Bestselling Christian author Philip Yancey has confessed to an eight-year extramarital affair and announced he is stepping away from writing, speaking and social media to focus on restoring his marriage.
Yancey, 76, who was editor at large for Christianity Today for three decades, shared with the outlet that he “willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman” and said his actions caused deep harm to his wife, the other family involved and readers who trusted him.
“My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage,” Yancey wrote. “It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families. I will not share further details out of respect for the other family.”
Yancey is one of the most widely read Christian authors of the past several decades. His books have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, and include What’s So Amazing About Grace?, The Jesus I Never Knew and Soul Survivor.
Yancey said he has confessed his actions “before God and my wife” and has committed to “a professional counseling and accountability program.”
“I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused,” he wrote. “I realize that my actions will disillusion readers who have previously trusted in my writing. Worst of all, my sin has brought dishonor to God. I am filled with remorse and repentance, and I have nothing to stand on except God’s mercy and grace.”
Yancey said he is retiring from public work.
“Having disqualified myself from Christian ministry, I am therefore retiring from writing, speaking and social media,” he wrote. “Instead, I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written. I pray for God’s grace and forgiveness—as well as yours—and for healing in the lives of those I’ve wounded.”
Yancey has been married to his wife, Janet, for 55 years. In 2023, he publicly shared that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Janet Yancey also shared a statement describing the impact of the affair while reaffirming her commitment to their marriage.
“I am speaking from a place of trauma and devastation that only people who have lived through betrayal can understand,” she said. “Yet I made a sacred and binding marriage vow 55½ years ago, and I will not break that promise.
“I accept and understand that God, through Jesus, has paid for and forgiven the sins of the world, including Philip’s,” she continued. “God grant me the grace to forgive also, despite my unfathomable trauma. Please pray for us.”
