Wayne Grudem Declines Invitation from Colleagues Brian Arnold & John Meade to Meet & Discuss Evidence of Sex Abuse Cover-Up in Sovereign Grace Churches

I think the world of Dr. Brian Arnold and Dr. John Meade.  Brian was the President of Phoenix Seminary until recently.  He is now the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky.  John is Professor of Old Testament at Phoenix Seminary and Co-Director of the Text & Cannon Institute. 

I have spent rich times of fellowship with both men.  They are conservative scholars and passionate followers of Jesus Christ.  I consider them friends. 

Wayne Grudem also teaches at Phoenix Seminary.  He continues to be a staunch supporter of C.J. Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, and Sovereign Grace Churches.  Seven years ago I wrote this article after all attempts to interact with Wayne failed.  This is the opening paragraph. 

My Correspondence with Wayne Grudem Regarding His Support of C.J. Mahaney
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 7:36PM 

Wayne Grudem is like so many other national leaders who have blindly vindicated C.J. Mahaney without ever looking into the overwhelming evidence against him.  I wrote Grudem about this in July 2013.  He had just moved to teach at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois…. 

The article included this email asking him to please reconsider his support of C.J. and study the evidence. 

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com 
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 5:46 PM
To: Wayne Grudem wgrudem@ps.edu; wgrudem@phoenixseminary.edu
Subject: Please Reconsider Your Support of C.J. 

Hello Wayne, 

It has been a long while since we have greeted each other.  I hope you are surviving the sweltering temperatures in Phoenix!  I imagine you miss the much cooler temperatures in Deerfield, IL this time of year. 

Please reconsider your decision to preach at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville this Sunday in order to “signal support for C.J. in the face of unjust accusations.”  C.J. has not been on the receiving end of unjust accusations.  The charges against him are supported by overwhelming evidence and scores of witnesses.  

Wayne, C.J. was my dear friend as you well know.  He is your friend.  But tragically he has deceived a lot of people with his spiritual gifts and magnanimous personality.  The broad accusations against him are true and they are serious. 

Please study the evidence and help him come to repentance; otherwise, you will enable him like other leaders have mistakenly done.  I know you love C.J. and are indebted to C.J. but defending him in light his guilt is not being the friend he needs. 

Thank you for the many ways you have served Sovereign Grace Ministries over the years.  

Sincerely
Brent 

Wayne never examined the evidence and he never responded to me.  Today, he is one of the few national leaders that continue to support C.J.  This is partly due to the fact that Sovereign Grace Ministries financially supported Grudem in a major way after he moved to Phoenix in 2001.  We covered half his salary for many years.  

It is also partly due to the fact that Jeff Purswell was his teaching assistant at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS).  Purswell also wrote an abridged version of Grudem’s Systematic Theology called Bible Doctrine. 

We also gave a lot of money to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) which was founded by Grudem in 1987.  It is so lamentable Purswell is on the eight man board of directors.  He is a pastor in Mahaney’s Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville and on the denomination’s Global Leadership Team.  

Along with Bob Kauflin, he dammed multiple victims of sexual abuse in the 46 page lawsuit for making up their stories and called Raechal Denhollander a false witness.  I know Jeff well.  I asked C.J. to recruit him and turned the Pastors College over to him in 2000.  Today, he is at the center of the cover-up. 

I am a complementarian.  As such I believe men are called to protect women and children from harm.  CBMW has done just the opposite by having Purswell on their board; thereby justifying Mahaney!  In so doing, they are contributing to the cover up of sexual abuse.  This is an affront to complementarianism and fodder for feminists.  All complementarians should be speaking out against Mahaney and Purswell in the strongest possible terms. 

In particular, CBMW should remove Purswell from the board and publicly call for an independent investigation like other leaders from around the nation.  Instead, they are advancing the innocence of Mahaney and his surrogates.  That is a tremendous reproach to complementarian theology.  The 25 council members not on the board should request the board remove Purswell and call for an investigation.  

