In 2024, three of Steven Anderson’s oldest children have spoken out publicly about the cultic abuse in the pastor’s home.

When I first learned of one of Anderson’s son’s testimony of abuse in the home, I decided to leave it alone and not add it to the Anderson report (“What About Steven Anderson?”), because it was only one young man’s word against that of his father. But since then, that testimony has been confirmed by two other children. Further, I have since realized that many people have probably been drawn to Anderson because of what appeared to be his good Christian home. Some of his former members are publicly testifying that they feel betrayed by learning the true condition of his home.

I feel very sorry for the Anderson family. I have no ill feeling whatsoever against them. I only wish that Steven did not claim to be independent Baptist and that he would repent and step down from the ministry. The King James Bible says he is doubly disqualified: by his heresies and by his home life.

Isaac, the second oldest Anderson child and the first speak out, is a Nazi and has a tattoo of a Nazi War Eagle across his chest. (This is ironic in light of Anderson’s denial of the Jewish holocaust.)

John, the third oldest, confirmed Isaac’s testimony. The young men both say Anderson was abusive to their mom, that he hit her, beat her with electric cords, and railed at her. They described regular screaming and yelling between the parents and of the parents towards the children, cursing, kids being hit in the face, beaten on the back with an electric cord by the mother to the point of bleeding while the mother screamed at them, withholding meals for punishment, being sent to bed without supper. John testified, “My parents were always fighting; they were always mad at each other.” The children say that a few years ago the Andersons stopped practicing in the home the standards of separation that Anderson preached. In regard to music, movies, TV, etc., “the home became extremely de-Christianized” (John Anderson). He said, “My siblings are not being held to biblical standards. My siblings as young as 11, 12 are watching R-rated movies, listening to explicit music, which my dad is publicly against. The abuse never stopped, but the standards decreased dramatically. ... We were allowed to do whatever we wanted with our worldly friends that we made at work, as long as nobody at church found out about it.”

John says, “My dad is actively enrolled at ASU [Arizona State University], and anybody who knows anything about ASU knows that it is the number one college in the U.S. for STD, I want to say number one cocaine consuming college, and the top ten for alcohol consuming. ... The school officially promotes all kinds of things he disagrees with. ... It openly supports the LGBT agenda. ... Clearly he is somebody who is willing to lie to his congregation, and we can all see now that he has no intrinsic core values, and he is willing to do whatever to protect his power and to protect his role that he very much enjoys having, of being an influential pastor. My dad is somebody who is obsessed with control and obsessed with power, and he gets that dose of control and power through his ministry.”

In September, Miriam, 17 and the oldest daughter, refused to return home after a visit with an uncle (Steven’s brother Clint). She agrees with her two older siblings that her father is abusive, that he hit her mother, and her parents had frequent raging arguments. Miriam said her brothers’ testimonies are “100% true.” She said she had suicidal thoughts beginning at age 11. She said, “I was constantly feeling like…I’m responsible for my parents’ marriage, and I’m the reason why everything’s going wrong, and I have to make dinner, and I have to take care of the little kids, and I have to make sure that they don’t know what dad’s doing to mom in the other room. And when I got to be a teenager, I kind of decided that the second I turned 18, I was out of there.” She says she is a Christian only because she met a different kind of Christian than her parents. In a tweet dated Sept. 29, Miriam shows a true Christian character and demeanor. She shows humility, kindness, and a desire for God’s blessing on their family. She said her uncle and aunt only helped her when she sought refuge and that they did not “steal” her as her father has claimed. She tweeted, “I came to my uncle desperate for help and he and his family offered me refuge. In my months of living at their house, I gained nothing but respect for both my aunt and uncle. They time and time again proved their wisdom and Godliness and I will forever be grateful for the love they showed me.” Miriam ends this tweet by saying, “Please continue praying for my family as we need it more than ever. Happy Sunday, I hope everyone has a blessed day.”

That same day, in his Sunday sermon, Steven Anderson went on an angry tirade, even using curse words, justifying himself and condemning his children. It was the opposite of the Christian attitude of his estranged daughter. He displayed no humility, no kindness, no compassion, no tenderness, no brokenness for his own children.

Listening to this self-justifying, angry rant it is easy to believe his children’s testimony that he has been an abusive husband and father.

