Institute In Basic Life Principles

We will be focusing on Sexual Abuse Awareness in the month of April. If you have a personal story to share, please message us: support@recoveringgrace.org.

Personal testimonies of finding true freedom through God's matchless grace.

Living and thriving through the grace of God.

A closer look at the teachings of Bill Gothard by the Elders of Calvary Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX

Articles about how Bill Gothard mishandles the Bible to support his legalistic viewpoint.

The truth about what happens behind the scenes in IBLP.

Our response to Bill Gothard's November 2011 letter addressed to "all past and present ATI students."

You are here:

Home
institute-in-basic-life-principles

Tag Archives: institute-in-basic-life-principles

The Danger and Damage of Gothard’s Principles

24 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Though I left my family’s home three years ago, Bill Gothard’s twisting of Scripture still haunts me as a young adult today. The way the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and its secondary programs are set up, they might work in a perfect world, but in the broken reality of this world, they operate with many [...]

When Asking “Why” Does Not Bring Answers

22 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Editor’s note: The following testimony references Bill Gothard’s “Why Did God Let It Happen?” teaching. This teaching has been delivered in several different formats, many of which do not directly reference sexual abuse. However, the Counseling Sexual Abuse document that was distributed at ATI (Advanced Training Institute) counseling seminars applies this teaching directly to sexual [...]

How “Counseling Sexual Abuse” Blames and Shames Survivors

18 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Versions of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) document “Counseling Sexual Abuse” were distributed at Advanced Training Institute (ATI) Counseling Seminars for over a decade. The document speaks for itself, but Recovering Grace would like to point out how victim-blaming and/or callous dismissal of abuse survivors’ pain is built into almost every one of [...]

A Life Defined By Externals

15 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

501d65e913ba3ngk_photo_contest_040_large_medium

My story is an interesting one. Until I found Recovering Grace I did not know there were many others like me. When I was eight years old my mom and biological father divorced. Even as a child I understood why their divorce was necessary. People say I was born an adult. Within a year my mom re-married a [...]

How “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family” Blames Victims

11 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

An Institute publication entitled “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family” [Click here for the full pdf document] was first mailed to Advanced Training Institute (ATI) families in the late 1990s, and it has been periodically distributed at conferences since. Recovering Grace does not know the identity of the family members who shared their story [...]

Third Witness: Sexual Harassment at Headquarters

8 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series of stories relating Bill Gothard’s sexual harassment of young girls at Headquarters. Click on these links to read the previous stories: Lizzie’s story Part 1 and Part 2, and Annette’s story. My story begins like so many others who got involved in the Advanced Training [...]

Why We Care About Sexual Abuse

4 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

April is national Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Last year Recovering Grace dedicated the month of April to bringing these stories of darkness into the light, and we are doing so again this year. Why do we choose to focus our attention on this emotionally disturbing, heart-wrenching subject? It takes only a glance at today’s news [...]

Commitments, Vows, and Promises of Greatness: The Art of the Spiritual Con

25 March 2013, 06:00

Eliza

…The above memory (albeit a bit foggy with the years) is a typical example of how Mr. Gothard spoke to apprenticeship students at various IBLP and ATI (Institute in Basic Life Principles and Advanced Training Institute) functions I attended. One of the effects of this type of spiritual manipulation was that I began to have unrealistic [...]

Sonic Bloom: Untruth With An Agenda

21 March 2013, 06:00

Danielle Klueber

The author, other IBLP staff members and directors, and Bill Gothard in the Indianapolis South Campus green house

There is no denying that Bill Gothard has a persuasive way of presenting “newfound” products, ideas, and beliefs. Many trust that he is truthful in these things. They assume, as I did, that he would never purposefully deceive. During my time with IBLP (the Institute in Basic Life Principles) I was witness to a very [...]

Safety or Superstition?

17 March 2013, 14:50

WendyA

The deeper I move into traditional realms of theological thought, the more I am convinced that one of the biggest dangers in the teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is that it teaches a subtle form of superstitious determinism. Rather than being free to live our lives without fear, we are taught [...]