Denny Burk has been president of CBMW since 2016.  He is also professor of biblical studies at Boyce College and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  The college is the undergraduate arm of SBTS.  That means he works for Al Mohler who is president over both institutions.  

In April 2018, Mohler severed all ties with Mahaney and SGC when he discovered Mahaney lied to him.  As a result, he asked C.J. to embrace an independent investigation and stepped down during the process.  C.J. refused.  Al released a strong statement against him.     

Statement from R. Albert Mohler Jr. on Sovereign Grace Churches | News - SBTS
February 19, 2019 

Unlike Mohler, however, Burke has maintained his ties and coddled Purswell.  I don’t know if he is willfully ignorant, a conspirator in the cover-up, or a simpleton deceived by SGC talking points.  It is likely a combination of the three.  I would gladly meet with him and the CBMW Board. 

Danny Akin is also on the CBMW Board.  He too spoke out against C.J. Mahaney, pulled back from him, and called for an investigation.  Yet he serves with Purswell on the CBMW Board even though Purswell has adamantly said it is impossible for SGC to do an independent investigation because it would do great harm to the gospel.  That is nuts!  Eleven more churches left the small denomination as a result. 

Akin should work to remove Purswell or resign from the board if he doesn’t. 

On a different occasion, Akin and Mark Vroegog resigned from the board of directors for Cedarville University in Ohio because the president of the school hired a known sexual predator and then lied about it.  Oh, I guess I should mention before it slips my mind, the president is Thomas White.  He too is on the board of directors for CBMW.  I kid you not! 

Cedarville University Trustees Order “Independent” Investigation of Dr. Anthony Moore Who Committed Sex Crimes & President Thomas White Who Covered Them Up
Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 6:51PM 

It is incomprehensible to those of us who wrote about this grave travesty that CBMW would bring White onto the CBMW Board after he was exposed.  Egalitarians had a field day and for good reason.  The hypocrisy was appalling!     

Moving on. 

In December 2020, Zondervan Academic published a Second Edition of Grudem’s Systematic Theology.   

Wayne asked C.J. to write an endorsement for the new edition.  He extoled Wayne as his “favorite systematic theologian.”  I wrote Brian Arnold and John Meade and expressed my concern.  

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2020 8:55 PM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu; John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Dear Brian and John, 

I am so grieved by the abject lack of discernment and concern for the truth by Wayne in seeking out C.J. for an endorsement.  The conspiracy to commit and cover up the sexual abuse of children under C.J. is real!  

My favorite systematic theology by my favorite systematic theologian just got even better.  Systematic Theology is simple but not simplistic, thorough but not tedious, decided in its positions but not dogmatic on debatable matters, and it provides ready explanations for even the thorniest theological questions.  Best of all, Wayne’s writing is warm, devotional, and Christ-exalting.  There are good reasons to own other systematic theologies, but there is not a good reason to not own this one!

—C. J. Mahaney, senior pastor,
Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville 

I appeal to you to appeal to Wayne to turn from his on-going support of C.J., Jeff Purswell, and  Sovereign Grace Churches.  It is a reproach to Phoenix Seminary!  Just last week, another victim of sexual abuse from Covenant Life Church contacted me.  She asked me to write her story [read here].  Both she and her sister were abused.  C.J. and the pastors knew.  They covered up the crimes.  It is insidious that anyone would endorse or defend C.J. or SGC. 

And of course, C.J.’s sins are not confined to the issue of sexual abuse.  He destroyed his own church, divided an entire movement, stumble thousands of believers, was repudiated by the majority of his closest friends, and brought great reproach to the gospel across the land.  

I ask you to take a stand.  I am willing to meet with you, any faculty, and Wayne.  Invite Rich Richardson also.  I will send a summary of evidence in advance for you to review.  Then we can discuss it.  This matter of Wayne’s on-going support is an extremely serious matter. 

For a decade, I have sought to engage Wayne.  He has been unwilling.  Please persuade him to seek out the truth and finally end his sinful partiality. 

I hope to hear of a willingness to meet. 

