Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Duggar Family, Abuse, and the Foundation of Abuse.
Mutual History - Bill Gothard, ATI, Abuse.
Stephan and the Great Walther Myth



Josh Duggar's sexual abuse of his sisters can be traced to his family's involvement with Bill and Steve Gothard, both serial abusers of young women. They were also very close to Doug Phillips and his wife Beale, whose story is below the Gothard scandal. Both scandals broke at about the same time, but represent years of abuse.




Bill Gothard earned a bachelor's and master's degree at Wheaton College. His also has a fake PhD. His brother Steve.

Here is an account of Bill and Steve's abuse - Biblical Search Reports.

The method of selected young women for work at the headquarters - and grooming them - is described here.


Josh and Anna Duggar met at a Gothard conference,
the Duggar family was extremely loyal to Gothard's training.
Josh was sent for "treatment" to a Gothard location in Little Rock.

I was vaguely aware of the Duggar connection to Gothard, and Gothard's scandals, but I am not bewitched by the Evangelicals and their Pietim.

The alarm bell went off when I read how Josh and Anna Duggar met, although they were careful to omit the Gothard name or even the full name of the group.

Bill Gothard never married,
but used youth women  as unpaid, poorly paid
or paying staff, isolating and grooming them.


Josh and Anna Duggar Website
Josh: In early 2006, my Dad was campaigning for State Senate. We were a couple weeks from the Primary Election when my family took our annual trip to the ATI Conference. I was busy working with the A/V team, and had very little free time… but during one of the breaks I ended up talking through my lunch break with some new friends!…
Anna: …My siblings & I enjoyed meeting Joshua,
[a year later]
Anna: Our family made the trip from Florida to Texas again to attend our annual ATI Conference.

Advanced Training Institute is the final name for Gothard's non-profit behemoth for training Fundamentalist home-schoolers. Another name is Institute in Biblical Life Principles.
Bill's brother Steve resigned from the IBLP when Steve's many affairs with institute secretaries were revealed.  Bill resigned too - for three weeks - and came back.


 ATI-IBLP

Founding

The Advanced Training Institute International was founded in 1984 by the Institute in Basic Life PrinciplesOffsite Link through the vision of Bill GothardOffsite Link. It began as the answer to the request of Basic Seminar alumni who desired to train their children in the Biblical principles that had transformed their lives.
One hundred and two families were selected from over 2,000 who applied to pilot the program. They met together with Bill in the north woods of Michigan for a week of planning and made commitments to turn life into a classroom and use Scripture as the main textbook for studying every academic subject.
[GJ - Brother Steve had his affairs with secretaries at the North Woods campus, and Bill sent them to him "to help with the curriculum."]
***
GJ - The Duggar family shows made me uneasy about their strange language and behavior. Josh explained, lamely, the concept of "defrauding," which rang hollow to me. The Gothard material shows how Bill Gothard used his special cult language and shaming to cultivate and manipulate the young women who appealed to him. Defrauding came up as one of his favorite terms, easily used in various ways.
If you find Jim Bob annoying, who covered up his son's abuse, you will see that his dogma comes directly from the Gothard cult. 
The Duggar clan was just getting noticed and have specials when Josh's abuse of his sisters came up, due to Oprah's program refusing to run their tape, after warned of the scandal. Oprah's referral to authorities led to an investigation, and the police report details are on the Net.
Book - A Matter of Basic Principles
Sometime around 1964, Gothard was invited to teach a course on youth ministry at Wheaton. Forty-five students attended, including pastors, youth workers, and educators. The materials he presented at the time became the foundation for his seminars. In 1966, Gothard presented a seminar to 1,000 people in the Chicago area. He repeated the performance in 1967 and held his first out-of-town seminar in Seattle for 42 in 1968. Gothard’s new organization, the IBYC, was born. The Ministry Takes Off From such small beginnings, it was difficult to see the great popularity he would enjoy down the road. His combined attendance for all his seminars in 1968 was actually around 2,000. But then things really took off! As Wilfred Bockelman later would report in his book, Gothard — The Man and His Ministry: An Evaluation, “In 1969 there were around 4,000; 1971, 12,000; 1972 over 128,000 including 13,000 in the Seattle Coliseum; in 1973 more than 200,000.”12 Before you could say, “post-Watergate social malaise,” Gothard’s public career had outlasted that of most major rock-and-roll stars, including the Beatles (as a group), and his live audiences were at least as huge as those at rock concerts. Churches in every city, town, and hamlet in America were taking their young people to his seminars by the busload. Little bands of three-ring-binder-toting Gothard disciples sprang up on college and university campuses across the country. Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Veinot, Don (2003-08-25). A Matter of Basic Principles (Kindle Locations 618-631). Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. Kindle Edition. 

