A thousand years ago in Europe, alchemists served as philosophers, scientists, and magicians all wrapped up into one. They mixed, stirred, bubbled and distilled chemicals in the search for the fabled philosopher’s stone–the substance that would have the power to turn metals like lead into silver or gold. Their mission was doomed from the beginning, although their work paved the way for modern chemistry. The relentless search for the philosopher’s stone eventually died out and was replaced by knowledge of things such as the periodic table of the elements.
On Bill Gothard’s web page, he asserts that “every problem in life can be traced to seven non-optional principles found in the Bible,” and that his teachings help people from all backgrounds understand the cause-and-effect sequences in life. This approach to Scripture causes one to see all of God’s Word as nothing more than a collection of universal principles. It’s almost as if Gothard does not read a passage to see what it really says. Rather, he reads it to see how he can distill gold out of it. Like an alchemist experimenting with elements, he seeks universal principles as his philosopher’s stone.
In 1973, a professor of Hebrew Scripture attended a Basic Seminar and later reported, “I was regularly assaulted by a misuse of the Bible, particularly of the Old Testament, on a level that I have never experienced in a public ministry before that time (or since)…Old Testament passages were used time after time to argue points that they did not prove.” (Allen, 1984)
In 1974, a Christian columnist wrote, “Gothard insists that for every problem in life there is a particular Scripture passage that offers the solution. For him the Bible is essentially an answer book—a verse here to answer this problem, a verse there to answer that. So the more Scripture passages you learn, the more problems you can answer. A favorite approach of Gothard’s is to state a problem, then ask, ‘You know what the answer is?’ and then quote a Bible passage to dispose of the matter. Such use of Scripture, it seems to me, reduces it to a kind of book of magic.” (Bockelman, 1974)
And in 1998, a concerned pastor and elders at a church in Texas wrote in the conclusion of their response to Gothard’s teachings, “In short, we believe Bill Gothard misinterprets the Word of God to such an extent that his teachings present a concern for the local church significant enough to warrant a caution to those who are inclined to follow his teaching indiscriminately,” and “Perhaps one of the reasons why Mr. Gothard’s misinterpretations of the Scriptures are not more plainly obvious to those who attend his seminars is that the pace of the seminars does not allow for the student to actually look at the Scriptures in context.” (Kirk, 1998)
Bill Gothard seemingly does not read Scripture to discover what it says before trying to draw meaningful application from it. Rather than paying attention to genre and examining a passage in its context, he mixes and distills ideas from here and there in search of universal principles which will unlock hidden cause-and-effect sequences in life. He approaches a passage with his mind already predisposed towards a particular result, and this is why he is doomed to miss the point of so many passages.
For example, his recent Easter email ignored the true purpose of Christ’s resurrection in an effort to distill this most important remembrance into simple principles. Instead of Easter being about who Christ is and what He did, the spotlight shines on our own performance.
Another example is how Gothard boils down Acts 2 to a method which can be repeated. The real point of Acts 2 is that the Holy Spirit came on the early followers of Jesus and began a new movement in the world. Peter, a changed man, stepped up and boldly proclaimed the gospel. The gospel quickly spread throughout the world due to this event. But Gothard’s alchemy evaporates all that out as he boils it down to “what is the method here that I can repeat?” He approaches it looking for the principle that can be repeated, the action that can be taken in order to achieve a predictable result in a cause-and-effect sequence. He finds that the disciples were together in “one accord” (incidentally, this word does not even appear in the older Greek manuscripts). Recalling that the Lord referred to a hypothetical group of ten in a completely unrelated Old Testament passage, Gothard mixes the concept of being “one accord” with groupings of ten and reports that Acts 2 yields “One-Accord Power Teams” of 10 people.
Many characters in Scripture had one-time encounters with God, tailored for them, never to be repeated again. Moses did not give shepherding seminars so that people could reproduce their own personal burning bush experience (it only happened once for Moses himself). Jacob did not become a wrestling coach and open a “how to wrestle with angels” clinic. Jonah did not become a diving instructor to help people dive in at the right place and have a swallowed-by-a-huge-fish experience. Hosea did not start an eProstituteHarmony web site to help aspiring prophets marry ladies of the evening. Peter did not start a nutrition seminar with information about how to trigger a trance and a vision related to unclean foods. And the disciples did not start ‘One-Accord’ teams (which would have been 12 men, plus the women, plus other followers anyway) and meet on Pentecost every year and try to have a wind-and-fire-and-tongues repeat. These were all one-time encounters with the living God.
