Part 1 - Long time Prominent Cultwatchers Lie about their Credentials, Investigation Reveals

Moreover, the Passantinos have made serious misrepresentations about educational accreditation in their just-released June 2001 newsletter. (See sidebar article.)

At press time the Christian Sentinel was continuing an investigation of several other claimed affiliations as part of a new, ongoing probe into the Passantinos' credentials, journalistic projects, their fact-gathering, ethical principles and theology. That makes this the first in a series of articles in our series titled "Spotlight on the Passantinos" series. To find out more about our ongoing probe, click here.

This series was sparked by more than 10 years of credible and often informal complaints from respected Christian leaders and researchers who have questioned the Passantinos in these areas. It will show, beginning with this article, that the Passantinos, while chronically claiming that they are journalists "careful with their facts," often get facts wrong, make sweeping, unfounded statements in their writings, and show a provable, unfair bias against those they don't agree with, particularly dispensationalists.

And they lie and often resort to unsavory means in conducting their research, our probe has revealed, which has further destroyed their credibility.

Concerning their credentials, our probe has revealed the Passantinos:

(Their resume is online at http://www.answers.org/aia_intro.html. Should the Passantinos take it down in response to this article, we have reproduced portions of it on the left-hand side of this page. Also we have reproduced a line from their July 2001 newsletter. It can be accessed at http://www.answers.org/newsletters/newsletter.html.)

Officials at all these organizations confirmed these facts, with some of them firmly stating that the Passantinos should not be listing these affiliations in their public web site at all. While it is true that the Passantinos at one time belonged to some of these organizations, their relationship in most of the cases ended a long time ago. For example, the Passantinos brief involvement with IRE ended seven years ago. John W. Green, IRE's membership coordinator told the Christian Sentinel that he has "no record of conference registrations and/or participation" by the California duo. More details later.

The Passantinos did not return an E-mail from the Christian Sentinel wanting to ask them questions so they could respond to this series. Then as this article was about to go on line, we asked again. The Passantinos then refused and issued an attack on the integrity of Christian Sentinel publisher Bill Alnor. We have reproduced the attack by the Passantinos' webmaster, John Baskette.

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It is also important to note that the Passantinos cannot claim these items were unobtrusive and accidentally kept on their site and no one noticed. In their March 2001 newsletter they noted that they recently upgraded the site and "changed our look." They frequently add new items to the site, and have a very active web site manager (Baskette) working for them.

In June, for example, they quickly put up several ill-advised and unfortunate responses to accusations surrounding Christian Research Institute president Hank Hanegraaff's known plagiarism of Florida pastor and Christian broadcaster D. James Kennedy's work. (1)

"Our Internet ministry is once again in the forefront of our outreach," the Passantinos wrote. "We are able to respond personally and at length to between 50 and 100 individuals each week in addition to the more than 100,000 hits our site receives monthly…. Since we moved our web site to a new server … and changed our look, including adding new information, we have received many comments."

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Many have called them on problems with their research over the years, this series will show, even clearly and very forcefully demonstrating to them that they were mistaken. However, instead of repenting of making false statements and research mistakes when they are caught, they have usually engaged in a pattern of denials, or of ignoring the problems.

For example, respected scholar Thomas Ice wrote a six-page article titled "Witch Hunting in Witch Hunt" for the September/October 1991 Biblical Perspectives newsletter that effectively outlined many factual errors and logical problems with their then new book, Witch Hunt. Ice noted that when he pointed out a problem with the way the Passantinos misunderstood data they quoted in the book, "Bob Passantino was not aware of this mistake when I discussed it with him on the phone and did not seem to know what to make of it after I did point it out."

The Passantinos made no admissions of mistakes or revisions to their work following the encounter. Instead they have been quick to point out that Cornerstone magazine awarded Witch Hunt a book of the year award (despite the fact that it can be construed a conflict of interest since the Passantinos are on staff with the magazine). Meanwhile, other apologetics ministries have criticized the book on a number of levels, and the Christian Research Institute, a ministry that they are now closely aligned with, refused to offer the book on its resource list, for a number of reasons. (2)

Sadly, in many cases after they have been questioned, they have savagely attacked their critics on the radio, in print, by vicious personal letters, ministry statements (3) or E-mail assaults. This series will also focus on the Passantino attacks, running excerpts of them in upcoming weeks. If you have a letter or attack story to share with us, click here.

