Ravi Zacharias: Email Threat and Ongoing Lack of Response About Reportedly Inflated Credentials

53 thoughts on “Ravi Zacharias: Email Threat and Ongoing Lack of Response About Reportedly Inflated Credentials”

1. It’s amazing how easy it for Christians to trust news commentators (Fox News) and politicians (Pres. Trump) who are not Christians, or at least don’t seem to be practicing, as long as they express beliefs with which they agree. But, if it’s an atheist—he must be wrong or have an agenda!

   Yet, we have no idea of the beliefs of our doctors, sales clerks, mechanics, insurance agents, servers and all the other people that could be plotting against us! It just all seems a bit two-faced to me.

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2. Thanks for standing up for what’s right and true, Julie Anne and Steve Baughman.

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3. Ravi Zacharias is LEGIT! his “inflated” credentials are The Lord God Jesus Christ. Jesus is Rav’s ego as is every Christian, We can boast in Christ we have that right as believers. Our credentials are Christ, HE chose us to intelligently teach the truth in Spirit and Truth. Christ will Always be attacked from atheists. Atheists do NOT have any credit in Christ until such time as they repent and see the Light and the Truth. . and President Donald Trump IS a Christian.

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4. Having just come from the #churchtoo feed, that last comment makes my head hurt.

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5. That’s really interesting. So, if your atheist doctor tells you you need heart surgery immediately, and another atheist heart surgeon confirms this, you are going to refuse surgery? Or do they have to repent first before you allow them to cut?

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6. Yes, I found it troubling, too, Deborah.

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7. Apparently you did NOT take it in the content it was written. Why don’t people stop putting THEIR ignorance IN anothers comment

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8. Did you mean “context” maybe? If you are going to label me as ignorant, I see no point in further discussions. Over and out…

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9. I say ignorant because you choose to put YOUR version IN my comment without thought or information. Ignorance means you choose to NOT understand what I said and you choose to NOT KNOW my meaning. If you would care TO understand and know, then you would be aware and not be ignorant of the comment. I said content and I meant content of my comment. I am a defender of Ravi Zariah he is VERY intelligent and needs to defense, Christ IS his defense, atheists have NO defense and choose to NOT know or understand and choose ignorance, NOT you , atheists, the opposite of KNOWING and intelligence is ignorance and one can stay comfortable accepting they do not know therefore as Forrest Gump said once, “stupid is and stupid does” atheists choose to stay stupid, so they do stupid. They Could choose intelligence by accepting Christ and therefore gaining intelligence as Jesus reveals truth to HIS own

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10. I went to Baughman’s website; it reads like any other conspiracy theory site without properly citing books, articles, claims, etc. That said, perhaps the bigger issue is that of so-called “honorary degrees”. RZ is hardly the only pastor or politician or celebrity to have received such “degrees” which are given and received for seeming political reasons (the college will scratch your back…).

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11. Loura, I found a ton of references on his article. I’m not sure what article you read, however.

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12. I say ignorant because you choose to put YOUR version IN my comment without thought or information.

    And I am a concerned therapist.

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13. You are a concerned? therapist? so? point being?

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14. mkmfrommnandwi,

    Please stay on the topic of the article. Thank you.

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15. Sure am

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16. I went to RaviWatch.com and chose a numbered issue at random, for example #9. I clicked on “more info,” and read how Baughman “became suspicious when I googled “Asian Youth Preach Award…”” but came up with nothing.

    Baughman gave page numbers in that section that allegedly came from RZ’s autobiography, but Baughman does not give the title, the copyright info (which version), or even the exact quote in which this specific award title was named. Instead, he subtly shifts to totally uncited sources, “In his publicity materials and other writings [notice these are not named, photographed, etc.] he claims that the award he received was called the “Asian Youth Preacher Award.””

    In reading the article from the Christian Post, I noticed that Baughman commented several times, and that while both your article and the CP’s state Baughman “is an attorney” (though where and for what is never told), his own CP commentor profile describes him as “self-employed,” a term I’ve never seen in conjunction with “attorney.”

    I have no particular love for RZ or his ministry, but using Baughman’s claims does nothing but make RZ look like a victim.