You know of my love and affection.  I pray for your success.  

Brent 

Rich Richardson is the lead pastor of Center Church in Gilbert, AZ.  He was one of my students in the Pastors College.  He is also on the Global Leadership Team with Purswell.  He is a devotee of Mahaney. 

Rich Richardson of Sovereign Grace Leadership Team Spews Propaganda on Facebook Page & Calls Me an Untrustworthy Liar – It Never Ends!
Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 3:26PM 

I waited a month but did not hear back so I wrote Brian and John again.  This time I heard from Brian. 

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, January 4, 2021 2:50 PM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu; John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: RE: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Hello Brian & John, 

I rejoice to hear of the prosperity the Lord brought the seminary the end of last year!  It is an answer to our prayers. 

I am following up to ask if you have appealed to Wayne and if you are willing to set up a meeting per my request?  I have not heard back from you to date.  See below. 

I hope you were able to enjoy a little rest before the resumption of classes today.  The Lord bless your new year at PS [Phoenix Seminary].

Brent 

From: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Sent: Monday, January 4, 2021 3:23 PM
To: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: Re: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Brent, 

Good to hear from you.  I have not followed up with Wayne.  My experience with publishing is that the publisher picks the endorsers.  I’m not sure what level of control Wayne had with that.  Also, I cannot speak at all to Wayne’s relationship with CJ.  And I’m not quite sure what course of action could be taken at this point since the book has been published. 

I hope you know that we stand with you in our abhorrence of abuse, especially abuse in the church, and we are seeking to raise up leaders who have no tolerance for any level of abuse in their lives or ministries. 

All the best,
Brian  

Brian J. Arnold,  Ph.D.
President
Phoenix Seminary 

I wrote a reply and set aside the book endorsement as secondary.  I asked Brian to set up a meeting with Wayne. 

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, January 4, 2021 4:28 PM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: RE: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem

Brian, 

The question is whether Wayne stands with you in your abhorrence of abuse.  If he does, he will read the evidence documenting the conspiracy in CLC [Covenant Life Church] & SGC [Sovereign Grace Churches], speak out about his concerns, call for an independent investigation, and remove Jeff Purswell from the CBMW Board until one happens. 

You say, “We are seeking to raise up leaders who have no tolerance for any level of abuse in their lives or ministries.”  Does that include Wayne?  I mean no disrespect but he must be held accountable.  There can be no partiality.  You need to know where he stands.  

Therefore, please set up a meeting with him so we can discover and discuss his position on C.J. and SGC.  I will also write Wayne asking for a meeting and copy you and John.  Such a meeting is imperative. 

Regarding the ST endorsement.  At a minimum, Wayne would have reviewed the endorsements (if he did not suggest or solicit them).  At that point, C.J. should have been excluded.  I doubt Zondervan Academic would include C.J. without Wayne’s support.  It is a lesser point to me.  Nevertheless, you should encourage Wayne to have it removed from the next printing. 

As you know, it is a contradiction to have Wayne on your staff if he supports C.J. Mahaney, Jeff Purswell, and Sovereign Grace Churches in their denial of a conspiracy, condemnation of the victims, and maligning of many leaders like Rachael Denhollander, Al Mohler, Danny Akin, Mark Galli and others. 

I want to help Wayne and I hope he has the humility to be helped.  I’m sure that is another virtue you want in the lives and ministries of all those associated with Phoenix Seminary.  

Thanks for your cooperation.  Please let me know if and when Wayne is willing to meet. 

Brent  

From: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2021 9:26 AM
To: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: Re: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Dear Brent, 

John and I are willing to meet again with you to discuss this matter.  It might have to be in early February to be able to coordinate our schedules.  

Best,
Brian 

Brian J. Arnold,  Ph.D.
President
Phoenix Seminary 

Brian and John were in a tough position.  There were willing to meet with me but there was no mention of Wayne.  

Grudem put Phoenix Seminary on the map in 2001 when he moved to Arizona for his wife’s health.  He held a prestigious position at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Illinois which is freezing, snowy, and windy in winter.  Its an hour north of Chicago.   

