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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: guilt

Was It All Wrong?

27 March 2014, 06:00

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Okay, now we have left the legalist church/organization/teacher. Now what? Where do we stand? Do we throw out everything we learned? How do we sort out all of this? Does it all just need to go? I have been getting a lot of these questions lately. Doug Phillips and Vision Forum are gone. Bill Gothard […]

LA Committee Questions to IBYC

20 March 2014, 06:00

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Silencing the Lambs: Twisting Matthew 18

3 March 2014, 06:00

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A Response to Rediscovering a Forgotten Truth The day was Valentine’s Day 1976. Bill Gothard and his brother, Steve, had some surprising confessions to make to the staff of IBYC: they had “defrauded” staff secretaries. In the months prior to this, some of the young ladies had sought out the help of other staff members […]

Defrauding: What does it mean?

27 February 2014, 06:00

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In February 1976, Bill Gothard confessed to the poorly-defined offense of “having ‘defrauded’ staff secretaries.” In a July 1980 meeting of the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC) board, it was confirmed that Bill Gothard was responsible for the “physical and emotional defrauding of several of his personal secretaries.” In February 1981, Bill once again […]

The GOTHARD Files: 1983 Transcript

26 February 2014, 06:00

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The following conference telephone call took place between approximately 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. (Portland, Oregon, time) on Tuesday, November 1, 1983. Those involved in the discussion were: [former IBYC staffer “Rebecca”], Mr. Larne Gabriel, Mrs. Ruth Gabriel, Reverend Richard Hagenbaugh, Dr. Earl Radmacher, and Dr. Gary Smalley. Dr. Earl Radmacher: …I am Earl Radmacher, and […]

Silencing the Lambs: Taking Up Offenses

22 February 2014, 06:00

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Not taking up an offense As the destructive patterns of Bill Gothard’s alleged indiscretions continue to be told, our comment threads have been hit steadily with various forms of the same question: “Why haven’t these stories been told sooner? If people witnessed these behaviors, why didn’t they speak out?” One oft-quoted—but fallacious—teaching within the Advanced Training […]

The GOTHARD Files: The Scandal, 1980

20 February 2014, 06:00

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This is part two of a three-part series on the history of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, formerly known as the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC). Please click here to read the Introduction and here to read Part One. Previously we explored events leading up to the IBYC scandal that broke in 1980. […]

Marcus’s Story: Touching the Invisible Electric Fence

17 February 2014, 08:00

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I was invited to work at the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) headquarters during the summer of 1992. I said goodbye to my family in Knoxville, Tennessee, where we had traveled to attend the yearly Advanced Training Institute (ATI) annual conference, and climbed aboard one of the many vans transporting IBLP staff back to Oak […]

Rachel’s Story

17 February 2014, 06:00

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This is my real name, and below is my real story. The Awkward First Meeting It was the final session of the 1992 Knoxville conference, and the choir and orchestra were starting to gather for the big rendition of “It Will Be Worth it All.” I was supposed to be playing flute in the orchestra, […]

Silencing the Lambs: Listening to an Evil Report

15 February 2014, 06:00

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See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. IBLP has a Matthew 18 publication that fits well with each monkey.

Listening to an Evil Report One question often asked of those who have contributed their stories to Recovering Grace is, “If things were so bad, or even illegal, why didn’t you contact the authorities, or at least tell your parents or a lawyer?” Most who grew up in the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and/or Institute in Basic […]