G3’s Shiny Happy People: Scott Aniol Called Out For Bill Gothard Association

The Duggar Family became a household name for their reality television show which was ultimately ended by the scandal of Josh Duggar who molested his sister, a fact made worse by the mishandling of the situation by both the family and the criminal justice system. Earlier this year, Amazon put out the documentary series Shiny Happy People, which attempted to document this story, but was ultimately a bait and switch to attack Christian beliefs. In the backdrop of the Duggars is Bill Gothard, a controversial theologian, put lightly, whose teachings are widely criticized among orthodox believers. Bill Gothard, who himself is both unmarried and accused of sexual sin, has very dogmatic teachings on marriage, gender, and family. The Duggar parents were devoted disciples of Bill Gothard.

Attacks against John MacArthur raised by feminist activist, Rachael Denhollander, attempted to erroneously connect John MacArthur’s ministry to Bill Gothard. Ironically, Denhollander has a more documented connection. G3 Ministries, however, does consist of devoted MacArthur followers. But unlike MacArthur, they do have connection to Gothard.

Josh Buice, the founder of G3 Ministries tweeted out a message about compromise via association.

The association he was talking about was Big Eva, which is ironic given that Michael O’Fallon was a member of its board until he was removed in June. G3’s website size would most certainly count them as Big Eva, even if Buice and other characters are Mid Eva. Scott Aniol is the Executive Vice President and Editor-in-chief of G3 Ministries. The Josh Buice tweet would be the launching pad for Chris Bolt, a pastor in Virginia, to expose the connection of Scott Aniol to Bill Gothard.

Josh Buice is right that associations matter especially when billing yourself as convictional & discerning. Thus I objected to @G3Conference platforming proud porn-using atheist James Lindsay.

But did you know about G3's #shinyhappypeople?

Thread.https://t.co/YNvD0kvUNC

— 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐭 (@clbolt) October 5, 2023

Chris begins by calling out the obviously sordid association of G3 Ministries and James Lindsay. But wait, there’s more.

Bill Gothard's Institute in Basic Life Principles, as well as the false teachings of Michael and Debbie Pearl, are criticized from the theological 'left' as well as the 'right.' Most recently, the Shiny Happy People documentary focused on Gothard and his followers from the left.

— 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐭 (@clbolt) October 5, 2023

But this is where Scott Aniol comes in.

That's why I was taken aback by @G3Conference's @ScottAniol selling his material through the IBLP website:https://t.co/Bxk3Hjbosw pic.twitter.com/NMxQO76CK7

— 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐭 (@clbolt) October 5, 2023

Chris Bolt points out that Gothard’s ministry, Institute of Basic Life Principles, sells Aniol’s books. He also notes that Aniol spoke at Gothardite conferences:

Several of the conference speakers this year were new to Family Conferences. Dean Miller’s message for the students, “God’s Presence in a Godless World,” spoke to many hearts as did his other inspirational messages. Scott Aniol’s session “Why Do We Sing?” was timely and instructional. Steve and Megan Scheibner spoke on marriage and parenting, giving families practical, hands-on tools that they can use at home. More than thirty individuals gave their lives to Christ following a Gospel presentation by speaker and evangelist Tim Lee, and hundreds more responded to the Lord in other ways. Tim Barton, the son of David Barton, shared messages about lessons from history and reminded the attendees of our nation’s Christian Heritage. These speakers were joined by past favorites, including Peter Magnuson, Jobe Martin, Josef Tson, Joe Norvell, Bob Newhouse, Gabe Cleator, and the Duggar and Bates families.

The series “19 Kids and Counting” was cancelled over scandal in 2015, and the Duggars are returning favorites at a conference Aniol spoke at. Even in 2021, the association continued:

Some of the wonderful messages from April were shared, including Scott Pauley’s message “Happy Homes”; “How To Be A Man After God’s Own Heart,” by Johnny Pope; and “The Most Outrageous Joy,” by Eric Ludy. New speakers for the Summer Family Conference included Darren Myers, Scott Aniol, Jerry Benjamin, and Joe Norvell. Many of the 2021 Big Sandy Spring Family Conference messages are available online at embassymedia.com, and the Summer Family Conference messages will be available in the coming months.

He concludes

But I genuinely have to wonder why any discerning Christian, and especially a supposedly convictional Christian ministry that seems to care so much about associations, would be cool with working alongside such a cult-like (at the very least) organization.

Like, what is going on?

— 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐭 (@clbolt) October 5, 2023

William Wolfe chimed in on the subject.

Should Reformed, “non-woke” ministry leaders be partnering with Bill Gothard and speaking at his conferences?

— William Wolfe 🇺🇸 (@William_E_Wolfe) October 5, 2023

Given the increased scrutiny of both G3 and Bill Gothard, it will be interesting to see what the impact of this information will be.

H/T Chris Bolt