When it comes to online dating, there are lots of options at hand from eHarmony to ChristianMingle and FarmersOnly. Like any other personalized service, these various sites are intended to cater to one’s individual dating preferences and orientation. However, Ashley Madison is not exactly your typical dating site. Proudly advertising, “Life is short. Have an affair” as their company’s tagline, the intentions of those at this particular dating service stand clear. Providing members with supposedly anonymous usage, the company’s target market is explicitly aimed at individuals looking for extramarital affairs. Boasting 37 million users worldwide, Ashley Madison draws a majority of members that are either married or in committed relationships.

In July, a group of hackers that call themselves the “Impact Team” stole 10 gigabytes of data from Ashley Madison, releasing the information of some 33 million members. On this list includes names, locations, phone numbers, passwords, as well as credit card information. Besides the hackers’ illicit access to sensitive information, one can imagine the potential social fallout of publicly revealing the identities of supposedly anonymous users.  

A number of members from the hacked data have been linked with Christian leaders across a wide range of denominations and churches. According to Ed Stetzer from Christianity Today, “conversations with leaders from several denominations in the U.S. and Canada,” have yielded that at least 400 church leaders are expected to resign after having been found on the site. In Rome, the Catholic Herald reports that approximately two dozen email addresses from the released data have been connected with staff at the Vatican.

Additionally the names of a number of public Christian figures have surfaced on Ashley Madison as well, one of these being R.C. Sproul Jr. from Ligonier Ministries. Sproul Jr., rector and chair of theology and philosophy at Reformation Bible College, also worked as a teaching fellow and as an editor for Ligonier’s magazine.

Having been suspended from the ministry for the following year due to his membership on to the site, Sproul Jr. made the following statement: “The grace of God’s judgment bore its fruit, and by His grace I repented of my sin. By His grace, I have also received His forgiveness, the outworking of His love. Prophetic providence had done its good office. Jesus died for this sin, but there are still earthly consequences.”

Several other notable names that appeared from the hack are Josh Duggar and Sam Rader. Duggar is known from his appearance on the reality television show “19 Kids and Counting,” as well as his involvement in politics as an active lobbyist for the conservative Christian right. Rader is a popular Christian vlogger on YouTube and is similarly known for his conservative values and vocal opposition against issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

However, there is some question into the accuracy of the data that was released by Team Impact as well as the legitimacy of the names of users that were released from the hack.

The site does not require the verification of a user’s name with their email address, making it possible for members to join on an alias. For instance, multiple accounts have popularly been created under President Barack Obama’s name, while there have also been reports of misidentification from the data. Hunter Fredrick, president of a crisis management firm, reported to the Christian Post that he has received contact from a number of church staffers that claim to have been wrongly associated with the site from the hack.

This is yet another wave in recent scandals within the Christian church. Tullian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, known for his past involvement as a contributor to The Gospel Coalition, recently stepped down from his pastoral position due to similar reports of marital unfaithfulness. On top of all this, the recent release of the trailer for the upcoming movie “Spotlight,” a film predicated on the 2002 sexual abuse scandal of the Catholic Church, seems only to add salt to the wound.