Historically, alchemists sought “a sort of limitless power over nature.” Mr. Gothard does not promise limitless power, but there is an undeniable appeal to understanding the cause-and-effect sequences in life that give a person maximum control of their life. Life is often out of our control and even dangerous. Part of the appeal of Gothard’s teachings is the promise of control. With this mindset, one does not read God’s Word to see what it says. Rather, the focus becomes a search for methods and actions that may be repeated to achieve results in a cause-and-effect sequence.
Scripture is the inspired Word of God. It is not a dry engineer’s manual. It is not primarily about methods, formulas, or principles. It is about relationship: loving God and loving others. Sadly, Gothard distills even this down to “loving God equals obeying God’s commands and I just happen to have 49 commands for $49.” But I believe that many of Gothard’s followers have the uneasy sense at one time or another that the relational aspect is lacking.
The clock is ticking but it is not too late for Mr. Gothard to make the leap from being an alchemist to being a true student of God’s Word. A good student of God’s Word lets it live and breathe in its context and allows it to have its intended meaning rather than relentlessly attempting to distill and boil it down to the philosopher’s stone of universal principles.
Alchemists helped open people’s eyes to the possibilities of chemistry. They also encouraged people to chase false dreams. Some people appreciate that Bill Gothard helped open their eyes to the possibility of being completely dedicated to God. Others deeply regret years of pain and loss from chasing false dreams. Bill Gothard’s teachings are neither all good nor all bad. God has used him for good, but his system of distilling everything down to universal legalistic principles while ignoring the greater narrative of Scripture has led many astray.
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REFERENCES:
Allen, R.B. (1984). Issues of Concern — Bill Gothard and the Bible: A Report.
Bockelman, W. (1974). Pros and cons of Bill Gothard. Christian Century, 91(32), 877-880.
Kirk, D.W., et al. (1998) A Call For Discernment: A closer look at the teachings of Bill Gothard.
Wow--what a great article. Thanks so much for sharing! So I made the "mistake" of clicking through your link to Bill Gothard's website to read about the "One-Accord Power Teams." There are some CRAZY alchemistic claims on that page. Like this:
"Team Agenda
Each week a one-accord team will learn one of the commands of Christ with such practical clarity that they will be able to easily apply it to their own lives and then go home and teach it to their families. After forty-nine weeks, they will have fulfilled the requirements of Jesus to be His disciples: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you . . . . So shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:7–8)."
So all it takes is learning the commands of Christ with such practical clarity that you can EASILY apply them to your lives--every single command? So what Gothard is implying here is that by week 49, every command is applied to your life, perfection has been reached, and you are fully Christ's disciple. Last I checked, the disciples walked with Christ for 3 years, and I doubt that any of them felt like they had reached full discipleship by the time Jesus ascended back into heaven. Of course, they didn't have all 49 commands laid out so perfectly in a book sold by Gothard for $49.
This is some serious spiritual alchemy (not to mention spiritual malpractice) to make claims like this. I am stunned... but I know I shouldn't be.
Thanks, Beverly! You know, I am sure these claims that Gothard makes are well-intentioned but they are essentially moralism. Just about every major religion out there teaches some form moralism. If Christianity is merely another flavor of moralism, it is not truly distinct from the other religions.
Good thoughts. I remember being at the ITC and hearing about a "minstry" they were doing. If I remember correctly, they were bringing young people in "off the streets" (it was during the time they were working with court appointed youth) and having them ask the apprenticeship students any question they had. The apprenticeship students then "found the answers" in the Bible. I was awed that these young people had such wisdom. Now, I wonder how much twisting of Scripture was taking place. The Bible is full of wonderful truths. But it is to reveal God and His plan to us, not primarily to teach us how to build a diesel engine.
One of the best articles yet.