I wrote back and asked if Wayne was willing to meet like Brian and John were willing to meet.  

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2021 11:27 AM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: RE: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Did you ask Wayne if he was willing to meet with us?  If so, what was his response?  I sincerely appreciate the offer to meet with you and John but first I’d like to know if Wayne will join us or not. 

Brian contacted Wayne and wrote back to me a few days later.  That was highly commendable of him. 

From: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Sent: Friday, January 8, 2021 12:24 PM
To: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Just so you know, I haven’t heard back from Wayne. 

Brian 

Brian J. Arnold,  Ph.D.
President
Phoenix Seminary 

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Friday, January 8, 2021 12:58 PM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Subject: RE: Another Appeal Regarding Wayne Grudem 

Thanks for asking him to meet with us.  I know you are between a rock and a hard place.  You cannot force him.  I hope he humbly accepts the invitation.  If not, you have done your part. 

I waited ten days and wrote again. 

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2021 1:06 PM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: Meeting with Wayne 

Hi Brian, 

Quick follow up.  Is Wayne unwilling to meet with us?

Thanks
Brent 

From: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2021 2:39 PM
To: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: RE: Meeting with Wayne 

Hey Brent, 

Wayne declined an invitation to meet. 

Brian 

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2021 2:41 PM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu
Cc: John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: RE: Meeting with Wayne 

Okay.  I will contact him and appeal.  Thanks for trying. 

Brent  

It says a lot about Wayne’s lack of character that he refused to meet with me, Brian, and John.  They are his friends.  Brian was also his boss and John a close colleague.  I appealed to Wayne. 

From:  Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 4:44 PM
To: Wayne Grudem wgrudem@phoenixseminary.edu
Cc: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu; John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: Please Reconsider & Meet with Us
Importance: High 

Greetings Wayne, 

Would you please reconsider and meet with me, Brian and John?  You have not been told the truth by C.J., Jeff and Rich.  I hate to say it.  I love these men.  I taught Rich his doctrine.  I turned the Pastors College over to Jeff & asked C.J. to recruit him at TEDS.  And, of course, C.J. was a dear friend.  I did not turn on him in 2011 when I sent out The Documents to the SGM pastors.  I was compelled by Scripture to do so after all private attempts to win him failed and SGM acted with great malice and deceit. 

So too in 2013, and thereafter, regarding the conspiracy to commit and cover up the sexual abuse of children.  It is real.  It is proven.  Victims continue to come forward.  Therefore, please reconsider your refusal and meet so I can review some of the evidence with you and answer any questions you may have.  

You have certainly talked to C.J., Jeff, and Rich about these matters.  You know what the Scripture teaches in Proverbs 18:17 [The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.].  Please hear my case for the glory of God.  I want to help you in hopes you can help my friends. 

I would appreciate a response to this request. 

Sincerely,
Brent 

Wayne provided no response.  Of course, that is discourteous.  More so, it is arrogant.  He did not have “the humility to be helped.”     

John Piper is like Wayne Grudem with respect to Mahaney.  He too endorsed C.J. without examining the evidence.  I wrote about it.  Here’s an excerpt. 

John Piper’s Unqualified Endorsement of C.J. Mahaney Breaks Hearts
Friday, February 22, 2013 at 2:28PM 

John’s unqualified support of C.J. and SGM has made a lot of people cry and grieve.  Especially the victims of sexual abuse that occurred in SGM churches under C.J.’s leadership.  I sent John the lawsuit on February 6.  Why did he express no concern for the victims’ plight on February 17 at C.J.’s church?  I find his abject silence incomprehensible. 

There should be weeping and howling throughout Sovereign Grace Ministries.  Instead, John Piper is telling everyone how thrilled and excited he is about C.J. (when so few trust him), the church plant (that was born out of division), and Sovereign Grace Ministries (which is being opposed by God).  The imprimatur of John Piper is not the imprimatur of God. … 

These are disillusioning times unless our affections are set upon the Perfect Savior who never deceives or disappoints.  He plays no favorites and is wholly just.  Jesus is our only firm foundation.  All other ground is sinking sand.  Therefore, fall in love with Him and build your life around a Person, not a personality with a preaching gift. 

