IBLP founder Bill Gothard reportedly in coma after heart attack

I didn't know he was still alive. I do know a lot of lives have been destroyed and churches have been disrupted by his teachings. It is sad how many families who embraced his teachings have had sexual abuse in them. (It is not just the Duggers, many people who know Gothard families can testify to the pattern and it was not just from Bill and his brother but often from the boys who grew up in those families). If you do not want your kids and grandkids sexually abused, keep them away from Gothard and his teaching. Even for those who are not theologically astute enough to spot the errors of his teaching, remember that by their fruits you shall know them.

I fear part of the problem was the teachings oversexualization of women and the idea that if a man stumbled it was always the woman (or girls) fault. Years ago my wife personally spoke to a lady who relayed that she had told Bill Gothard that she was being sexually abused (as a minor) by her brother and Gothard told her it was her fault. The evidence has continued to pile up as years have gone by since then.

When the Duggar boys and others were taught that their sin was the fault of their sisters and other little girls, then it is no wonder that they felt emboldened to sin as they did.

This should alert us to the broader issue of the danger of evangelicals in general excusing pornography as all the woman's fault by suggesting that men cannot resist. We tell our boys that temptation will cross their eyes whether they look for it or not, but they have a responsibility to control their thoughts and hearts no matter how attractive an image may be. No doubt God makes women attractive and we should be thankful for that, but that is no excuse for lust.

First of all, I do pray for his recovery--he is indeed a fellow human being.

Regarding his teaching, my take is that it's a mixture of previously determined "rulesism" that shows up in all kinds of places where nobody knows about IBLP. Doug Wilson rehashed his thoughts on schooling and courting (vs. dating), Doug Philipps mixed Gothard's principles in with Vision Forum, and you'll hear his ideas being passed around at places like MOPS and such.

This article describes quite a bit of where Gothard goes wrong; more or less by re-asserting Torah law that doesn't clearly apply to the New Testament believer, adding modern objections to otherwise benign behaviors, and the like. Most objectionable is his "umbrella of authority" concept that commands absolute submission to those with authority, even when those authority holders are sinning and even forcing their subordinates to sin.

And that's where a lot of the problems came from; men assumed they were in control by virtue of being male or older, and that what they said, went--even when it was sinful.