Come now Al, surely you have something more to say than “he’s a good guy” especially when you have said so much about every other issue on the planet, even denouncing the Papacy.

In case you don’t know what’s going on, C.J. Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries is in some trouble — well, trouble if Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Ligon Duncan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Miss.; and Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. (all founders of Together for the Gospel) and the federal judge can keep this thing quiet or looking like a witch hunt. Others like Boz Tchividjian, a law professor and executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), and Scot McKnight aren’t so easily swayed.

C. J. Mahaney was named as a defendant in a lawsuit, which charged that he and other leaders of Sovereign Grace Ministries permitted the abuse of children to occur in churches that formed part of the group. Sovereign Grace, an association of 80 Reformed evangelical churches, is based in Louisville, Ky.

Mahaney wasn’t just the guy in charge of the organization that allowed this to go on and sought to keep the victims quiet. According to Tchividjian,

“Why no mention that CJ Mahaney was actually the Senior Pastor at one of these churches where all of this horrific abuse allegedly occurred AND that discouraged these families from bringing this matter to the God ordained civil authorities?”

You ahve to read Tchividjian’s entire statement, linked to above, to understand just what sort of cover-up is taking place. And, then understand the hypocrisy of the Mohler-led trio. But, they aren’t the only ones supporting Mahaney.

The Gospel Coalition’s Justin Taylor and Kevin DeYoung along with noted New Testament Scholar ]] is as well. The Gospel Coalition has released a statement. This led to the response by Tchividjian mentioned above.

This is truly disheartening, given the people involved in supporting Mahaney. There is outrage all around if a Catholic priest is discovered doing something like this, or if the Boy Scouts allow for gay scouts, or nearly every other social change issue. Here? Here they are rallying around a man who led victim oppression by denying to you the entire facts of the case.

Related articles

• Calvinism in the SBC: New Motto Stand By My Man (sbcissues.wordpress.com)
• Evangelical leaders stand by pastor accused of abuse cover-up (religionnews.com)
• Sovereign Grace Ministries Lawsuit Whirlwind Recap (spiritualsoundingboard.com)
• Mohler, Dever, and Duncan break their silence and release statement in support of C.J. Mahaney (spiritualsoundingboard.com)
• Sovereign Grace Ministries and C.J. Mahaney want lawsuit to end (peterlumpkins.typepad.com)
• Brutal sex crimes, cover-up alleged in church lawsuit (blogs.courier-journal.com)
• Sovereign Grace Ministries, class-action civil lawsuit involving child sex abuse (wjla.com)