Philip Yancey, one of evangelicalism's best-known writers, says he's stepping away from public ministry after admitting to an eight-year affair with a married woman. "My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage," the 76-year-old wrote in a statement to Christianity Today. "It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families." No other details were released.
Yancey's announcement effectively ends a decades-long career that produced more than 20 million books sold in 49 languages and earned him the admiration of figures including Jimmy Carter, who once called Yancey his favorite contemporary author, per the New York Times. Yancey is perhaps best known for his 1990s bestsellers The Jesus I Never Knew and What's So Amazing About Grace?, both honored as Christian Book of the Year. Yancey's voice is "in the subconscious of evangelical Christians in ways that are hard to overstate," Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology, tells the Times.
Yancey, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2023, has been married to his wife, Janet, for 55 years. The affair does not appear to have ended their marriage. In a statement of her own, Janet Yancey wrote that she feels betrayed, but "I made a sacred and binding marriage vow 55½ years ago, and I will not break that promise." She asked that God "grant me the grace" to forgive her husband.
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