The sad story of Ravi Zacharias and his tarnished legacy has disillusioned millions of Christians. Until his death May 19, 2020, he was celebrated as the world’s most effective apologist for the Christian faith. For 40 years, in more than 30 books, he defended the validity of Christianity. His Indian origins enabled him to effectively counter the mystical claims of Eastern thought. He died a theological hero, but has since been exposed as a disgraced sinner with a private life of rapacious lust.
According to a detailed, independent investigation ordered by his ministry’s successors, Zacharias left behind a cell phone with sexually explicit photos of more than 200 women. He used tens of thousands of dollars from ministry funds to provide housing and monthly support for some of his mistresses. He frequented massage parlors where he demanded sexual favors. One masseuse said he masturbated in front of her more than 50 times. Others said he had sex with them, praying before and after intercourse, thanking God for allowing him to have such pleasures. These women claim he viewed his actions as a reward for his dedication to the ministry. How could this be?
Discussing this is so distasteful that I avoided the topic for weeks. But when I saw a video of Christian author Josh McDowell trying to explain how this could have occurred, I felt the need to speak out. I have a passing acquaintance with McDowell and consider him to be an unimpeachable hero of the faith. His books such as “Evidence that Demand a Verdict” have long been on my must-read list for new Christians. Josh is a good and great man, but I watched him struggle to make sense of the Zacharias tragedy because he lacks an adequate understanding of deliverance. For those of us who constantly confront cases of Christians with demons, the Zacharias catastrophe is easily understood.
Yes, Zacharias was sociopathic, but he was also clearly demonized. His forebears in India were Hindu priests of the highest caste. He understood Hinduism philosophically and ably demonstrated its folly compared to Christianity. But he apparently didn’t understand the need to cancel his generational link to the idolatrous worship and blood sacrifices of his ancestors. His downfall is a classic case of Shiva and Kali possession (Shiva the Hindu god of destruction and Kali the bloodthirsty Hindu equivalent of Jezebel).
This sordid affair might have been avoided if Zacharias had submitted himself for deliverance prayers and exorcism. He didn’t. When is the evangelical church going to learn that EVERYBODY needs some measure of deliverance, and that some form of exorcism prayers should accompany every ordination? As explained in our School of Exorcism, that was the case in the early church. It still is in some parts of the world today. Why not America?
