G O T H A R D I S M

CHARISMATIC & COVENANT

Miles J. Stanford

Bill Gothard has one foot in the Charismatic (demonism) realm, and the other in the Covenant (legalism) realm. In his 1993 paper, "Ten Reasons For Alumni to Be Encouraged," he wrote:

Pray that God will rebuke the Principalities over the city (Indianapolis) (p. 5). A "Principality" is a ruler over an area of jurisdiction. The word literally means "A prince over a pality," as in municipality (p. 9).

Mr. Gothard also teaches the Charismatic error of applying Old Testament (OT) generational retribution to the Church. "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them [idols], nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate Me. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5,6; 34:7).

These references, including the following utilized by Mr. Gothard and all [demon] deliverance people, have nothing whatsoever to do with the heavenly Body of Christ. Leviticus 26:39-42, Jeremiah 14:20, Daniel 9:13,16, Nehemiah 9:2, Numbers 14:17-20, Psalm 109:10-14, Acts 7:51, Matthew 27.25, Luke 11:47-51..

If one so much as touches Israel at any point, whether past, present, or future, he has violated the rightly-divided Word of truth, and its Pauline Dispensationalism.

Mr. Gothard has reversed the approach to, and basis of, the Christian life; founding it primarily upon the OT and the Synoptic Gospels. His ministry is not built upon, or coming from, the heavenly Gospel of the Grace of God, as set forth almost exclusively by Paul. Dr. Wm. R. Newell puts his doctrinal finger upon the Gothard stance of Covenantism.

You can discern a man's preaching or teaching by this rule--is he Pauline? Does his doctrine start and finish according to those statements of doctrine written by the glorified Lord Jesus Christ through Paul?

No matter how wonderful and popular a man may seem in his gifts and apparent leadership, if his Gospel is not Pauline, it is not the Gospel; and we might as well get our minds settled once and for all as to that.

Failure or refusal to discern the Pauline Gospel of the Grace of God as a separate and new revelation, exclusively for the Church, and not a "development from Judaism," accounts for most of the confusion in many people's minds today as regards just what the Gospel is.

One is not to consider the Christian life from the perspective of the OT, nor from the Synoptic Gospels. Christian truth--Church truth--is centered in the Paul's Church Epistles.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, and in which ye stand; by which also ye are saved... for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The Gospel includes both justification, and sanctification.

When Christ was crucified, the Christian was crucified with Him (Gal. 2:20). When Christ was buried, the believer was buried with Him (Rom. 6:4). When Christ rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Christian rose with Him and is presently and positionally seated together with Him (Eph. 2:6).

In Christ the Christian has died to sin [past, present, and future] (Rom. 6: 11), to the Adamic self-life (Rom. 6:6), to the law--all law (Rom. 7:4,6), and to the world (Gal. 6:14). His citizenship is not upon the earth, nor in the earthly kingdom, but in heaven (Phil 3:20).

If and when the Christian sins, he has the privilege and responsibility to confess his sins to the Father, "who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all [our] unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7,9).

The Christian is justified from all sin; and "there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 5:1; 8:1).

The Christian, whose very Christian life is Christ's life (Col. 3:4), is therefore a member of the heavenly Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27); not only so, but "we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones" (Eph. 5:30). Identification; position.

All of God's dealings with those in His Son (the exclusive union and position of Christians) are on the basis of the two men, the two federal heads, the two Adams--with no one in between; neither parent, grandparent, nor anyone else.

"For if by one man's [Adam's] disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One [Christ] shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19). The Christian has been made the very righteousness of God in Christ--Christ is His righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21).

At the Cross the Christian was separated by death from the first Adam; in the resurrection he was re-created in newness of life, in the Last Adam (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:4,5).

It is the Adamic life alone that God dealt with on the Cross. Hence the believer is to count himself as having died to sin (all sin, no matter whose)--and to be alive unto God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11).

By "rightly dividing the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15) on the basis of Pauline Dispensationalism, there is no possible way that God's OT promises and penalties concerning Israel can be applied to the heavenly Church, to the Christian, whose life is "hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3).

