Contending For Truth - Ligonier Ministries Lawsuit Scandal

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Ex- Ligonier Ministries Employee Writes In

I recently received a cordial email from an ex- Ligonier Ministries employee who's also posted a comment here previously under the name "Sophocles." In his email he identified himself by name and it wasn't hard for me to verify that name as being a former Ligonier Ministries employee. I found his email most interesting and so I repost it here, less his real name:

Dear Mr. Vance,

First, I want to tell you that I truly admire your stand regarding Tim Dick and Ligonier Ministries. I know you are getting reliable information from former Lig. employees.

I am the author of the Sophocles post on your website. It has come to my attention that this particular post is being imputed to other former Ligonier employees and not myself. This post is entirely true but could have a negative effect on other individuals. I did not realize this would happen when I wrote what I did. Could you please remove this post from your site?

Again, I am very happy you are doing what you are doing and holding these tyrants accountable. I support you in your efforts. I just came to realize that I should have offered this information in a way that is more responsible - perhaps through email correspondence.

I wrote those comments in a rash manner, although true, but I did not know at the time my words would be attributed to others - former employees who still have dealings with Ligonier. Ligonier has lied about my record and I hope they do not destroy the reputation of others because of something I wrote. Ligonier is not above lying to protect themselves. There are many fine people who have worked there.

I now realize that your sources (ex-Ligonier employees) have more wisdom than I do. I should not have posted directly to your site.

I do appreciate very much what you are doing. I hope I can continue to email you. There are more deeply troubling and disturbing things about Ligonier I want to share but I don't know how to go about it at this time.

You seem to be genuinely concerned for the truth. Thank you for holding these guys accountable. Perhaps I could call you at your convenience?

Cordially,

Sophocles

Of course it's hard to know for certain if this person who emailed me is actually who they say they are, or perhaps just a Tim Dick shill just trying to get me to remove a post that exposes Tim as a selfish money-grubbing louse (but obviously it couldn't be Tim Dick himself because this person knows how to spell). Nevertheless I still take him at his word that he is who he says he is. Here's my response:

Sophocles,

Thanks for your email. I'm in no way surprised that Tim Dick and perhaps others are attempting to sniff out my sources by falsely blaming others for your post. That's only too consistent with what I've heard of Tim Dick's tactics. To him violating the ninth commandment is only a useful strategy toward the goal of uncovering the facts, even if he hurts many people in the process.

The stories I've heard about Tim Dick's lying and cheating and stealing just boggle the mind. The fact is that removing your comment now isn't a remedy and it won't stop Tim Dick's witch hunt. In fact it's likely to only embolden him the more. If he sees me deleting comments he'll take it as a sign that his tactics are working. I don't think that's a smart move.

Rather than just deleting your comment let me propose something a whole lot more effective. Why don't you write a story as "Sophocles" and I'll post it on my blog? Part of your story can be about Tim Dick's duplicitous strategy of blaming others for your comment here.

Frank




Thanks Frank! I will consider that. By the way, have you had any more emails from Tim Dick? I wondering what the current status is.

Sophocles




Thank you Sophocles! I really hope you will seriously consider it. From everything I've heard Tim Dick is a very corrupt man. Some have told me that based on his behavior they don't think there's any way he could be a converted Christian. To have such a man heading up an honorable Christian ministry is an embarrassment to the church of Christ Jesus.

No, I haven't heard any more from Tim. However, I did notice that he posted something really weird on Little Geneva.

Frank

I hope to hear more from Sophocles, as well as other former and perhaps even current Ligonier Ministries employees. As I've done in Sophocles' case I'll do for others and never use real names, unless I'm specifically asked to.

There appears to be a number of current and former Ligonier employees who are disgusted by all the corruption being perpetrated by Tim Dick, but who may not have the courage to confront Mr. Dick himself about it, or to take it to Dr. R.C. Sproul, for fear of retaliation. Well here's a format for getting the word out and for holding corrupt and evil men like Tim Dick accountable.

I invite all current and former Ligonier Ministries employees and other insiders to submit their comments and articles to me at frank.vance@gmail.com