This was a helpful article and very timely for me as I have been wondering what the purpose of the Bible is. Bear with me, as I am asking this out of genuine confusion and not from a place of challenge. I am learning that grace means that I am not under the law anymore. I don't have to follow all of those rules for God's approval. I used to read the Bible as Bill Gothard taught, looking for principles and application in every verse. The Bible became a heavy weight of instructions for life and godly character that, by the way, I could never even begin to keep up with. So now I wonder, if that's not what the Bible is for, then what is it for? You say, "It's about relationship: loving God and loving others." What does that look like when you read the Bible? I keep thinking about II Tim 3:16 that says Scripture is useful for..."teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." That sounds very handbook-ish. Not sure what to do with that.
It is kind of a handbook but it is so much more. Using it only as a rulebook may result in contradictions and theological problems. I have found that these seeming contradictions can tend to do two things - drive someone away from God (perhaps true for some ex-IBLP people who have rejected Christianity) or make someone desperate for more grace. The extent of someone's desire for a "savior" is perhaps a deciding factor. While the Bible carries much condemnation, there are hidden loopholes of grace which are blown open when one pursues or waits for Jesus despite doubt.
I would like to share a personal story of how Christ's command brought me despair but God's grace brought me freedom.
In 2007 I had a was involved in a car collision which was my fault. Given my clinical anxiety disorder this was like Job saying "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me" (Job 3:25). A couple of years later I was served with notice that I was being sued by the person I hit. I was racked by fear and guilt; should I even be covered by my auto insurance considering my anxiety disorder? Also given Jesus command in Mat 5:40 ("And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy] cloak also"), I thought that I could not let my auto insurance provider dispute the palintiff's allegations against me (they were denying her disability claims etc...). It seemed perhaps according to the Bible I personally had to give the person suing me anything she wanted and more. (Actually the way that auto insurances cases are handled would probably be considered wrong by Biblical principles - The insurance provider does not want a pay whatever is demanded, therefore the plaintiffs lawyers accuses the defendant of everything under the sun hoping something will stick. The insurance company denies, they fight over months or years and then a compromise settlement/agreement is made.) How could I let my insurance provider go against Christ's commands in my name?
However, I came upon Matthew 12:1-8: A legal loophole in which God's grace trumps God's law. I found someone could be technically in violation of God's law but still be considered blameless before God.
My anxieties were not compltelely over, however. With my OCD whatever I said to anyone about the circumstances of the accident left me with a nagging doubt that I had not been 100% truthful. The lawyer(s) of the woman who was suing me arranged a date to question me face to face. But after this date had been arranged I received a letter calling me to jury duty selection the very same morning. I was told to expect a rescheduled appointment for the questioning but I was eventually informed that the prosecuting attorney(s) had just decided to forgo the questioning. I felt as if Jesus was asking me "Where have your accusers gone?" (John 8:10).
A trial date was set but several months later before that date I received a letter saying that the whole matter had been resolved.
I also about the same time lost my driver's license only to have God give it back to me. The timing of these events was provocative. This whole series of events started to grow a relationship between me and Jesus that I had not had before.
wow, thanks for this great question. I am guilty of oversimplifying in that statement. I appreciated a book a few years ago that pointed out how much of the Bible carries that theme of loving God and loving others (the book is called "The Jesus Creed").
I found a good quote from Tim Keller:
The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome.
Religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.
http://firstimportance.org/2009/04/the-bibles-purpose-2/
It's hard to make one summary statement that will say "This is the thing the Bible is all about" because there is a lot to it. Keller also points out that the Bible has a story-arc that runs through creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/spring/9.74.html?start=1)
Those are a couple comments that get at the overall purpose of the Bible. As to that passage you brought up, I'd like to make a separate comment for that.
Do these comments help spur your thinking any? Or just muddy the waters, LOL?
Yours is a deep question, but my knee-jerk response is quite simple. I would say that the Bible's purpose differs dramatically depending on one's vantage point. Yes, large portions of Scripture (most of the Torah, all the Proverbs, much of the Epistles - but by no means the whole Bible) constitute a "how-to guide" for life. But how we respond to those guidelines is determined in large measure by how we view ourselves in Christ.
