Mr. Gothard does not teach these wonderful truths which will set us free from the power of sin (the law) and to allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to be everything we were meant to be. No! He teaches how to be enslaved to the power and the penalty of sin. There is no freedom of the Spirit to lead in one’s life. By the time you have “progressed” to the elite “home education” seminar, he will dictate when you get up in the morning, how to dress, what to eat (dietary law), what music to listen to, how to use the TV (never) and the newspaper (let others screen it for you), not to use contraceptives, when to have sex with your mate (based on Levitical law), what colors and styles to use in your dress, how to clean your house, how to check your mail, choice of toys, whether a man should wear a beard or not, how to use your money, how you should worship, how to be cleansed from sin, how to be right with your brothers, friendships, dating, and the list goes on. Gothard’s blueprint is indeed a “how to” religion which gives people no room for a personal Christianity. It is a way of controlling and cloning people. What area of life would the Holy Spirit be able to interact with a person under this system? Does Gothard know the mind of God so well that he can dictate so many details in the lives and hearts of God’s people? Wouldn’t this also isolate these people from any truth or added information from sources outside of the Gothard camp? Would it enhance an arrogance of superiority in the body of Christ because no one but Gothard knows God’s way?
Former Gothardite Jenice Miller, cited in A Matter of Basic Principles: Bill Gothard and His Cultic Teachings, by Don and Joy Veinot and Ron Henzel, pg..202-203
This seems to me like a problem that extends far beyond Gothard. Ministers oftentimes are in the habit of telling people what to do with their lives.
ReplyDeleteYes, but Gothard has thousands of followers all over the country and has been teach crap for 60 years!
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