Note that some of the videos on our blog that are associated with the late Ravi Zacharias are not viewable anymore; at least, for the moment. This page will tell you why.
Find at the end of this page some of the places on the Internet where Ravi’s videos can still be viewed.
The fact of the matter is that Ravi has been accused of sexual abuse. I have sincere doubts, though, about whether the allegations are actually truthful. For one, I have watched his talks for so many times, and it was always done in a genuine and loving manner, that I just cannot believe that this person could have done the things he has been accused of; find an example of this in the bottom part of this page. And secondly, I found the weblog defendingravi.wordpress.com, where his son Nathan posts articles1 questioning the conclusions that the official report, made by the law firm Miller & Martin, has been drawing. And it seems that Ravi’s wife Margie was kept away from the meeting where the findings of the report were presented to RZIM2 and associated people, so that she did not have the opportunity to ask probing questions.
1. See one of his latest articles here, in which he also includes an overview of concerning issues
2. RZIM = Ravi Zacharias International Ministry
As far as I can see right now the investigation seems to have been biased, and too superficially executed. Of course, if it is all true what the report wants us to believe, it’ll be a devastating thing, but truth first please before we jump on this man of God.
Now, because the staff of RZIM seems to fully believe the report, they have made humble apologies to the alleged victims, and removed all of Ravi’s videos and other material for the general public. The YouTube videos, for instance, have been set to private.
Because of this, a number of Ravi’s videos that we link to from our blog are not viewable anymore. For this reason, we have tried to replace as many of those videos with solid copies found elsewhere on the Internet, or else marked the original RZIM ones with a red question mark ? in order to indicate to you that unfortunately these videos are not available right now for the general public, but hopefully will be made available again soon, as they are a treasure of high-quality thinking about God and the universe, and the beginning of time, and all that.
Even Josh McDowell pointed that out in this video, although he added that it would be hard for him to recommend them to anyone else because of the allegations. He was talking about Ravi’s books, but I’m sure that would be true for his videos and other material as well. You can find the passage starting at around 16:51 where his son, the interviewer, asks a question about Ravi’s resources (books, and all). In the passages below, find more positive things about Ravi that Josh shares with us, along with some other interesting thoughts, although overall he is saddened by Ravi’s behavior, and clearly takes the report’s findings for a fact:
- at around 38:17 into the video Josh talks about the positive impact that Ravi had on his life and ministry.
- at around 48:09 Josh talks about the times that malicious people had tried to implicate him in a sexual affair.
- at 6:26 Josh talks about how he first met with Ravi.
- at 8:00 Josh: “after that it became more of a personal relationship.” And then he tells us that at the time Ravi would be the last person in the world he would have suspected of this kind of behavior.
- at 13:23 …, and Ravi taught His word… My word will not return void … in spite of the messenger … but it taints the truth for so many people
- at 14:08 Josh says the books these people have written are good books, explaining great things, and that in fact we should decouple that from the author of the books.
- at 16:51 Sean asks a question about Ravi’s resources (books, and all), should we still hand them out to others because of the fact that they have inspired us in the past? He mentions the book “Seeing Jesus from the East.” Josh responds with, “I would read it. I would probably read it again, even though I have read it twice. It’s one of the most insightful books on the East and everything and thought life. But, you’re right, I couldn’t recommend it unless somebody really had a problem in this area and I could context the book.”
The report, made by the law firm Miller & Martin, can be found via RZIM’s homepage, rzim.org. Find the link to the report at the bottom of this page, or directly go to it here. It’s a PDF file.
Example1 of Ravi’s character in regard to sexual abuse
Watch part of Ravi’s talk in this video, which automatically starts at 17:36. It ends at 20:52, or at 23:50 if you have time for it.
Ravi talks about dehumanization of people and desacralization of principles in such a stern way that you just know that this man cannot ever have done the things he is accused of, such as rape or other sexual abuse. This man would not even come close to doing that because of the filth it clearly is in his judgment. You can hear there’s a holy anger in his voice when he talks about this; it’s obvious that he is appalled by such behavior.
In that last part from 20:52 to 23:50 he talks about prisoners on death row who know about the sacredness of life.
1. I’ve seen more examples, which I might add here in the near future. For instance, at some point in the video on the home page that I entitled ‘Passionate speech by Ravi Zacharias’ (i.e., Ravi’s talk at Passion 2016).
Places on the Internet where Ravi’s videos can still be viewed
Video collection of YouTube channel Into The Light
Video collection of YouTube channel Mordecai (user augustincruz)
Video collection of YouTube channel Nathan Prindler2 (user @nathanprindler2517)
Hidden Thoughts 