If we believe, as Bill Gothard asserts, that God's grace is merely "the desire and power to do His will," then we'll likely view the Bible's rules, examples, and guidelines as just so many hoops to jump through in a seemingly endless quest to draw near to God in order to experience His favor. If I find myself without the desire to do God's will, for instance (or - heaven forbid! - if I don't actually know what His will is), then I can logically conclude that I'm not experiencing the grace of God in my life. My relationship with God becomes dependent on my own performance. In a way, it becomes all about me (since, after all, I have the power to make God pleased or displeased with me). And, in the end, the result of this belief system is the same as that of any other belief system which aggrandizes man at God's expense: frustration, disillusionment, and despair.
If, on the other hand, we believe grace to be what it actually is - the unmerited favor of God as manifested in the Person of Jesus Christ - then our entire outlook on life is transformed. If Jesus has taken upon Himself the just wrath of the Father against my transgressions, if He has paid in full the cost of my rebellion, if He has completed the great transfer and imputed to me His perfect righteousness and guaranteed my good standing in the presence of the Father forever and ever, and if He has done this great deed once for all by the sacrifice of Himself, then I am free to follow Christ's commands out of gratitude instead of obligation. Since I'm no longer imprisoned under the law, I don't need to worry about losing God's favor if I succumb to the fleshly nature which still clings to my pre-ressurection body. Nothing I do can alter my Father's unconditional love for me. He loves me with the same love he bestows on Christ. If this were not the case - if I wasn't hidden in Christ and adopted by God as His brother - then God's rules for living would still constitute a portent of impending doom instead of a language of love useful for self-expression.
Dear S, let me offer you a simple purpose for the Bible--it is God's love letter to us, and it contains info he wants us to know. That's how I read and study it. I hope this helps =-)
Thank you all for sharing your insights. It is helpful to think of the Bible as a big picture of the gospel, a love letter, and not a list of expectations. This idea was certainly lacking in Gothard’s material. I have come to agree with Austin that your vantage point has a lot to do with how you approach the Bible. I think if I were to be fully convinced of my position in Christ as he described it, the Bible would read differently. As it is, I like Jesus, it’s God that scares me, especially as He is revealed in the OT. I know they are one, but that makes me all the more nervous. I think it is a work of the Spirit to be brought to such a place of grace and towards that I pray. Thank you!
Toward the end of internalizing the incomprehensible magnitude of God's grace, I suggest frequent readings of Romans chapter 8. Yes, God is perfectly just - but it's His justice that guarantees us our eternal security. Christ has fulfilled the Law on our behalf. No further restitution is necessary or even possible. Now that God has justified us by the blood of his only begotten Son - whom He sent to earth for the express purpose of rescuing us from the death we deserved - nothing in all the universe that can undo His redemptive work. There's a reason Satan is called both 'Accuser' and 'Deceiver.'
The Old Covenant, while brutally just, contained neither more nor less justice than the New Covenant. All the merciless deaths of all those sacrificial animals offered on Israelite altars constituted nothing more than a foreshadowing of an event far more cataclysmic: the sacrificial, tortuous death of God Himself when He offered Himself upon His own altar - a final sacrifice, effectual for all time. This logical progression from the Old to the New Covenants is dissected in depth by the book of Hebrews. I highly recommend a thorough study thereof.
Total reconciliation was always God's plan. He promised His Messiah immediately after the Fall of man (Gen. 3:15), and described His purpose in detail through Isaiah (chapter 53). Some of the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful expressions of God's unstoppable love are found in the Old Testament (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-37:14). The teachings of Christ Himself were nothing if not a doubling down on the stringent Law of God (Matt. 5:17-48), and yet His purpose couldn't have been further from that of a run-of-the-mill moralist: He came to set us free from hard yokes and heavy burdens. The Father who loves us so much that He crushed His own Son that we might go free is personified in the father who runs - runs! - to meet the rebel who returns home in shame (Luke 15:11-32). He puts rings on our fingers when our best hope is for shackles, drapes us in His best robes when we expect to be stripped, and kills for us the fatted calf when we anticipate nothing more than scraps from His table.
God is the Author of generosity, and, in Jesus, His generosity is just.
Wow, your words are loaded with meaning and have given me much to consider. Your view of redemption is huge in so many ways I have not thought of. You keep talking as if the reconciliation is final between us and God. And that gives me pause. I don’t think I thought it was done. I thought I wasn’t guilt-free until heaven. Why else would we have to constantly clear our consciences and follow the rules to get better and better? I have always been looking over my shoulder fearing the wrath of God. Thank you for explaining what Jesus really accomplished. I will be looking into those passages you suggested.