What was the nature of the “gross immorality” which shocked Samuel Schultz, former professor at Wheaton College and Institute board member since 1965, as well as the other board members? Bill’s brother, Steve Gothard, Institute employee and a vice-president, had been involved in sexual affairs with seven of the Institute secretaries. In fact, a total of 15 people were involved in sexual immorality — a very bad (and sad) situation in any Christian organization and particularly so for one whose primary emphasis is high moral character. The scandal that rocked the ministry in the early 1980s is not new news. It is a matter of record, having been reported in such Christian periodicals as Christianity Today and such secular media as the Los Angeles Times (some of which will be referenced in this chapter).

Veinot, Don (2003-08-25). A Matter of Basic Principles (Kindle Locations 719-725). Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. Kindle Edition. 
By all accounts, however, Bill Gothard who is a bachelor, had known for over four years that Steve, who was a bachelor at the time, was having affairs with his secretaries, but he misused his power “at the top” to silence witnesses within the ministry. Instead of dealing with this crisis openly, with the hope of a resultant repentance and restoration, Gothard moved Steve and his “problem” to a remote location — and only when the secretaries publicly brought charges did Gothard remove them from their positions at the Institute. We realize the seriousness of this claim, but the documentation which follows will bear this out. This is the story as it unfolded:

Veinot, Don (2003-08-25). A Matter of Basic Principles (Kindle Locations 775-780). Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. Kindle Edition. 

Dr. Ronald B. Allen, former professor of Hebrew Scripture at Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon (where he taught for 25 years), was very concerned about Bill’s erroneous teachings. He attended a seminar with his wife in 1973. He wrote: In this seminar I was regularly assaulted by the misuse of the Bible, particularly of the Old Testament, on a level that I have never experienced in a public ministry before that time (or since).2 His misgivings about Gothard’s teachings were so great that he spoke with the then president of Western Baptist Seminary, Dr. Earl Radmacher. Dr. Radmacher voiced similar concerns and proposed to set up a meeting with Bill Gothard in an attempt to address these concerns. Bill Gothard declined to meet with Dr. Allen. About this futile attempt at resolution, Allen recalls: Gothard said his instruction is from God and that he will not be instructed by one of Radmacher’s seminary faculty.3

Veinot, Don (2003-08-25). A Matter of Basic Principles (Kindle Locations 953-963). Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. Kindle Edition. 

