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

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Their Day in Court: Part One

22 February 2019, 10:00

KariU

What follows is part one of a three-part personal account of the hearing and some of the events leading up to it, written by a member of the Recovering Grace leadership team who was there. (Part Two) (Part Three) Hearing Day The morning of the hearing started for the plaintiffs at the Fairfield Inn and […]

An ATI Education, Final Chapter: Guilty Silence

4 January 2016, 14:55

Sara Jones

168

Was a woman raped? Don’t jump to her defense—God might hold her just as guilty as her attacker. In Wisdom Booklet 36, Gothard discusses the legal penalties for kidnapping, assault, battery, and rape. He writes: “God has established some very strict guidelines of responsibility for a woman who is attacked. She is to cry out for […]

An ATI Education, Chapter 4: The Law of Grace

17 December 2015, 14:18

Sara Jones

“If a woman doesn’t cry out when she’s raped, God holds her equally guilty with her attacker.” Bill Gothard states this outright in Wisdom Booklet 36; hundreds of people, most of them well-meaning Christians, read and accepted it. I was one of them. I wrote this series for Recovering Grace to give a glimpse into the long, […]

An ATI Education, Chapter 3: Thou Shalt Not Trap the Eye

14 December 2015, 12:15

Sara Jones

“Ye are the light of the world; a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” According to Bill Gothard, this verse clearly directs women to avoid clothing with “eye traps” that might attract a man’s lustful attention. As a quick recap, my previous articles explained: 1. Bill Gothard set himself up as the final authority […]

An ATI Education: Introduction

12 October 2015, 06:00

Sara Jones

If a woman doesn’t cry out when she’s raped, God holds her equally guilty with her attacker. This biblical mandate is familiar to every student and parent who went through Bill Gothard’s Wisdom Booklet #36. Reading it as a bald statement like that, it’s hard to believe that a thinking Christian would admit to believing […]

Church Celebrities Who are Above Criticism: Bill Gothard

1 July 2015, 06:00

Moderator

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“He deprives the trusted ones of speech And takes away the discernment of the elders.” (Job 12:20) In a post put up a couple weeks ago, I recounted how, in the late sixties, my dad, Joe Bayly publicly criticized Bob Jones University. He did so in his monthly column in ETERNITY Magazine. It was also […]

IBYC Scandal in the News — 1980-1982

10 December 2014, 08:00

Moderator

1. Brief news clip in Eternity regarding IBYC resignations (July-August 1980) 2. The Bill Gothard Tragedy (Plains Baptist Challenger, August 1980) 3. ‘Sexual misconduct’ rocks Chicago-based ministry (The Dallas Morning News, 8/2/80) 4. Bill Gothard Steps Down During Institute Shakeup (Christianity Today, 8/8/80) 5. Evangelicals Feel Strain as Churches Adjust to Marriage Failures (Los […]

You Cannot Pay With Words

12 November 2014, 09:00

Moderator

My story is about a leader maintaining a double life for decades and then demanding to pay for his deeds with words and tears. He is outwardly sorrowful that his words and favor are no longer valid currency. My parents were regional and state leaders in the homeschooling movement for years before we joined the […]

Four Tools of Spiritual Manipulators

19 September 2014, 11:33

Moderator

I grew up in the homeschool subculture of Bill Gothard and his Advanced Training Institute (ATI). I participated in Children’s Institutes, worked at Training Centers stateside and in Russia, and attended Oak Brook College of Law, Young Men’s Conferences, and too many seminars to count. Though I learned much from these experiences and am grateful […]

Citing Scripture: Butchery or Surgery?

30 June 2014, 06:00

Moderator

by Bernard Ramm Old Bill Shakespeare put his scalpel on a raw nerve when he wrote: “In religion, what damned error, but some sober brow will bless it, and approve it with a text, hiding the grossness with fair ornament” (Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2). My study Bible has 1512 pages. Some place in […]