S,
Please feel free to join one of our Recovery groups on Facebook, at the top of the page :)
S June,
I feel so happy and privileged to have written words that encouraged you! A particular passage of Scripture that's always taken my breath away is Ephesians 2:4-7: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with Him and seated [past tense!] us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
To me, what makes those verses so glorious is the fact that they magnify God, not me. I was dead in my transgressions, but God made me alive. God raised me up. God seated me in heaven. God looks forward to my company throughout eternity. "If I am faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2nd Tim. 2:13). God's already accomplished the hard work of salvation. He did so on the cross, to which He nailed the record of debt that stood against me with all its legal demands (Col. 2:14).
In a way, your assumption that freedom from guilt had to wait for heaven is correct. But, according to God, we're already there! He's already "seated us with [Christ] in the heavenly places"! Time moves differently for God, since He created it in the first place. But however it works, and whatever it looks like from His perspective, the deed is done. Christ's death was not in vain. We who put our trust in Him are declared by the Father to be pure, righteous, and free. Our guilt has been taken away as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). The blood of Jesus cleanses us for all time.
S, for a fresh look at the Bible, you might want to check out the Big Picture Story Bible. I'm not joking. We bought it for our son, but it's a wonderful expression of one story from beginning to end. Adults should read it, too! It's different from other kids' story Bibles.
You can find it at a little lower price elsewhere, but I like the description they give here: http://www.timberdoodle.com/The_Big_Picture_Story_Bible_p/275-545.htm
While I'm on the topic...a number of men we know have bought The Action Bible. Our older son likes it a lot. It's drawn by a pro comic book illustrator.
We're all a part of His story. :)
Wow. Thanks for an excellent article. It stated with clarity a lot of the thoughts and impressions from our ATI days that I really didn't know how to express myself. Thanks again.
Very insightful comment about the desire for control. Many Christians do not actually want to let go and let God have ultimate control over their life but prefer to keep the power in their own hands by following principles and rules that will "force" God to give them the life they want. They don't state it quite this baldly, but I do believe a lot of that pride and faithlessness is an underlying motivation for many people caught up in legalistic, outward-appearance-based ministries.
Matthew,
Excellent article! I appreciate you shedding light on the teachings of Bill Gothard that have brought bondage and pain to so many people. Thank you!
Great words, Matthew. As a pastor I confess that at times I find myself reading the Bible with the agenda of a Sunday sermon... how to approach it homiletically instead of personally. It's too easy to distill my quiet times into three-point sermons if I'm not conscious of the fact that I need the Scriptures to speak to ME. I think that's what it means to be a student of the Word... we are pursuing GOD through it. When I'm preaching, I try to ask myself first what the message is for ME personally. Later on I'll get to what principles he wants me to share with others. Sometimes my personal discoveries make it into the sermon, sometimes not. But I have to let the Word come alive to ME before I try to speak to others... and as you so cleverly explained, those are not duplicatable experiences.
I join you in the hope that Gothard's encounters with the Word would lead him from systems and principles to a very different kind of encounter with the Lord.
Great article! Thanks.
EVERY problem in life is traced to one of these seven principles?
Explains why he thought he could be doctor, psychiatrist, teacher, and social worker to all of us. Wonder that he didn't try to fly a plane, using only the seven basic principles.
THIS IS SUCH A GREAT ARTICLE!!!
Well done man. I love the comparison to alchemy. Seriously, it does illustrate Gothard's methodology. THANK YOU! You wrote a lot of truth in this article that was good to read.
One of the best RG articles yet, in terms of exposing why and how Gothard got it wrong. It reminds me of one of my favorite Rumi poems...."When one is counting out gold to you, don't look at your hands or the gold... look at the Giver".
Matthew, my dad studied at Grace Theological Seminary back in the day. I never noticed that detail in your bio before. It makes me feel connected to you. :-)
Hey! That's cool. We have a "grace" connection :-) If you are ever out this way, do let us know. I'll buy lunch.