Duggar Courtship Law Duplicates Gothard's Law
Nothing is quite so nauseating as Jim Bob's courtship rules, which come directly from Bill Gothard, serial sex offender, dedicated cover-up artist, bully. con-man, false-teaching murderer of souls.
Gothard, like all cult leaders, would declare something to be wrong, evil, and from Satan. Cotton Patch dolls were on that list.
Dating was the font of all evil, so he had people wrecking their families with absurd rules - our family favorite being the side-hug. What was Dear Leader Gothard doing in the rooms, alone, with young girls who were just going to bed and in their jammies or nightgowns?
The Duggars made a sacrament out of No Kissing Before Marriage, with several babies following soon after the ceremony (another sacrament, but not the chief one.). One must recognize in the Duggar-Gothard Church Luther's rule - "They turn Moses into the Savior, and Jesus into Moses."
The Law saves. The more laws, the better. And yet their legalism is accompanied by Antinomianism, just like WELS. Gothard even used the Galatians passage, twisted, "The Law was a tutor, leading us to Christ." No more Law (for Gothard and Duggar) but lots of laws.
As we all know, Josh's parents sent their errant boy to a Gothard facility to get straightened out, but that was a face-saving device. It hardly amounted to anything. Jim Bob also used a state policeman, a very close friend, to talk to Josh and start the clock ticking on the statute of limitations. The state trooper, now in the hoosegow for child porn (he re-offended, like Josh), never filed a report. 
One suspects the parents dealt with lawyers very early. Jim Bob would not let the police interview Josh, which was his right as a father. Jim Bob did not have a duty to report, but their church did, since the molestations happened on church property, a rented house. The state trooper did, but he failed to do so.

---

Another Duggar Pal - Abusing His Children's Nanny



WND EXCLUSIVE

CHRISTIAN GIANT SUED FOR 'USING NANNY AS SEX OBJECT'

Lawsuit claims religious leader promised to marry young woman after wife dies


author-image CHELSEA SCHILLING About | Email | Archive

The nanny-abuser Doug Phillips gave Michelle Duggar
the Mother of the Year Award.

Nanny-abuser Doug Phillips posed with Bill Gothard,another expert at blaming very young girls for being abused.

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image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/04/DP1.jpg

Former Vision Forum Ministries President Doug Phillips
(Warning: This story contains explicit descriptions of alleged sexual conduct described in a lawsuit and may be offensive to some readers.)
The former leader of a popular Christian ministry – who resigned from his position after confessing to an “inappropriate” relationship – is now the subject of a lawsuit that claims he “methodically groomed” and made unwanted sexual contact with a young woman after serving as an authority figure in her life for more than a decade.
Doug Phillips, a husband and father of eight children, had been a popular and controversial figure in the homeschooling movement and a leading advocate of “biblical patriarchy” before his resignation from Vision Forum Ministries and Boerne Christian Assembly, a Baptist church outside San Antonio, Texas, at which he had served as an elder and preached hundreds of sermons.
Phillips was also founder of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.
According to the teachings of the patriarchy movement, also known as the stay-at-home daughters or quiverfull movement, young women remain at home under the protection of their fathers. They’re generally expected not to work outside their home or go to college, and they’re taught to abide by strict gender roles in which men have authority over women.
‘A personal sex object’
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/04/DP2.jpg

Lourdes Torres and Doug Phillips
In the complaint filed in Kendall County District Court in Texas Tuesday morning, Phillips is accused of using a woman named Lourdes Torres, now 29, as “a personal sex object” over a period of five years.
Asked if she ever believed she loved Phillips, Torres, who was over the age of 21 at the time of the sexual contact, told WND, “Oh, yes, definitely.”
Torres said she met Phillips and his wife, Beall, at a homeschooling conference in November 1999 when Torres was 15 years old. Torres spent many hours in the Phillips home, cared for their children and helped run the family farm. She was invited on trips with the family to Hawaii, Virginia, Mexico, Florida and other states.
By 2007, according to the complaint, Phillips began “to pay special attention” to Torres, complementing her beauty and devotion to his family, giving her money, touching her, asking her personal questions about her thoughts and life plans and telling her he would take care of her...

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/pastor-accused-of-using-nanny-as-sex-object-2/#bJcppgFYuUtEKp8B.99
***
The Synodical Conference Parallel

Various authors have documented Martin Stephan having the same kind of sex cult and robotic followers as Bill Gothard. Stephan made sure he was accompanied by young woman on late evening strolls through the woods.

Stephan contracted syphilis and gave it to his wife, children, and groupies. That was the real crisis that allowed CFW Walther to realize - with a shock - that his bishop was an adulterer.

