Ravi Zacharias Credentials Fraud Revisited

Given the barrage of sexual misconduct allegations (in fact, admitted as true by his own organization), you may be forgiven for not even knowing that Zacharias was once in hot water for credentials fraud. The extent of his sexual predatory behaviour (in fact, at least one incident was described as rape by the victim) was such that it really overshadowed not only his legacy (rightfully so) but also his previous, non-sexual scandals. 

So, I am sure some of you will vaguely remember some controversy about whether Zacharias was really a doctor (as in, did he earn a doctoral degree) or not, but I want to show, in two examples just how deceptive Zacharias was with information that can easily be checked. 

Before getting into it, I want to emphasize the following point: Zacharias did not need to lie about his credentials. This part may be the most damning of all as far as the credentials fraud scandal goes. We may feel sympathy for a person who lies about his credentials to get a job. Zacharias was listened to by millions who couldn't care less how credentialed he was. The whole situation shows that Zacharias must have been a pathological liar, inflating his CV when there was absolutely no reason to. 

There is a wonderful YouTuber and a musician, Steve Baughman, who goes by "FriendlyBanjoAtheist" online. I highly recommend you check out his YouTube channel, as it is the most comprehensive in exposing the deceptions of Zacharias. Here I will merely bring two egregious examples so you have a very concrete idea about the level of bold-faced lying we were faced with. 

Exhibit A

As Baughman documents, Ravi says the following in his book Walking From East to West (As you read this, try as much as you can to pretend that you are a neutral person reading an autobiographical statement about a person you know nothing about):

"I had spent a part of that year at Cambridge University in England... I was invited to be a visiting scholar, and I decided to focus my studies on the Romantic writers and the moralist philosophers. While at Cambridge, I also had the privilege of sitting under some great minds in other disciplines. I heard Dr. Stephen Hawking lecture, witnessing one of history's greatest scientific minds come to terms with his own philosophy of life... My professor in quantum physics was Dr. John Polkinghorne, a latecomer to Christ, who provided me with some powerful ammunition for my ministry in the years to come."

Now tell me, what does this sound like? Sounds like a top tier and tenured academic receiving an invitation to be a visiting scholar at one of the best Universities in the world, focusing his research on Romantic literature and moralist philosophy, who also happened to study under other professors teaching there at the time. That (or something like that) is the clear implication one gets from reading that passage. 

Now, what if I told you that Ravi Zacharias had never attained a doctoral degree in any subject from any University, had never enrolled in Cambridge University for any course, that Cambridge never bestowed him with visiting scholar status, and that John Polkinghorne was not teaching physics in the year which Ravi describes? Would you say that this man is being honest with his experience? Yet everything I just said is true. Ravi had a Bachelor's and an MDiv degree (a professional degree required to be a pastor in North America), but nothing higher. As Baughman documents, as of August 2018, Ravi admitted to having never enrolled in any course in Cambridge, and no evidence exists that Cambridge ever bestowed upon him the status of a visiting scholar. 

Exhibit B

As documented in this video by Baughman, Ravi Zacharias said the following: 

"I lecture at the University of Oxford three times a year, I am a Senior Research Fellow there. Although I live in Atlanta, I go to Oxford and lecture there regularly."

Again, we have a clear statement with a clear implication, a respected academic is an employee of a prestigious, world renowned university and a regular lecturer there. But, no prizes for guessing what comes next. Ravi Zacharias was never an employee of Oxford University in any capacity, and the "Senior Research Fellow" position was an honorary title bestowed by Wycliffe Hall, a connected but separate religious school from Oxford. 

Conclusion

How is it that this man could get away for so long with claims that raise so many red flags and are so easy to check and verify? Why is it that this sort of fraud did not have much of an impact on his career at all? If I claimed tomorrow that I was an elite member of the Navy Seals who was awarded two purple heart medals, people would not believe me for one second, unless they could literally find mainstream outlets documenting such a resumé. Yet Ravi's claims, while not amounting to stolen valor, are comparably ridiculous: a Cambridge Visiting Scholar/Researcher plus an Oxford Senior Research fellow who lectures in Oxford regularly. 

This is the problem with many fanatical followers of religious apologists. Zacharias, by the standards of American apologists at least, was fairly moderate, yet even here gullibility and the desire to have your pre-existing beliefs confirmed by any means, led to this guy being elevated to such a high degree that honest investigators like Steve Baughman were treated as tools of the devil. 

The solution to the evangelical problem of gullibility and the cult of personality that elevated a fraud like Zacharias is to institute critical thinking and a demand for objective, sufficient evidence. The day when that is preached in megachurches is the day when such frauds will be quickly out of business for lying so shamelessly.