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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.

Tag Archives: fear

How “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family” Blames Victims

11 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

56

An Institute publication entitled “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family” [Click here for the full pdf document] was first mailed to Advanced Training Institute (ATI) families in the late 1990s, and it has been periodically distributed at conferences since. Recovering Grace does not know the identity of the family members who shared their story […]

Third Witness: Sexual Harassment at Headquarters

8 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

88

Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series of stories relating Bill Gothard’s sexual harassment of young girls at Headquarters. Click on these links to read the previous stories: Lizzie’s story Part 1 and Part 2, and Annette’s story, as well as a follow-up article, “A Call to Repentance.” My story begins like […]

Why We Care About Sexual Abuse

4 April 2013, 06:00

Beverly

12

April is national Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Last year Recovering Grace dedicated the month of April to bringing these stories of darkness into the light, and we are doing so again this year. Why do we choose to focus our attention on this emotionally disturbing, heart-wrenching subject? It takes only a glance at today’s news […]

Why Be a World Changer?

28 March 2013, 06:00

Moderator

31

Am I the only one who gets triggered by the idea of being a world changer? My news feed is full of calls to be a world changer — all from different camps. One is from the “Truth Project,” another from IHOP (the ministry, not the restaurant), another from YWAM, another from…. well, I could […]

Safety or Superstition?

17 March 2013, 14:50

WendyA

81

The deeper I move into traditional realms of theological thought, the more I am convinced that one of the biggest dangers in the teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is that it teaches a subtle form of superstitious determinism. Rather than being free to live our lives without fear, we are taught […]

Stolen Treasures

11 March 2013, 05:00

Moderator

143

A recent article on Recovering Grace, entitled “Moving On,” prompted me to think about the reason it is so difficult to move forward after being victimized by legalism. As I have worked with those hurt by legalism over the years, I have often heard stories about what happened five, ten, maybe thirty years ago. These […]

Toxic People: Narcissists in Ministry

7 March 2013, 06:00

Moderator

26

The most read Hope Blog posts in the last four years have been the the series addressing toxic people and how to deal with those in your life who are unrepentant human destruction machines. These posts have received tens of thousands of hits over the last few years as those searching have come across the […]

It’s All In Your Head!

4 February 2013, 06:04

HelenE

15

Bill Gothard teaches many things that are erroneous. Even dedicated followers admit the need to pick and choose. This story outlines only a few of them in relation to what I experienced starting in 1992. Bill’s teaching on mental illness is that it is caused by irresponsibility or a character deficiency. I disagree. I was […]

Identifying Religious Brainwashing: Doctrine Over Person

28 January 2013, 06:00

Stephen Smith

5

[Editor’s note: This is part 7 of an 8-part original series. Not all parts have been published on Recovering Grace. To read all 8 parts, please refer to the links below.] This is the seventh in an eight-part series on how to identify brainwashing in a destructive group or cult. It is based off of Dr. […]

Spiritual Abuse?

17 January 2013, 06:00

Eric Pazdziora

42

Do you think it is possible to be abused spiritually? What does that look like? Can we learn the signs? How can we tell if others have been spiritually abused? How does a person heal when things like prayer, scripture, and music, which many find comforting, have been used to wield damaging blows? When pulling […]