WELS, LCMS, the ELS, and CLC (sic) still lie about Walther's role as a cult follower and self-appointed pope over the movement. All the evidence goes against the Great Walther myth, but it continues to burden the synods and justify victimizing the members.
Did WELS inform its members when DP Ed Werner went to prison for molesting girls in his own congregation, over a span of decades? No.
Did WELS report the theft of St. John in Milwaukee, its property and endowment? No.
The same things could be said about the others. I have some very pointed examples, but they inflict harm on the victims, so there is no need to repeat them. The clergy know many of the stories.
Gothard -  Stephan - Walther.

Posted by Ichabod the Glory Has Departed at 6:00 PM
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The Misleading and Deceptive Claims against the King James and the Textus Receptus

The NIV, like hogweed, has taken over WELS.
Look how pretty this flower is -
just don't touch the leaves.
MAY 21, 2015 AT 4:47 PM
The mequon faculty is inherently flawed
Dr. Joseph Jewell said...
Mr. Liermann,

The short answer as to why the NKJV wasn't seriously considered (I'll let Pastor Krahn give the long one, if he wishes) is that the Seminary faculty's current thinking (and thus the thinking of most WELS pastors younger than a certain age) is that any translation based upon the Textus Receptus (e.g. the KJV, NKJV, Lutherbibel) is inferior to a translation based upon modern critical scholarship (e.g. the NIV84, NIV2011, HCSB).

Given that the WELS quite happily used the KJV for decades (not to mention the Lutherbibel line, based like the KJV on the Textus Receptus, in German worship for a century or more), the view that translations in this line are so inherently flawed as to not even be considered is obviously fairly new to our circles. Judging by the vintage of the WELS pastors who hold these views most strongly, my estimate is that this new emphasis on the inferiority of TR-based translations was in full swing by the 1980s, probably either concurrent with or in support of the effort to ditch the KJV for the original NIV.
---

From Someone in WELS:
I was reading the repost from Intrepids on your blog regarding the use of the NNIV for the WELS hymnal project.  In the comments someone asked why the WELS won’t consider the use of the KJV or NKJV.  The immediate response was those translations are “Textus Receptus” and considered “inherently flawed”.  I tried to read more about this and didn’t find anything useful other than a wiki page but the wiki did not draw strong conclusions.

Can you explain this to me in a couple of paragraphs?  Is this just s WELS canned response?

***

GJ - Here is one summary - 




The Textus Receptus is the text that has been used for 2,000 years by Christians. This is also the text that agrees with more than 95% of the Bible Manuscripts in Koine (common) Greek.  It is known by other names, such as the Traditional Text, Majority Text, Byzantine Text, or Syrian Text.
In his essay Texual Criticism, Dr. Thomas Cassidy writes: "The Traditional text of the New Testament has existed from the time of Christ right down to the present. It has had many different names down through the years, such as Byzantine Text, Eastern Text, Received Text, Textus Receptus, Majority Text, and others. Although no complete Bible manuscripts have survived which would allow us to date the Traditional text to the first century, there is a strong witness to the early existence and use of the Traditional text by the early church in its lectionaries."
A few facts showing the respected historical position of the Textus Receptus are in order. Its prominence and respect did not begin in 1611 with the KJV translators. They merely recognized (as others before them had), that the Textus Receptus was God's preserved word in the original New Testament language.


Lower criticism is the name for manuscript comparisons. No other ancient book has as much support (in numbers, in early dates) as the Bible, because Jews and Christians were anxious to preserve it as it was written down.

Manuscripts tend to be partial, due to their age, but the New Testament was carefully preserved by the Byzantine Empire, which was the Easter Roman Empire, for 1100 years. The fact remains that almost no one studies Byzantine history or knows anything about it. This Christian empire, using Greek as its language, was in a good position to preserve the New Testament.

Meanwhile, the Old Testament was carefully preserved by the Jewish leaders. When a book was copied by hand, the words and letters were counted to make sure they matched.

Tischendorf, Wescott and Hort, and others thought they could figure out better readings for the New Testament. Lenski liked to play with readings too, which shows what a raging fad it was at the time of his work. 

