To those who say we should not discuss Zacharias’s crimes after his death or that we should examine the sin in our own lives before critiquing others, Winger cited 1 Timothy 5:19-20. The passage says, “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.”
Some translations of this passage say “the presence of all” instead of “before everyone.” Said Winger, “The ‘presence of all’ in the situation with Ravi Zacharias is that he had endorsements, endorsements from Christian leaders around the globe, who not only said that they thought he was an effective book writer/speaker, but they thought he was a great man. They endorsed his character.” Not only does Thompson, whose reputation was destroyed when she voiced what Zacharias did to her, deserve to be fully vindicated, but there are victims we do not yet know about who deserve to be vindicated as well.
Regarding the comparisons to David, the biblical account of King David is “not this situation at all,” said Winger. God’s grace is certainly big enough to cover any sinner, including Zacharias, but “God’s grace is not permission.” King David was confronted publicly and publicly repented. Then he faced the devastating consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.
While we have no idea what happened in the apologist’s final moments, there is no indication that Ravi Zacharias ever felt any remorse for his behavior. Rather, when people tried to find out what had actually happened between him and Lori Anne Thompson, Zacharias suppressed them, was “strident and inflammatory,” and presented himself as a victim. Then he continued to prey on numerous women throughout the world.
“Stop promoting his books and videos please,” said Winger. “It may not matter to you, that’s not the point. It matters, is the point.”
Tanya Marlow pointed out that we should not feel as though we need Ravi Zacharias’s books in order to continue to proclaim the truth of the gospel. She said, “I boldly proclaim that there are thousands of theological books in print and yet to be written that are not written by abusers; thousands of prophets, priests and philosophers already out there and yet to be called who aren’t sexual predators.” She added,
The inconvenience of having to change our lectures, alter our talks, the sadness of having to put aside books that have meant a lot to us and the deep disappointment of learning that teachers we revered were wolves in sheep’s clothing is significant—but it is absolutely nothing in comparison to the stab of pain that survivors have to carry each and every time they hear a sexual predator revered in the church or academe.
