{"id":15798,"date":"2026-01-08T15:24:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=15798"},"modified":"2026-01-08T15:24:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:24:49","slug":"philip-yancey-admits-extramarital-affair-leaving-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=15798","title":{"rendered":"Philip Yancey admits extramarital affair, leaving ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"


By Michael Gryboski, Editor Wednesday, January 07, 2026<\/span><\/a>New York Times bestselling author Philip Yancey <\/span> | Courtesy Randal Olsson<\/span><\/p>\n

Philip Yancey has admitted to having an extramarital affair with a married woman for eight years, with the bestselling Christian author announcing that he’s stepping away from ministry.<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement to Christianity Today, where he was editor-at-large, the 76-year-old Yancey stated that \u201cI confess that for eight years I willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage. It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families,\u201d he added in the statement published by the outlet on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have confessed my sin before God and my wife, and have committed myself to a professional counseling and accountability program. I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling the affair \u201cmy great shame,\u201d Yancey added that he was \u201cnow focused on rebuilding trust and restoring my marriage of 55 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving disqualified myself from Christian ministry, I am therefore retiring from writing, speaking, and social media,\u201d he continued. \u201cInstead, I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray for God\u2019s grace and forgiveness \u2014 as well as yours \u2014 and for healing in the lives of those I\u2019ve wounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Yancey\u2019s website described his upbringing as being \u201cin a strict, fundamentalist church in the southern USA\u201d that led him to conclude that God was \u201ca scowling Supercop, searching for anyone who might be having a good time \u2014 in order to squash them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yancey was the author of several notable Christian books, including Disappointment with God<\/em>, Where is God When it Hurts?<\/em>, The Jesus I Never Knew<\/em>, What\u2019s So Amazing About Grace?<\/em>, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? <\/em>and Where the Light Fell<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A journalist by profession, Yancey wrote for Campus Life and later for Christianity Today, eventually becoming the editor-at-large for the Evangelical publication.<\/p>\n

In a 2010 interview with The Christian Post, Yancey said his Christian books were different from others, in part because \u201cI approach any topic as a journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas a lot of the Christian books you would see in a bookstore are written by authority figures of some sort, like maybe a pastor like a Rick Warren, or a personality like Chuck Colson or a theologian like a John Stott \u2014 people who do have a platform of authority and they are educating the rest of us,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m very much like my readers; most of them don’t know anything about it either. I keep them in mind and say, ‘How does this work?’ \u2026 I interview the experts, then gradually, hopefully, I come away with some helpful picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, Yancey garnered controversy when, while in Madrid, Spain, he told the European publication Evangelical Focus that he was “staggered” by the Evangelical support for Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

“I am staggered that so many conservative or Evangelical Christians would see a man who is a bully, who made his money by casinos, who has had several wives and several affairs \u2026 That they would somehow paint him as a hero, as someone that we could stand behind,” \u00a0Yancey said.<\/p>\n

Later, in response to backlash, Yancey clarified that he was not endorsing Trump\u2019s 2016 election opponent, Hillary Clinton, and added that \u201cI acknowledged that some issues are so important (for example, abortion) that a Christian may decide to vote for a badly flawed candidate because of those issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Yancey was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease, yet continued to hold speaking engagements across the United States while battling the illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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