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17. Loura, he’s an attorney. I looked him up. He’s legit.

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18. I found several listings for “Steve Baughman: Attorney,” including one in San Fran., but is there any evidence connecting that person with the author of this RaviWatch site?

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19. Actually, yes, I contacted him at his law office and a woman answered the phone using the name of the firm. Steve got on the line and we talked about Ravi Zacharias. The lady who answered the phone was Asian, with an accent. I believe his law partner is Chinese, and I read on one of Steve’s bios that he’s fluent in Chinese 🙂 I’m convinced.

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20. Well that’s cool, thank you for that. What about all his RZ claims, though?

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21. I haven’t contacted anyone from the schools, but I have seen some of the revisions that RZIM has made. It still has made me curious why they haven’t been publicly addressed.

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22. Also, Loura, be sure to check out Warren Throckmorton’s articles linked at the bottom of this post. He’s been investigating and finding similar results.

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23. Ravi is not an attorney he is a Christian Apologetic, a Preacher of the Gospel

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24. Here are John Stackhouse’s credentials. He is a man of formidable intellect and grace.
    http://www.crandallu.ca/staff/samuel-j-mikolaski-professor-religious-studies-dean-faculty-development/

    Dr. Stackhouse is well known and respected in Canada – it’s interesting he raised concerns with Zacharias board members some time ago. I doubt he is the only Canadian Christian leader who has.

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25. Loura is referring to Steve Baughman who is an attorney.

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26. I don’t listen to gossip and I don’t care about Stackhouse’s credentials, they mean nothing. I listened to my Lord God Jesus Christ and I let HIM guide me in Truth, I will not be used by Satan to pull down whom God chooses. My correction will come from my Lord and HE will reveal the truth to me.

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27. Mkmfrommnandwi, you are exhibiting troll-like behavior. I will not be allowing those kinds of posts. If you would like to have civil conversation without telling people who don’t agree with you that they are atheists, then I will approve your posts. Your choice.

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28. I did not call anyone an atheist I am referring to the atheists that identify themselves as such. Seems to me I am being attacked for my support of Ravi Zachariah and because I do not agree with them I am now attacked because I do not agree with them. Seems bias and discrimination is going on here. I am answering comments made to me and about me and I have the right to speak to those who comment and to correct wrong information. I originally commented about a post about Ravi which I have right to do, when I did so I became the target for defending Ravi which I do not mind. I simply commented on that article and those attacking a fine Christian man and I did not call anyone atheists but I know this article was about an atheist taking pot shots at Ravi, I address that issue. I did not call anyone else an atheists I simply commented on how atheists are against Christians.

    I have been getting aggressive emails and critics emailing me through SSB and I answered them. That is all I have been doing. It is called Freedom of Speech and it seems others enjoy criticizing me through SSB just because I do not agree with them attacking Ravi Zachariah. Seems I am supposed to agree with them and when I don’t I am criticized and getting aggression back.Double standard and discrimination So if this is what SSB is all about that I am to agree with others as they tear down another that I question SSB’s ethics and morals as a critic and reporter of Christians. Ravi Zachariah has done nothing wrong. and this has become every ones sounding place to blast God’s servant, and you have allowed it to continue. You say I want everyone to agree with me, nonsense, but everyone wants me to agree with them, forget it. Discrimination. I will not be dragged through the mud for disagreeing with others. Only ONE woman agreed with me, only ONE. Rachel. So far when I have gotten emails from SSB it is usually about you and others finding a Christian to destroy. If THAT IS the purpose of SSB, then God help you all.

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29. No one has been emailing you through SSB – that’s not how Word Press works. If you are referring to the comments that are posted here and you subscribed to the comments, that’s a different story. The solution is to unsubscribe.

    I am a firm believer of freedom of speech. However, this is first and foremost a safe place for survivors. You have no way of knowing that Ravi Zacharias has done nothing wrong, It is based on speculation. I have provided e-mail proof showing a pattern of his behavior with a married woman (not his wife). If you want to defend him, you may not do it on my blog. When you post on my blog, you are my guest. You will not be able to defend Ravi Zacharias here anymore. You’ve been very clear about your devotion to him. Thank you.

