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

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Tag Archives: false-teaching

The Brilliance of Bill Gothard

29 April 2015, 06:00

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Bill Gothard created a cult, and he did a fine job of it. He didn’t create a commune that physically isolated his followers from the rest of the world. He didn’t lead weird sessions with chanting and candles. He didn’t even come up with strange names for his teachings. He conducted his cult in the […]

The Truth About God’s Justice

21 April 2015, 06:00

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I grew up afraid of God’s justice. Though my parents were well-balanced in meting out mercy and discipline (very well-balanced considering we went to a Gothardite church), I always imagined God coming down from heaven with a sword of justice in hand, ready to punish all of us for our sins. He had just enough […]

Belonging

9 April 2015, 06:00

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In groups like the Advanced Training Institute, we have an identity and a community. We might not always like it, but it gives us a level of security. We are surrounded by people who think like us. We speak a different language from other people around us, using words like “courtship,” “motivational gift,” “rhema” and […]

Sorry, Mom and Dad. We DO Have Regrets

22 January 2015, 06:00

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Growing up in ATI, our parents often told us, “Because of the way we’re raising you, you won’t have any regrets.”  Their regrets included broken relationships, sexual sins, temptations, “wasted” years and the like.  All of which we would to avoid because of our sheltered, carefully controlled upbringing. We don’t know if our parents honestly […]

An Open Letter to ATI Parents

12 January 2015, 16:58

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You wanted us to grow up strong and mature and capable and effective Christians, above all else. Thank you. You wanted us to love Jesus more than the world, you wanted to protect us from the failures your experienced at our age. Thank you. You wanted the absolute best for us and were willing to […]

IBYC Board Minutes 1977-1980

4 January 2015, 08:23

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For readers interested in the corporate governance of the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC, now IBLP, Institute in Basic Life Principles) during the period leading up to and through the Scandal of 1980, the minutes from Board of Directors meetings are attached.  Some names have been redacted, including those of victims caught up in the […]

The Package: Bill Gothard and His Children

1 January 2015, 00:00

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    Bill Gothard and His Children: The Unauthorized Short Biography   Image of envelope copyright: kchung / 123RF Stock Photo

The Package: Bill Gothard’s Knowledge of Sin

29 December 2014, 00:00

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Suggested viewing from IBYC management for the publication staff, photographed on the sidewalk outside HQ. 1980

    Detailed Knowledge Summary Bill Gothard has denied publicly — for 34 years — that he ever had any knowledge of any details of immorality before April of 1980 (the first time that Tony asked to meet Bill privately with a report of what was being discovered). Gothard has made this denial to the […]

IBYC According to Bryen – 1975

27 December 2014, 00:00

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In hindsight, David R. Bryen’s thesis is remarkably accurate on many counts.  Published in 1975 and titled “An Evaluation of the Theological, Hermeneutical and Psychological Assumptions of the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts,” this 126-page document was an unprecedented analysis of Gothard’s teachings. Why was Bryen so well aware of the dangers of Bill Gothard’s teachings […]

The Package: History of Attempts to Confront Bill Gothard

12 December 2014, 08:00

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  Click here to view the original outline of the tabbed and indexed materials included in the package, titled “Request by Bill Gothard for Truth and Reconciliation, 2013-2014.” The charges levelled against Bill Gothard in “the package,” along with supporting evidence, testimonies, and documentation, have been presented to Bill Gothard at least four times: 1. […]