It is also disconcerting to many who have researched the Passantinos and documented their frequent attacks, that this couple claims to be biblical in their approach, using truth as a high standard. Numerous researchers have complained about the Passantinos' quarrelsome, angry approach and apparent lack of Christian charity. Even some of their long time former associates and friends reported to the Christian Sentinel during this recent inquiry that they have never seen such quarrelsome people, prone to anger and retaliation and often to what they have categorized as unfair attacks against others. (4)

It seems to be a contradiction. On their materials and indeed at the bottom of most pages of their web site there is a poignant Bible verse. It states:

The Lord's Servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will give them a change of heart leading to a knowledge of the truth (II Timothy 2:24-26).

It is also disconcerting to note that many -- if not most -- of their journalistic projects have collapsed into a quagmire of contention and accusations lodged against them over mistakes, poor fact-gathering, lack of fairness, and their ethics. Yet their logo on their web site and stationary that states "Truth Brings Light."

We have realized that an investigation of the Passantinos is a lesson in contradiction. While they always talk about truth, they follow error. In Gretchen Passantino's recent "Viewpoint" column in the Christian Research Journal (Vol. 22, number 2), for example, she bemoans the state of journalism today. (5)

"Others have presented positive role models of good journalism over the years, and for more than 25 years Bob and I have tried to lived up to its standards of careful work, integrity, and truthfulness," she wrote. "More often than not we have received criticism for our work; not because is wasn't good journalism, but because the truth sometimes hurts and its light sometimes exposes what is ugly. [emphasis added]

"When I look at what passes for journalism today, both in print and electronic media (including television and the Internet), I am saddened. In too many cases, the line between fact and fiction has not merely been blurred, it has been obliterated….. All too often, sensationalism sells better than truth. This is also sadly true of more Christian journalism today."

Similarly, the Passantinos noted that it was important to uphold truth and expose things like false testimonies of Christians in a 1992 Cornerstone article entitled Public Trust: Should Christians Tell the Truth? They argue convincingly that Christians should expose truth aggressively in such matters. What will then be their reaction when people read of their own inconsistancies?

"Of course Christians should tell the truth!" They write. "And yet, Christians today seem to forget about the importance of telling the truth when it comes to being truthful about a Christian leader's secret moral failures. Why is it right to tell the truth about a corrupt politician's extramarital affairs, but wrong to reveal the truth about a Christian evangelist's sexual immorality? Why do Christians applaud truth telling about fraudulent medical research, but scorn the Christian who exposes the false testimony of a Christian celebrity?"

Here is what officials at some of the institutions the Passantinos claim current membership or employment with told us. Some commentary will follow, further illustrating important points.

"Some of our subscribers assume if they subscribe they are members in the Society, and they also tend to assume we are a religious organization, which we are not," Young said. She added that even long ago during the time the Biblical Archaeology Society had memberships, those members "were not active in policy-making or academics."

However Young added that the Society had some chapters in several cities "where the subscribers are considered members." She then referred the Christian Sentinel to Rev. Garry Mohr who heads the only chapter in southern California.

"I don't know them," said Mohr, who has headed the chapter for the past six years, when asked about the Passantinos. In checking the membership rolls through the membership secretary, he further confirmed that they were NOT members.

"I have never heard of them," he said, then asked for their description, since there are only about 40 members of the society in the first place that attend monthly meetings often to hear prominent speakers. At best, he said, after this reporter furnished a description of the Passantinos, stating that they were from Costa Mesa, Orange County, they may have attended just several meetings in the distant past. They may have come down from Orange County with members of their Bible study to hear a popular Bible Archaeologist who spoke at several of their meetings, which are open to the public, Mohr said. But it hasn't been within the past year, and they never attended any other meetings, and "they have never participated or spoken to the society."

It should also be pointed out that IRE membership does not imply that a person is good at investigative reporting, and it certainly does not make the person applying to join the right to be called an investigative reporter. On the membership roll of the organization are numerous students, academicians and novices simply interested in investigative reporting. Some may have never been published. Of course, many of the nation's best and most respected investigative reporters are active members of IRE, and in fact it is dominated by working journalists, usually from daily newspapers. Many of these reporters also participate in their national and regional conferences. (6, and see additional comments at the end of this footnote.)

