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

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Tag Archives: authority

The Agent of Satan

4 June 2014, 06:00

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337

Over the past couple of years, several members of the Recovering Grace leadership team have gotten to know some of the former staff from the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC, now IBLP). Most of them talk of the great love they had for the ministry and for Bill Gothard, and they speak with great […]

Authority vs. Faith in Brazil

23 May 2014, 06:00

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I first encountered Bill Gothard in the fall of 1957 when I was a sophomore at Wheaton College. He had just graduated that year and was enrolled in their graduate program. Bill was organizing college students who were willing to be Bible study leaders one evening a week under the auspices of a program working […]

Bill’s Cabin: Uncovering Sin

21 May 2014, 09:00

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477

Bill Gothard's cabin and surrounding area, 2014

  The Northwoods Setting The Northwoods began as a Gothard family retreat and was repurposed and expanded for ministry use as the ministry grew flush with cash. Steve Gothard’s cabin was built in 1973. The first (smaller) lodge was built in 1974, and the Big Lodge was built in 1976. As noted in other articles, […]

Four Pre-Digital Reviews of Gothard’s Theology

20 May 2014, 07:00

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A SUMMARY REPORT Bill Gothard’s Institute In Basic Life Principles by David Henke, September 1993   In 1985, a colleague gave me access to his files so that I could fill gaps in my own files. One of the files that he had was on Bill Gothard’s ministry. I copied it for the sake of […]

Bill Gothard’s Basic Conflict in Eternity (magazine)

15 May 2014, 07:05

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Joseph Bayly

  Basic Conflicts: An open letter to Bill Gothard by Joseph Bayly ETERNITY, June 1977 Mr. William Gothard Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts 45055 North Adams Hinsdale, Illinois 60521 Dear Bill Gothard: God has given you great opportunities and responsibilities in recent years, and I, along with most evangelical Christians, am thankful for your ministry. Many […]

Early Warnings of a False Authority

13 May 2014, 06:00

Jay Rowland

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In the 1970s, supporters and critics alike recognized that Bill Gothard and his Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC) were a phenomenon. God can use anyone or anything to bring people to himself, but are paying crowds proof of a teacher’s righteousness? It seems too few of our church watchmen wrote about—or truly studied—Gothard’s teachings. […]

Trapped in the Shadow of ‘God’s Anointed’: Breaking free from an Unbiblical Concept

5 May 2014, 06:00

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379

  As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you…and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. —The Apostle John — 1 John 2:27 [NASB] You may have heard someone tell you God “anointed” him or her to be your leader. Or, perhaps, someone else pointed to another […]

Finding the Words to Say, “No More”

28 April 2014, 05:58

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107

When I was fourteen years old I was diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive cancer. To be able to start my treatment, we learned, I would need to go to a hospital in a different city. There we met the oncologist responsible for heading up my treatment protocol. He was my future abuser. At […]

There Is No Victim: A Survey of IBLP Literature on Sexual Assault and Abuse

25 April 2014, 21:59

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153

Today, Recovering Grace looks at past Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) materials that address the topics of sexual abuse, child molestation within a nuclear family, and domestic violence. This is not presented as an exhaustive survey, but is the full range of printed Institute material on these topics that […]

A Long Night’s Journey Through the ATI / IBLP System

24 April 2014, 06:00

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213

I grew up in Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute of America (ATIA, later renamed ATI) home school program from 1985 through 2005 — twenty years! I worked at five different Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) training centers run by Bill Gothard and his staff, as well as working at IBLP Headquarters in Oak Brook, […]