Following is a preacher friend’s discerning description of Anderson’s Sept. 29 sermon:

“Steven Anderson’s public response to the accusations of physical abuse--much of which allegedly happened at least ten years ago--was characterized by pride, anger, and lack of brokenness over the situation. He claimed that the accusations are lies, embellishments, or distortions. Even if the most serious accusations are false, there is no indication that he recognizes or takes any responsibility for seeds that might have been planted in years past that led to this situation. In his message preached on September 29th, he called his children who made the accusations his enemies and said that they were too stupid to attack him in a way that could be seen as legitimate because they were interviewed by a Satan-worshipping transvestite. [The interviewer claims not to be a Satan-worshiper.] He claimed that the things he is being accused of are not condemned by the Bible. Among other things, he is accused of breaking wooden barstools in his house, beating his wife with an electrical cord, threatening to kill his son, and giving his son a gash in the head by knocking it against a concrete windowsill. He defended his qualification to be a pastor by saying he has done the job ‘successfully’ for 18 ½ years and that the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 are only for unproven, untested men who are just starting out. He spent quite a bit of time bragging about his accomplishments in the ministry and how great of a father, husband, and pastor he is. He called out a couple of pastor friends by name who criticized him and then belittled them for having small churches. He said that his track record of ruling the church of God well is evidence that he rules his own house well. He says that he has always taught free will and that people have to choose to be saved and serve God on their own. He uses Jack Hyles as an example, calling him the best preacher of the 20th century even though some of his kids didn't turn out right. He bragged about all the soulwinning that John did while he was living at home. He says that he wouldn't be surprised if John won at least 100 people to the Lord. He claims to have won 200,000 people to the Lord. He concludes his sermon with these words: ‘I’m not claiming to have been perfect. I’m not claiming to have been sinless. ... I have been a great husband, a great father, and a great pastor. ... If I stopped pastoring today, it was a h**l of a run. ... I’m not stepping down. I’m not sorry. I’m not repentant, 'cause I’m not guilty.’”

This is not going to end well. It has already brought great reproach to Christ. Even an atheist and a transsexual are reporting on it via YouTube. The older children are calling on Child Protective Services to intervene on behalf of the children still at home.

The only hope is that Steven and his wife obey the Bible and practice the Christianity they profess, beginning with humility, contrition, and repentance. Steven needs to step down from the ministry and focus on healing his home. It appears that this is unlikely. John said, “My dad is an extreme narcissist, has an extreme God complex; he never does anything wrong. My dad never apologized to one of his kids or to my mom. He did what he did and is not sorry, could never be wrong, nobody could question him.”

That’s exactly what came across in Steven’s September 29 sermon.

It is very sad that Steven Anderson identifies as an independent fundamental Baptist. He has brought great reproach to that name, but he is not the first independent Baptist preacher to do this. His hero, Jack Hyles, brought reproach to the name independent Baptist that far exceeds that of Anderson. (See The Hyles Effect, a free eBook available from www.wayoflife.org.)

“Independent fundamental Baptist” is not a denomination. It is simply a name for a certain kind of church, a church that is Baptist in polity, independent of denominational control, and fundamentalist in sense of a zealous stance for the truth of God’s Word. Independent fundamental Baptists come in hundreds of varieties. I have long warned about unscriptural independent Baptist churches, but I personally owe a lot to sound fundamental Baptist churches. When I was a newborn Christian wandering for awhile in the wilderness of “Christianity,” God led me to a small fundamental Baptist church where I was loved with Christ-like love and found serious doctrinal and spiritual help. I am thankful to know many fundamental Baptist churches that are biblically sound and spiritually wholesome, where the pastors are biblically qualified, where the love of Christ reigns, where sinners can be dealt with wisely and patiently and come to understand the one true gospel of Jesus Christ and be born again (nothing in life is more important), where believers can be properly discipled and educated in God’s Word, where homes can be built by the biblical pattern in a truly godly fashion in the midst of an evil generation, where children can be educated and disciplined in a compassionate, godly way, where young people can learn how to make wise decisions in God’s will and avoid the moral devastation of the pop culture, where God’s people can be protected from the great spiritual and moral dangers of the last days, where the saints can come to understand Bible prophecy properly and be taught to live expectantly of the imminent Rapture, which will be followed by the rise of the antichrist, the day of the Lord, the conversion of Israel, and Christ’s second coming in glory and power.

Thankfully, we do not follow a man, only the Man Christ Jesus, whose name is Immanuel, God with us. He alone is the Saviour and the Lord. He alone will never disappoint those who trust Him.

We believe in pastoral authority as laid out in Scripture, but we do not believe in, nor will we countenance, pastoral abuse. Biblical pastoral authority is that of a shepherd, a father. It is kind, compassionate, longsuffering; it is strong, but the very opposite of abusive.