Mr. Gothard is presenting an OT, Synoptic-based, Kingdom Gospel, intended and directed to the nation of Israel; with Paul's Gospel as an addendum.

The great failure in the Church was in giving up Paul. "All ... in Asia" did not give up evangelical truth but they gave up Paul; anything popular you may have, but not Paul. Why? Because Paul is heavenly. --J.B. Stoney

Of this, Paul stated unequivocally, "I marvel that ye [and there are many today, who should know better!] are so soon removed from him [Paul] that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another; but there are some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ.

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:6-9).

Some time ago Mr. Gothard picked up, and added on to his Charismatic-Covenant ministry, something of the growth truths. Charismatics tend to do that, without shedding their many errors. Of Dr. Gothard, a friend wrote to me the following:

The first time I heard the identification truths at a Gothard seminar was in May of 1982. Bill shared the truths in a seven-step approach. He told the crowd that if any of the seven steps were not acted upon, one could not expect victory over sin. This is typical, as Bill is a "collector."

During the scandal crisis* at BIYC several of the staff were reading Nee's book, The Normal Christian Life. A number of them began to see something of the identification truths. One of the staff was being groomed to replace Bill, should the need occur.

This brother did all the video seminars. He met with Bill one Sunday and shared how he saw the Institute endorsing the law instead of grace. Others shared this same burden with Bill and out of all of them he developed these seven (who can argue with the perfect number?) steps.

Bill in his younger days was taken to the Moody-Keswick Conference in Florida. He reacted to the passivity he thought he sensed there, and said he wanted to have a more practical ministry. The result was to purpose to do... This information came to me from a former staff member of eleven years.

Many expressed to me how excited they were that Bill was teaching Romans Six, and I hoped that God was turning the sex scandal around. But I was disappointed when I heard first-hand just what was being taught by Bill.

Bill makes the truths of identification a human activity--more of a formula than a living truth. And I am afraid that these truths are no more than another file in his drawer. Our identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension is not the central truth of Bill's ministry, but just another truth.

*Dr. Samuel J. Schultz, professor emeritus of OT, Wheaton College, was a member of the Board of IBYC from 1965 to 1980. On the occasion of his resignation from the Board, due to the scandal, he read the following Paper to the Board. In part, he stated:

On May 14, 1980, we as Board members were shocked to learn of the gross immorality that had prevailed for some time among the staff under Bill's supervision as president. The disruption that followed adversely affected the lives of almost the entire staff and families associated with IBYC. Their confidence in Bill was shaken, and his credibility deteriorated rapidly in the wake of this tragedy.

Steve Gothard (Bill's younger brother) and the seven female employees with whom he has been involved sexually were dismissed immediately. If any of us assumed that this was the basic problem, we were soon made aware of the almost total loss of confidence by the staff in Bill as an administrator and teacher in the seminars. The basic charge: Bill does not practice what he teaches. By July, Bill's leadership was bankrupt.

On Saturday morning, July 5th, a member of the Gothard family shared in detail with the Board that Steve Gothard has also been deeply involved in pornography. The staff communicated to us that they could not conscientiously promote the seminars since Bill was not consistent with his message. This assertion is documented repeatedly by staff members as they resigned throughout the rest of the year....

If Pauline Dispensationalism were held throughout the Church, there would be no Charismaticism, no Covenantism, and, no Gothardism.

It is as Essential to Keep the Two Adams Apart

as it is Israel & the Church

Dear Sir:
Thank you for making this exposé available on the Web. Through the years, I have encountered a number of Mr. Gothard's disciples and have often wondered why they were so 'sharp-edged', self-righteous, and often hypocritical. They talk a good game, but their lives fall far short of even their own standards. Gothardism is truly a cancer in the Body of Christ. Blessings to you and yours.
[signed]

Further insights regarding the teachings and spirit of Gothardism.

A STUDY IN EVOLVING FADISM - The Dangerous Leanings of Bill Gothard’s Teachings

THE BASIC LIFE PRINCIPLES OF BILL GOTHARD - Benevolent Ministry or Bondage Making.

MJStanford

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(Materials by Miles J. Stanford are republished here under exclusive permission from the author.)