Glossary of IBLP Terms


I started working on this page a long time ago, and I'm just going to throw it up here unfinished in case it helps anyone's research.
  • ALERT:  a pseudo-military boot camp and training program to turn boys into men, now based in Texas; courses range from rescue diving to biblical principles of law enforcement
  • ATI:  Advanced Training Institute, Gothard's program for homeschoolers based on his interpretation of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
  • Authority:  those through whom God speaks to us, those to whom we must submit or make a godly appeal (parents, pastors, employers, and government leaders)
  • Basic Care:  IBLP's pseudo-medical advice department   
  • Character Clues:  a card game for teaching the 49 character qualities and their definitions
  • CharacterFirst: a secularized version of the 49 character quality definitions
  • CharacterLink: Gothard's attempt to market limited access to the Internet
  • Character Sketches:  a series of 7 coffee-table books linking nature studies to Bible characters and illustrating the 49 character qualities (only 3 Character Sketches were completed)
  • Character Qualities:  49 characteristics of a godly person, divided into 7 categories (the strengths of each motivational gift)
  • Clear Conscience:  being able to look everyone in the eye, keeping no secrets hidden from parents or authorities, confessing faults
  • Courtship:  the process by which a young man receives a girl's father's permission to win her heart with the purpose of marriage
  • EXCEL:
  • Eye traps:  anything that draw attention away from the bright countenance--patterned nylons, diagonal lines, v-necks, dangly earrings, long necklaces, slit skirts, open-toe shoes...
  • Freedom:
  • Gothard, Bill:  an unmarried Wheaton graduate, Bible expositor, motivational speaker, and cult leader
  • Greek:  the original language of the New Testament; Greek vocabulary was featured in every Wisdom Booklet
  • Headquarters:  IBLP's administrative campus at the intersection of Ogden & Adams in Oak Brook, Illinois
  • IBLP:  Gothard's Institute in Basic Life Principles, formerly the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts
  • Indianapolis (Indy):
  • Knoxville:  the national summer ATI training conference held at the University of Tennessee from 1990 to approximately 2004
  • Motivational gifts:  Gothard's [possibly plagiarized] personality analysis based on the terms in Romans 12:6-8
  • Navy & white:  the strictest ATI dress code (navy suits and white shirts for the men, long navy skirts and white blouses for the girls)
  • Northwoods:  a retreat center property near Watersmeet, MI owned by the Gothard family
  • Oak Brook College of Law: unaccredited correspondence law school in Fresno, CA
  • Oklahoma City: former site of another training center (provided through a partnership with the Kim-Ray corporation)
  • Ownership:
  • Russia: 
  • Seminar: Gothard's week-long lecture series, usually offered on video; Basic Seminar is a prerequisite for the Advanced
  • Sound Foundations: music "camp" for young people at the ITC, teaching strict principles of godly music and history of approved sacred music forms


  • Success:  the principle that God will make you successful if you spend time meditating on scripture
  • Umbrella of Authority:  divine protection enjoyed by those who submit to their authorities
  • Wisdom Booklets:  the core of the ATI curriculum, each based on a small segment of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7)
  • Wisdom Search:  morning family Bible reading, usually consisting of five Psalms and a chapter from Proverbs
  • Worldly Dress:  jeans, and women wearing pants
  • Yielding Rights:


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