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30. Linn said,

    It’s amazing how easy it for Christians to trust news commentators (Fox News) and politicians (Pres. Trump) who are not Christians, or at least don’t seem to be practicing, as long as they express beliefs with which they agree. But, if it’s an atheist—he must be wrong or have an agenda!

    All sides have perverts. Democrat Senators/ Congressmen such as John Conyers, Al Franken have credible allegations against them or have already admitted to some of the charges being true.

    Just the other day, liberal NBC fired journo Matt Lauer for years and years of sexual abuse and harassment while he worked on their “Today” show.

    So please let’s not frame this as though only right wingers, Fox news, or Republicans have deviants among them.

    And some progressives I see on social media (some of who are liberal Christians) defend some of these Democrat guys, and only now are speaking out against Bill Clinton (Democrat), who was raping women back when he was AG.

    I voted for nobody in the 2016 elections because I didn’t like Trump’s sexism, but I was also appalled at Hillary’s sexism (her dragging rape victims of her spouse through the mud), among other reasons. No side is clean on any of this.

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31. From the way mkmfrommnandwi carried on up and down this thread, you would think that Ravi Zacharias is a boy band group and she is a Ravi-Stan (stan = slavishly devoted, zealous fan of someone or something, usually of a rock star or movie star).

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32. Don’t feel it’s fair to attack people after their chance to respond has been removed. I think we should drop it.

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33. When accusations are made about inflated credentials and then changes are subtly made (in some places) this seems to me to be a tacit admission that there was truth to the charges.

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34. If I had a real Ph.D. from Oxford and someone challenged be about it, I wouldn’t just take it off.

    Hope this isn’t revealing too much. I went to a college and completed the coursework for multiple majors. Each major corresponded to a different degree, which I verified by the fact that they were listed separately in the graduation program for those who had earned them. However, when I received my diplomas, I only received two. When I contacted the college, they informed me that two of them were the same degree (B.S.) so they just combined them. However, my classmates who had double majors with the same degrees that they had combined received two diplomas.

    So, long story short, I had them listed on my resume as separate degrees, and due to a degree inflation fiasco, my company required us to produce diplomas, at which point I removed the “extra” degree and listed them as one degree with two majors.

    I will say that not printing that diploma (and then subsequently trying to defend it) was a penny wise and pound foolish decision.

    However, if someone challenged the fact that I completed multiple majors, I have the transcripts to prove it. I wouldn’t just remove it from my site.

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35. There you go, Mark. How difficult would it be to show the proof? It seems that issue could have been resolved long ago if he had chosen to deal with it by either showing proof or saying he didn’t, and remove the fancy edumacated letters after or before his name. This really should not be a complicated issue.

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36. And another book retains the same three doctorates claim: pic.twitter.com/hJwkv2saS7

    — Pastor Hashtag# (@2or34Christ) December 1, 2017

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37. And another book retains the same three doctorates claim: pic.twitter.com/hJwkv2saS7

    — Pastor Hashtag# (@2or34Christ) December 1, 2017

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38. I think in our society and historically, people need to worship something or someone. Hence worshipping the created rather the creator. When somebody is so adamant to defend an icon to me it is a signal of some sort of worship. Men fail. We are not supreme beings. If I like someone’s preaching or teaching, I always make note there is room for going off the rails in some manor. It’s human nature to think too big of ourselves and be led by our own imagination. A man or ministry with 25 million (?) compared to Christ that had no pillow, and took to sleeping outside at times, well, there is a vast difference. Somewhere in that comparison we need to critically think and not immediately worship the icon. I don’t think that particular icon is devoted a to his worshippers as much as they are to him.

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39. Excellent comment, PCB!

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40. Deception is a huge sin. Especially if it is a pervasive, long-term, subtle deception that has yielded undeserved, unearned respect and influence over people…and a bounty of cash flow from trusting folks.

    And worst of all, if the deception was done while proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Shameful, disgraceful, I say. Unrepentant, habitual lying and a stubborn refusal to take any responsibility is a sign of a dead conscience and a complete lack of ethics.