"She did teach here from the winter of 1993, part time, to the spring of 1996," Strube said. When asked if Mrs. Passantino was still considered a Concordia faculty member or whether she should be listing herself as such, Strube said, "not at all."

(However, the Passantinos did teach an apologetics class there last year on research methods as they have some ties to a faculty member in a different department. But that has nothing to do with teaching "journalism, communications, and English at Biola University," as they claim in their resume.)

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At the conclusion of Mrs. Passantino's "The Problem with Journalism Today" viewpoint piece, she argues convincingly from God's Word about the importance of telling the truth and not being boastful. The Passantinos would do well in obeying this admonition:

"King David reminds us, "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tonue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. (Ps. 37:30-31; NKJV). Is that the kind of Christianity we represent? Do our Christian magazines, books, and broadcasting reflect wisdom, justice, and the law of God? Can we afford to neglect God's standards for those of the fallen world? We do well to remember David's warning inherent in another Psalm: "For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, not shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in your sight; you hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood." (Ps. 5:4-6; NKJV).

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FOOTNOTES

1. Both these letters, one from Mrs. Passantino and the other from CRI President Hank Hanegraaff are filled with factual errors and contain serious problems. The Christian Sentinel is working on a response to them. But in recent days, respected researcher Robert Bowman responded to both of them in depth. Click here for access to Bowman's responses at http://www.waltermartin.com.

2. I was part of these discussions over Witch Hunt while I was formerly news editor of the Christian Research Journal.

3. Christian Sentinel Publisher Bill Alnor, writer of this article, was also subject to at least two attacks by the Passantinos that were riddled with factual errors. In one of the cases several years ago the Passantinos took it down from the site when Alnor E-mailed them pointing out that it was not accurate.

4. Elliot Miller, the editor of the Christian Research Journal, a long-time friend and supporter, couldn't resist noting that Gretchen Passantino had "near legendary critical thinking skills." Then he added in a footnote, in what was somewhat an inside joke, "If you think stone-cold logic is the province of men only, try debating Gretchen!" (Page 3, Christian Research Journal, Volume 22, Number 4)

5. The article title was "The Problem with Journalism Today."

For example, the writer of this article a one time a daily newspaper reporter who was also once a member of IRE, and attended national conferences and regional events.

Note: At press time the Christian Sentinel was looking further into the journalism credentials of the Passantinos. There appears to be precious little in the area of either of them actually being members of the working press -- ever, according to long time associates of the Passantinos, some of whom date back to the early 1970s when the Passantinos themselves were in the their early twenties. This era was around the same time the late Walter Martin moved the Christian Research Institute from New Jersey to southern California. One of their long-time friends who did not want to be referenced by name in this article, claims the Passantinos never worked for a newspaper, and instead worked on Christian newsletters and similar publications.

He was quick to correctly point out that they have been the authors of a handful of books dealing with cults, Christian doctrine and apologetics, and in this area they have done significant work. In fact, Christian Sentinel publisher Bill Alnor praised the Passantinos' expose of Lauren Stratford, a bogus former Satanist in the early 1990s.  However, Alnor later rescinded that praise when he learned something of the unethical tactics the Passantinos used in helping to compile the stories. 

One associate claimed that Gretchen may have at one time before then, possibly while she was a teenager, worked for her father's newspaper, and indeed in a recent column, Mrs. Passantino talks about her father's "long career as a journalist, editor, and publisher." She noted that he spent long hours "documenting his sources," in her article referenced in footnote 5.

But things got vague for the former Gretchen Beisner when we tried to find out about the family-owned newspaper. According to some she claimed her father's newspaper was in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a region the Passantinos were well familiar with. However, there is no daily newspaper there in the community located in the rural northwestern part of the state in the Ozark Mountains.

But the person who answered the phone last week at the Pea Ridge Times, a weekly paper, confirmed to a caller that yes, many years ago, a Mr. Beisner did own the paper. However, the paper is similar to a shopper paper that sells ads for $4 a column inch. It has a circulation of only 1,500 copies, the woman said.

Our investigation is continuing.

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