The question is whether Piper still endorses Mahaney ten years later.  This much I know, he continues to promote Sovereign Grace materials like this recent article by Bob Kauflin on the Desiring God website.  

September 21, 2023
The Physicality of Faithful Worship: Why We Bend Knees and Lift Hands | Desiring God
Article by Bob Kauflin
Pastor, Louisville, Kentucky

It is not about whether Bob’s article is worth reading.  It is about endorsing a man who is at the center of a long term conspiracy to cover up C.J.’s sin.  Wayne Grudem, Denny Burke, and John Piper are intelligent men, but they have demonstrated no wisdom or discernment when it comes to C.J. and SGC. 

Piper and Desiring God should have publicly called for an independent investigation years ago but they have remained silent.  That is cowardice and compromise.  John spoke at many of our conferences.  All the victims of abuse in Sovereign Grace Churches have felt betrayed by him.     

The same is true for men like Mike Bullmore and Mark Dever.  I'll be writing about Dever in the coming days.  I just wrote about Bullmore here.

One final example.  That is Grudem’s support of James MacDonald.  He was a mega-church pastor in Chicago and led a network of Harvest Bible Chapel churches.  Then he was fired for outrageous behavior.  You can read scores of investigative articles about him at The Roys Report.    

From: Brent Detwiler abrentdetwiler@gmail.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2020 10:35 AM
To: Brian Arnold barnold@ps.edu; John Meade jmeade@ps.edu
Subject: Wayne’s Support of MacDonald 

Brian and John, 

This was posted by James MacDonald on his Facebook page [below] on Wednesday, July 15, 2020?  What has happened to Wayne?  Has he lost his mind?  MacDonald is evil!  Wayne should be renouncing him not standing shoulder to shoulder with him.  This is deeply alarming.  I hope you will firmly rebuke Wayne.  I agree with Julie Roys.  He is a disqualified unrepentant scoundrel.  There are few men so perverse and crooked in our day. 

Wayne’s support of MacDonald is similar to his support of C.J. and Jeff Purswell, though I do not consider them as evil as MacDonald.  

My Correspondence with Wayne Grudem Regarding His Support of C.J. Mahaney
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 7:36PM 

I hate to say it but Wayne has increasingly become a detriment to the seminary. 

I hope you men are well.  I continue to pray for your success and the success of Phoenix Seminary. 

Brent 

Julie Roys@reachjulieroys
Why is theologian @waynegrudem hanging out w/ a DQed unrepentant scoundrel like @jamesmacdonald? I don’t get this. “No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ....Therefore do not be partners with them.” Eph. 5:5-7
8:07 AM · Jul 22, 2020 

Grudem’s support of Mahaney and MacDonald only enables them.  For example in April, MacDonald was “arrested and charged with felony assault and battery in California, after authorities say he attacked a 59-year-old woman, resulting in ‘serious injuries.’”

Disgraced Megachurch Pastor James MacDonald Charged with Assault After Allegedly Attacking Woman
By Julie Roys
April 12, 2023

On October 24, his lawyers argued before a judge in San Deigo that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the penetrating coverage by Julie Roys and how he was treated by his former church when they removed him from ministry.  As a result, he beat the living day lights out of Barbara Bass, a small woman, and put her in the hospital for 21 days with serious injuries.  His lawyers claim he has a mental health disorder and are seeking to get the criminal charges dropped.  Pray against this evil. 

I believe in Systematic Theology.  I’m grateful for Wayne’s text but it means little to me knowing his support of evil.  Real evil.  

Since I last wrote him in January 2021, I’ve sent him far more evidence documenting the conspiracy to commit and cover up the sexual abuse of children in SGC.  It doesn’t matter.  He remains intransigent.  

What a man teaches is important.  Whether he lives what he teaches is more important.  We lead by example.