Gothard by Wilfred Bockelman

In the over thirty years of Bill Gothard’s ministry there has only been two books, to my knowledge, critiquing his teachings and organization. This is due to a number of factors: the secretiveness of the organization, the overwhelming mass of materials and programs, and the militancy of Gothard followers. To many Christians Gothard, much like James Dobson, is untouchable. To examine, and especially to disagree with anything he says is like attacking the Bible. Few have dared to do so, even in areas in which Gothard is obviously in error. The first to attempt a published work was Wilfred Bockelman, who wrote Gothard in the wake of the early success of Basic Youth Conflicts seminars in the early 1970s. This is a relatively weak book written by a rather liberal Lutheran leader, who, when he attempted to correct Gothard’s teaching ended up promoting more error than Gothard. The book contains little of value, and I would not bother to read it, even if you could find a copy somewhere.