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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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Life Unexpected

5 December 2011, 06:00

Cyndi

Having been raised for 13 years in the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) home school program I was confident of a successful marriage. I followed the formula. I waited for God’s Best. I saved my first kiss until after engagement (though I’m sure I should have saved it for the wedding day). I had my parents’ […]

Body, Soul & Spirit: An Alternate View

2 December 2011, 06:00

Moderator

If you spend much time listening to Bill Gothard, it doesn’t take long for him to bring up one of his favorite beliefs: Body, Soul, & Spirit. Bill claims human beings are comprised of these three elements and each element serves a distinct function. This approach is technically called trichotomy in systematic theology terms. Over […]

The Little Things

30 November 2011, 06:30

ChristinS

I’ve been pondering quite a bit lately about how many “little” things were missed throughout the publications and teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles. I’m dumbfounded when I read a passage from the Bible that was well-known from my Advanced Training Institute studies, and realize that I know almost nothing about what the […]

Confusing the Covenants

25 November 2011, 06:00

Moderator

Bill Gothard claims in the first night of the Basic Seminar that his teachings are based in Deuteronomy 28. He says, “God has laid out a series of principles…laws…and if WE violate these laws, He will bring certain consequences to us as a nation. And he gives us a list of these consequences. The motivation […]

Keeping Up Appearances.

21 November 2011, 06:00

Moderator

I am a survivor of Gothardism. I fully believe ATI is a twisted system of unrealistic rules and regulations. Even more, it gives abusive parents the tools and justification they need to rationalize their behavior. Let me start at the beginning. I went to public school from preschool through first grade. After that, my family […]

Circumcision and Victory Over Sin

18 November 2011, 06:00

Ileata

I went to my first Basic Seminar when I was 12. My family enrolled in The Advanced Training Institute (ATI) three years later. It was about seven years after that when I began having serious problems with the teachings of Bill Gothard. Oddly enough, my doubting started because of the Institute’s teaching on circumcision. I […]

Tragic Misguidance: Gothard’s View on Mental Health Treatment and the Petit Family Murders

17 November 2011, 06:00

JoyS

Benedict, Joshua, Naomi and Jude Komisarjevsky

On November 6, 2011, Recovering Grace blogged about a news article on Joshua Komisarjevsky’s family and their involvement with Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute (ATI). This is my take on that sad story. Jennifer, Michaela, and Hayley Petit. Three lives cut tragically short in a brutal robbery, rape, and murder. William Petit, sole survivor of […]

A Real-Life Lesson

15 November 2011, 05:52

lizs

Candles are an essential part in making rooms homey. A room that is going to be your home for a year (or more) needs atmosphere and ambiance, and candles can help to fulfill that need. Some time ago, two girls shared a room in a certain tall building in the central part of the Mitten […]

The Phony “Consequences” of Rock Music

14 November 2011, 06:00

admin

109

One the foundational tenets of Bill Gothard’s teachings is the idea that one’s level of spiritual maturity is directly connected to the number of commitments one makes to God. On the website description of the IBLP publication “Seventeen Basic Commitments” is found this statement: “Spiritual maturity is related to the number of Scriptural commitments that […]

Spiritual Gifts

11 November 2011, 06:00

DavidM

In the Advanced Training Institute (ATI), your spiritual gift often became part of your identity. “I am a mercy,” or “I am a prophet,” became commonplace statements which people used to identify and explain themselves. I still vividly remember encountering Mr. Gothard’s teachings on spiritual gifts in the Advanced Seminar. I really latched onto this […]