[13][14][15] Controversy has surrounded his teachings on gender roles, his proven instances of plagiarism, and the culture of fear and abuse that allegedly existed during his tenure at Mars Hill.

He was raised Catholic in the Riverton Heights area of SeaTac, Washington,[16] which he described as "a very rough neighborhood"[24] where serial killer Ted Bundy had picked up victims.

[16] He described a difficult family history of abuse and crime, writing: "The men on my father's side include uneducated alcoholics, mental patients, and women beaters. ...

Through his internship, Mark met Mike Gunn, who worked for an Athletes in Action ministry at the University of Washington,[29] and Lief Moi, a radio show host.

A Mars Hill forum posting reported—without naming the pastors—that one was fired for "displaying an unhealthy distrust in the senior leadership" and the other for "disregarding the accepted elder protocol for the bylaw deliberation period" and "verbally attacking the lead pastor [Driscoll].

Driscoll and Annie Lobert, founder of the Hookers for Jesus Christian ministry, argued for the existence of the devil against the philosopher Deepak Chopra and Carlton Pearson, a former fundamentalist minister and author of The Gospel of Inclusion.

[note 1] Mars Hill Church's Board of Advisors and Accountability responded, saying that they sent one hundred letters to former elders and staff in an effort to substantiate Kraft's charges.

"[11] According to The Seattle Times, accusations of plagiarism by talk radio host Janet Mefferd were a "crucial turning point" that drew outside interest into Mars Hill's internal affairs, and prompted inquiries from new critics about the church and how it handled its finances.

Demonstrators carried placards reading "We Are Not Anonymous" and "Question Mark", and accused Driscoll of bullying, misogyny, inadequate transparency in church finances, and harsh discipline of members.

The board of directors of Acts 29 expressed gratitude for Driscoll's work with the Network as co-founder and former President, but declared his recent actions "ungodly and disqualifying behavior."

"[67] BOAA Chairman Michael Van Skaik responded, "Men, I told the lead pastors ... that we are making real progress in addressing the serious reconciliation and unhealthy culture issues that have been part of Mars Hill Church for way too long.

It included a quote from "internationally recognized"[19] author, pastor and former BOAA member Paul Tripp saying, "This is without a doubt, the most abusive, coercive ministry culture I've ever been involved with.

[79] The board also concluded that Driscoll had "been guilty of arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the staff and elders in a domineering manner", but was not charged with anything immoral or illegal.

[81] On July 27, 2015, Driscoll announced that his new ministry had purchased the mailing list and assets of The Resurgence from Mars Hill Church and that he and his family had moved to the Phoenix area.

[85] In July 2021, a letter surfaced from 41 elders who served alongside Mark in the Mars Hill years, calling for him to resign from the Trinity Church and step away from ministry completely.

[89]Rob Wall, a professor at Seattle Pacific University, links the success of Mars Hill Church to Mark Driscoll's direct answers to complicated spiritual questions: "His style of public rhetoric is very authoritative.

"[62] On September 8, 2014, blogger Libby Anne republished other examples of material written by "William Wallace II" in 2001, and remarked she had "rarely seen an evangelical man assert male superiority and prominence this directly.

[110] On March 5, 2014, evangelical magazine World published an article[111] claiming that Mars Hill Church paid a $25,000 fee[102] to marketing firm ResultSource, to manipulate sales numbers[112] of Mark Driscoll's book Real Marriage and thereby attain a place on the New York Times bestseller list.

[115] The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability stated that buying a place on bestseller lists violates its ethical standards, but that because this happened before Mars Hill Church joined they were unable to take action.

"[117] On March 17, 2014, Driscoll posted an open letter of apology in response to this controversy and others, writing that he will no longer claim to be a New York Times bestselling author, and that he now sees the ResultSource marketing campaign as "manipulating a book sales reporting system, which is wrong.

"[120] He wrote that he was giving up his status as a "celebrity pastor", that he considered his "angry young prophet" days to be over, and that he was reducing his public presence in speaking engagements and on social media.

[13] Driscoll's theology draws inspiration from historical theologians, including Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, and Martin Luther, along with the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Spurgeon.

His contemporary influences include Lesslie Newbigin[126] and the group he terms the "Missional Reformed Evangelicals": Don Carson and John Piper for theology, and Tim Keller and Ed Stetzer for missiology.

In his younger years, Molly Worthen wrote: "Conservatives call Driscoll 'the cussing pastor' and wish that he'd trade in his fashionably distressed jeans and taste for indie rock for a suit and tie and placid choral arrangements.

[139] Driscoll also believes that this position (or slight variations thereof) was held by men like Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, Martin Luther, and Richard Baxter.

But, I eventually had to distance myself from the emergent stream of the network because friends like Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt began pushing a theological agenda that greatly troubled me.

He offered church courses in "evangelical feminism" and is quoted as saying "the Bible is clear that men and women are both created by God in His image and likeness and totally equal in every way.

"[143] In contrast, Driscoll emphasizes what he perceives as macho behavior in the actions of biblical protagonists: he describes Jesus, Paul the Apostle, and King David saying: "... these guys were dudes.

Since Paul's prohibition of female elder-pastors appeals to the Genesis creation story (1 Timothy 2:14) for its rationale, Driscoll argues that the restriction is permanent and cannot be adjusted for changing culture.

[149] The Daily Beast described the book as controversial, writing that "evangelicals of all stripes [were] outraged ... from conservatives shocked by the graphic sex descriptions to liberals who hate its degrading of women.