I was listening once to a student worship leader talking about the hymn that says "Oh to grace, how great a debtor..." and she started talking about the irony in that statement - I was thinking of the irony of being a "debtor" to grace but then I realized she was sliding in a joke about being a debtor to Grace Seminary, lol.
My daughter (26) graduated from grace baptist college in gaylord michigan. she moved to port huron michigan to help take care of her 84 year old grandmother. She meet a "teacher" in the Gothard teaching. In less than 4 months she has moved out of Grandma's house and she very rarely talks to us. she just emailed me some "wisdoms" from this Gothard. In reading them I can see how he twists things, but how can I make her see it, without pushing her away? She is really confused . Please help, I am so very worried about her and I pray every day and am trying to get intouch with as many as i can for help.
I wish there were a magic wand, but obviously this is a difficult situation and my heart goes out to you. Here are some thoughts to come to my mind, and I'm hoping others might chime in as well.
She's 26, graduated from college, and seeking the Lord (even if it's problematically). It sounds to me like you've raised a great daughter that you can be proud of. As hard as it is to watch her go down this road, I suspect it might be best to focus more on what you have in common than in difference. What are the things you can both agree about in terms of Jesus, faith, grace, etc.? Any common ground at all is probably good.
I have no idea what, but I imagine she might be looking for something. I doubt that the intellectual arguments are what is swaying her. I would wager that there is a person or people that seem to be in some way like what she wants to be and that she is trusting what they seem to believe. I'm wondering if the best thing you can do is let her know you love her no matter what and she will have a safe relationship to return to no matter what. Best case scenario, the people in her life are not very extreme and truly do have her best at heart. Worse in this case would be if they are in fact performance-based legalists. In time, those relationships are likely to fail her and she will have you to return to. On top of all that, I'd say pray, pray, pray. Pray for open doors and for friends to come into her life that will show her God's grace in a real way.
And as I'm writing this, I'm praying for you as her mom to be given comfort, patience, and hope for your daughter. I am now the dad of a teenager - I pray regularly that God protects and leads my son but I know I don't control the outcome. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be in your shoes right now. God sees your daughter and he knows her name. The love you have in your heart came from him, so even if nobody else understands, your heavenly father does understand your feelings right now. Let us know what happens.
Brenda,
Grace Baptist College is run by Grace Baptist Church, and they are ultra-fundamentalists, specifically independent fundamental Baptist (IFB). As much as I hate to say it, fundamentalism and Gothard are two peas in a pod, regardless of the fundamentalist camp you are in (Hyles, BJU, Sword, BBF, etc., etc.). In my time in fundamentalism, I have constantly smacked into Gothard-ites, Ezzo-ites, Pearl-ites, Quiverful, S.M.Davis-ites, you name it.
The authoritarian legalism that characterizes fundamentalism leads straightway into these various patriarchal, legalistic teachings. I am not surprised that your daughter ran into a Gothard-ite at GBC.
I came out of IFB churches sometime ago. I always thought a time would come where people would see through all the wacky doctrines like KJVO, music standards, dress standards, pastor worship, etc. and people would begin leaving. People are leaving alright, but not primarily because of those things. They are leaving because of the authoritarianism, especially as it ends up being expressed through patriarchal belief systems like Gothard.
Matthew, thank you so much for writing this article and including references to quotes/statements by concerned pastors and professors of the Bible. This has helped me so much. I was not heavily involved in ATI, our family were members for just one year, but we still have many of the books around our house and I happened to pick up a few Basic Care Bulletins and was reading through them last summer.
A good friend of mine had introduced me to another preacher/teacher who was saying very similar things about health/healing as Bill Gothard says and I began to buy into it because I didn't fully understand the falsehoods and heresies of Gothard's teachings although I knew it had many problems.
Has anyone or could anyone address many of the bad and misleading teachings from his Basic Care Bulletins and other health-related content? I have noticed it is like a lot of what he teaches. It is not all bad or false but there is so much error mixed in with it that it is too much of a frustration and challenge to sort it out so for that reason I think it is better to avoid it altogether. He really doesn't say/teach anything new or different that IS TRUE from what other pastors/teachers are teaching who don't mix in all the legalism and falsehoods with it.
I am a registered nurse and can spot some of them, but it would be good to have a doctor or someone with medical background go through and refute much of what he teaches in this area.