2014 | Recovering Grace

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

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Stories and accounts of the destruction caused by the teachings of Bill Gothard.

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2014

Yearly Archives: 2014

A Tale of Two Abigails: Part Two

8 August 2014, 10:28

MatthewS

This is the second of two re-printed articles examining the biblical character, Abigail. To quickly summarize the first article (found here), Abigail was a hero. Her quick thinking and action saved lives. David praised God for using her to save him and others from needless pain. From the Pages of Scripture This article looks […]

A Tale of Two Abigails

5 August 2014, 12:21

MatthewS

The first Abigail is a wise and beautiful hero, an inspiration to women and men everywhere. Her quick thinking, deliberate action, and diplomatic speech saved many lives. We meet this Abigail in a delightful story told in 1 Samuel 15. Sadly, many of us raised under the Institute in Basic Life Principles and ATI’s […]

Character Sketches or Sketchy Characters?

31 July 2014, 12:54

DavidM

In his Character Sketches series, Mr. Gothard retells many of the stories found in Scripture to illustrate some aspect of character, either good or bad. Often, however, these sketches are better at illustrating how Mr. Gothard will twist Scripture with points that are many times theologically poisonous and logically absurd. In light of […]

Christian Karma

28 July 2014, 15:30

Moderator

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states karma as: The force generated by a person’s actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person’s next existence. Eastern religions teach that once we die, we re-enter the cycle of life in a different form. If someone performs good deeds on […]

Rhemas: Hidden Wisdom in Scripture?

22 July 2014, 09:25

DavidM

A common critique of Mr. Gothard is how he handles interpretation of Scripture. One major aspect of his interpretational methods can be found in his teachings on rhemas. But do his teachings on rhemas even have a sound basis in Scripture? For your enjoyment I offer the following quiz. 1. T/F: All words in […]

We WERE the “Normal Ones”

17 July 2014, 06:00

Moderator

I have heard many people talk about how they still want to be involved in ATI (the Advanced Training Institute), but be “normal” families and just “filter out the bad stuff.” I’ve seen some of those responses in the Recovering Grace comments. If that’s your premise, then this post is for you, because that’s my […]

The Unfair Bonus

14 July 2014, 06:00

MatthewS

Jesus must have enjoyed short stories. He used parables frequently. One of those stories appears in Matthew 20:1-16. It arrested my attention recently and I wondered how someone would tell the story in today’s world. Perhaps something like this: The strangest bonus Jim ever received was for a large project he worked on for six […]

Judging 101

12 July 2014, 06:00

Moderator

I sat in the middle seat of the wood-grained station wagon, peering over the blue leather seats ahead of me, trying to get the best view I could out of the front windshield. I was on mission with my family to complete an ATI homeschool assignment for that day: “As a family, drive to a […]

Heather’s Story

9 July 2014, 06:00

Moderator

128

The following is a list of all currently published allegations (that we know of) of Bill Gothard’s behavior. Megan’s Story, published April 3, 2014 (external link) Robin’s Story, published March 10, 2014 Rachel’s Story, published February 17, 2014 Ruth’s Story, published February 12, 2014 Charlotte’s Story, published February 5, 2014 Meg’s Story, published January 20, 2014 […]

When Apologies Make it Worse

8 July 2014, 12:01

Moderator

Since Bill Gothard had to resign from leading his Institute in Basic Life Principles amid allegations of inappropriate behavior toward female staffers, he has made few public statements. But in private, he has been far from silent. An article published yesterday by Mother Jones stated: These days, Gothard says, he is busy “contacting people I’ve offended […]