tax receipts for the ministry, interviews with over 100 personal friends and acquaintances of both Warnkes, and most devastatingly, pictures of Warnke taken at the precise time he claimed to be a Satanist priest, allegedly emaciated from drug use and sporting long fingernails and waist-length white hair. The pictures showed Warnke to be a typical 'square' of the mid-1960s. One claim that was easily refuted by Cornerstone was that Charles Manson had briefly been a member of Warnke's coven, and attended several meetings. Manson was in federal prison in Washington at the time the alleged meetings occurred. Cornerstone also uncovered that Warnke had been involved in Campus Crusade for Christ before having joined the Navy, where he had supposedly converted. During the investigation, Warnke divorced again, and he and his now ex-wife Rose published a book called Recovering from Divorce. Hertenstein and Trott not only reported this fact, but found out that he had married yet again (to Rim High classmate Susan Patton) and moved back to California, facts unknown to the general public.

Warnke made no attempt to disprove the charges. He failed to provide even a single eyewitness who knew him to be a Satanist, despite his claim that there had been over 1500 members in his coven. In June 1992, Cornerstone released the story at the annual Christian Booksellers' Association convention in Dallas. Initial response to the article was overwhelmingly against Warnke, but Word Records stated they would stand by their artist. Finally, with pressure building, Word dropped Warnke from its label. On September 30, 1992, Warnke Ministries closed its doors. The fall came less than 100 days after the startling revelations hit the media.

In some cases, a figure such as Warnke will gain sympathy as a backlash against the criticism. Instead, Warnke's fierce insistence that he had 'told all' only diminished his credibility further. In the spring of 1993, Warnke submitted to pastoral authority in the form of discipline and acknowledging prior infidelity in his marriages. The committee had little independence from Warnke, however, and did not address the fabrications in his book and ministry, which Warnke never admitted to. From this point, Warnke largely disappeared from the public scene. He suffered a heart attack in 1997, and in 2000 was attempting a comeback, limited to small churches around the Kentucky area. In 2002, he published Friendly Fire: A Recovery Guide for Believers Battered by Religion (ISBN 0-7684-2124-1), an unapologetic account of what he perceived as his unfair treatment by fellow Christians in the wake of the Cornerstone exposé. As of December 2006, he continues to claim in his website bio that he is a former Satanic high priest, despite this claim having been disproven by the Cornerstone investigation.

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Mike Hertenstein, Jon Trott: Selling Satan: The Tragic History of Mike Warnke (ISBN 0-940895-07-2), Cornerstone Press 1993. An expanded, book-length version of the Cornerstone exposé by the original journalists.
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