Ravi Zacharias: ‘Harrowing dark night of those…abused’

A former leader in the ministry of Ravi Zacharias, the disgraced apologist who engaged in ‘sexting, unwanted touching, spiritual abuse, and rape’ according to a new report, has spoken of the ‘harrowing dark night of those… abused’ by the evangelist.

The former head of Ravi Zacharias Ministry in Australia, Dan Paterson, said: ‘I feel heavy-hearted for those who loved and looked up to Ravi, who now have wake up to a dark reality that months ago seemed so unthinkable. May their faith be purified by the Lord as it comes under fire, knowing that a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.’

Until his death of cancer at age 74 in May last year, Zacharias had been one of the best-known figures of American Christian radio and TV. Former US Vice President Mike Pence described him as ‘the greatest apologist of this century’ at a memorial service watched live by more than 1.2 million people round the world. However, preliminary findings into complaints against Zacharias found ‘significant, (en, February 2021) credible evidence’ that he engaged in sexual misconduct over the course of many years.

A more detailed report was issued last week by law firm Miller & Martin, which Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) had hired to investigate the claims. The firm interviewed more than a dozen massage therapists who treated Zacharias. Five of them reported he had touched them inappropriately.

Sexual and spiritual abuse

One ‘reported details of many encounters over a period of years that she described as rape,’ the report stated, adding that, having demanded sex in return for financial support, Zacharias told her ‘she would be responsible for the “millions of souls” whose salvation would be lost’ if she ever spoke out against him.

The report also said phone numbers of more than 200 massage therapists and nude photos of younger women were found on his electronic devices.

Writing on Twitter, Dan Paterson wrote of ‘the harrowing dark night of those who have been abused and silenced’ but said he hoped the new report would lead to a ‘time when they can feel seen and heard, which lights up a long path towards help and healing’.

He added: ‘I feel grief over the state of our gospel witness, for now another public messenger of Christ, one who should have been a spiritual safe haven, has been exposed as a predator who took advantage of those in his care.

‘May this dark episode spark an awakening in church structures, and may young ministers resolve now to never give an inch towards evil, choosing instead the humble path of accountability to steady them, and the redemptive path of early repentance early when they fall. Oh, how I wish Ravi repented here!’

Paterson continued: ‘I feel loss over the dissolution of Ravi’s example. Ravi modelled a ministry to which I aspired… Through print and podcast, then as my boss, Ravi became as a spiritual father to me.

Sense of betrayal

‘That spiritual father has now been robbed, and regardless of whether I have the relational proximity to lay claim to this right, I feel a sense of betrayal. As one who refuses to whitewash my past, I now have to bitterly swallow my own affectionate endorsements of Ravi.

‘Still, since… so many leaders fall, this is a healthy reminder… Jesus is our rock; all else is shifting sand.

Meanwhile, Daniel Gilman, who worked as an apologist for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries until recently, said: ‘There’s a sense in which I find myself re-examining the answers I learned from Ravi and questioning: Is this true? Or just as he was a fraud, is his message as well?’ But he added it was not faith in God that was shaken, but his faith in Zacharias’ teachings.

Zacharias claimed in 2017 that in 45 years of marriage, he had ‘never engaged in any inappropriate behaviour of any kind.’