The new spirit of manuscript criticism has now devolved to the point where they not only drop verses they do not like, but in "dynamic equivalence" translating added words that never were there in the first place.

Briefly, the old tradition honored what the Christian Church preserved.

Starting with Tischensdorf, the traditional manuscripts became the bad ones, because "There are so many!" 

The supposed good ones had mysterious origins - Sinaiticus, Vaticanus - and were good because they disagreed with the traditional ones! "They differ, and they go against traditional Christianity, so they must be the best ones!"

Tischendorf "discovered Sinaiticus, which makes me as suspicious about that source as any sermon by Ski or Glende. The only honest sermon by Ski is a porno rant that makes no sense - gen-u-whine.
Otherwise, it is from Groeschel or so other screaming circus clown.

Imagine starting with a bad norm and building all Bibles on that norm.



But wait, there's more!
The committee that meets to decide what belongs in the New Testament text uses a blackball approach, just like sororities. If a verse loses, 3 to 2, the verse is dropped. The losses are difficult to find because they are dropped to the bottom in fine print with the note - Some witnesses have...

That is why WELS, a thoroughly mainline liberal sect, hates the King James Version and modern updates of the KJV. Anything in the KJV family makes the NIV and New NIV look ridiculous.

I have written about this at length in Thy Strong Word.


He cannot drive his rock band on a clear day,
but he wants $3,000 to show up for a gig -
Koine, another eructation from Mark Jeske.




Posted by Ichabod the Glory Has Departed at 12:13 PM
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WELS Is All Out for NNIV - The New Hymnal AND All Northwestern Publishing House Projects

All opinions agreeing with the NNIV are welcome.
The rest get the Left Foot of Fellowship.


Intrepid Lutherans - WELS Going All Out for the New NIV
Alec Satin said...
If WELS adopts the NIV 2011, it's going to be hard not to believe that WELS has turned its back on both laity and the Word of God. The idea that the eclectic text is God's gift is far from universally accepted in the church at large. The fact that such a discussion seems to be verboten in WELS is another indication of how troubled things are here.

I came to WELS two years ago with such high hopes. Here seemed to be a denomination that was still holding strong. After previous heartbreaks when churches that I attended fell, I wanted so much for WELS to be what it presents itself to be. Yet there seems to be such a "my country right or left" attitude as per George Orwell. I've taken now to holding back my (educated) suggestions and concerns about practices which are concerning. Questioning in WELS seems to be taboo.

How can any group be healthy if everything is swept under the rug? Aren't we strengthened by questioning one another? (Proverbs 27.17)

About a year ago the subject of the hymnal came up in a WELS bible study. The young leader (not the pastor) said, "The hymnal committee has said that the NIV 2011 is substantively the same as the NIV 1984. There's no reason why we shouldn't use it." I raised some questions and provided some details as to why this wasn't the case. No response was forthcoming. Most troubling was the response of the class which seemed to have never heard of the NIV 2011, or the fact that the NIV 1984 was taken off the market.

How different are we from the Roman Catholic Church if the people are considered a separate, ignorant class trained to defer all matters of the faith to the privileged elite? This is not something Luther would applaud.

Intrepid Lutherans, you've made me so sad with this post. But thanks for keeping the information flowing.
Alec

You like the New KJV?
Read my foot.

***
GJ - According to one source, anything submitted to NPH must now be NNIV. This was easy to predict years ago. WELS began trashing the KJV at Mequon, preparing the way for an anti-sacramental NIV 1984.
WELS tossed critics of the NIV out of the ministerium, even though WELS criticized modern translations earlier.
WELS only considered the New NIV with any seriousness while this was developing. That was just like the amalgamation manipulations, where the votes were only counted when they were in favor of amalgamation.

Anyone who takes WELS seriously
has not paid attention to the plagiarizing beer buddies,
Ski and Glende,
and their guru Mark Jeske.

Posted by Ichabod the Glory Has Departed at 9:29 AM
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