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41. One of the ways to spot wolves in the church is mixture.

    First they speak the truth—getting people to open up to listening to them because we recognize the truth. But then—once we’re open to hearing them—then they start mixing the lies with the truth. Even a little bit of lies mixed with truth can do tremendous damage.

    There’s a reason that Apostle Paul warned us about how “Don’t you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are.”
    1Cor 5:6b-7a (CEV)

    Mixture is really dangerous. Just because someone speaks the truth part of the time doesn’t make them worth listening to.

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42. PCB, “I think in our society and historically, people need to worship something or someone.”

    There’s a book, “The Myth of Religious Neutrality”, in which the author makes the claim that we are too wrapped up in the idea of religion as worship. Instead, he defines a “religious belief” as a belief that other beliefs are derived from. So, for example, Atheists don’t worship anything (despite Christians’ claims to the contrary), but their fundamental beliefs are typically wrapped up in a form of naturalism, from which all other beliefs must be in concert.

    In the same way, I think Christians can get too caught up in the idea of spiritual authority – that we can blindly trust those people the church has made its spokespeople. I don’t think people are “worshiping” Ravi, per-se, but I think there is too much trust in his apparent spiritual authority that makes people suspend their logic. So, here, the Bible says that we ought to trust in God and not in men. The Bereans were commended for testing the claims of Paul against scripture. Yet, in abusive spiritual authority land, that lack of trust and healthy skepticism are seemingly grounds for excommunication.

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43. I have been a professor at a large state school for 30 years, and heard RZ at a present at a Veritas Forum over 20 years ago. He was presented/introduced as having a Ph.D. and officially associated with Oxford/Cambridge. Silly me, I believed him, the system. Just like Warren T., I am looking into his credentials and associations, and as an academic, I know how to do it… RZ is a Fraud, and I am embarrassed I trusted the system.

    In the academic world, this type of Fraud destroys your credibility.. Finally, you all should know that most, if not all, of speaking engagements at “big name” schools are through student organiaztions, not officialy by the institutions. This is another deceptive tactic. For example, a student group in my department can invite any local practioner of my discipline to speak to them on campus. This not an offical University Invitatioｎ！　

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44. Thank you for your comment, Jeffrey.

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45. P.S. If I had known what Dr. John Stackhouse knew when RZ was schedule to speak at the Veritas Forum at my Institution ( RZ lists this in some of his bios) many years ago, I would have actively tried to prevent RZ from speaking ( I, embarssingly, was associated with it) . Unfortunately, in those days I trusted the “evangelical complex”, and if they said he was credible, I believed them. Again note, Vertas Forums are NOT officially sponsored by the specific Institutions, they are sponsored by student groups. While many of RZ supporters might not care, credentials and who sponsors the talks ARE very important to academics. When I list academic ipresentations on my CV, they list the Department that invited me. Finally, it is my experience to not be involved with any “evangelical” para church group at a University unless I control the agenda. I have been burned to many times by deciept and hidden agendas by the “evangelical” groups.

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46. Be alert, but I wouldn’t worry too much about this. Looks like a rookie attempt at scare tactics.

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50. ​New post up at Spiritual Sounding Board: “Resource Archive and FAQs on the Ravi Zacharias and RZIM Situation.” It includes numerous links to primary source documents, plus links to posts with observations, analysis, and interpretations. This was developed in response to what look to be the most frequently asked questions about all the parties involved. So far, concerns addressed include about the prior lawsuit by the couple involved, the current legal documents and follow-up statements by Mr. Zacharias and RZIM, Zacharias family members on the RZIM board of directors and staff employees, Mr. Zacharias’ use of credentials and titles, updating of his biographies and titles, and the impact of the non-disclosure agreement.

    If you’ve got concerns about some of these issues, you will likely find sources to study so you can come to your own informed conclusions.

    https://spiritualsoundingboard.com/2017/12/08/resource-archive-and-faqs-on-the-ravi-zacharias-and-rzim-situation/

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52. Pingback: Resource Archive and FAQs on the Ravi Zacharias and RZIM Situation – Spiritual Sounding Board
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