Tony Anthony (evangelist)

Tony Anthony (born as Andonis Andreou Athanasiou on 30 July 1971)   is a British Christian evangelist. He became prominent following the 2004 publication of his autobiography, Taming The Tiger, in which he claimed to have been a violent criminal before converting to Christianity. The book was well-received by the Christian community, and Anthony began an international ministry as an evangelist. However, an independent investigation in 2013 concluded that large sections of the book are false.

Early life and conversion
Anthony claimed to have been born in London of an Italian father and a Chinese mother, raised in Canton, China by his grandparents, and trained in kung fu by his grandfather. He claimed he won three Kung Fu world championships after returning to London, before working as a bodyguard and turning to violence and crime, including murder, after his fiancee died in a car accident.

He recounted that in 1989 he was arrested for burglary in Cyprus and was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Central Jail of Nicosia, where his Buddhist upbringing did not give him much strength to endure the harsh conditions. Over six months, he was visited every week by an Irish missionary, Michael Wright, and converted to Christianity. They developed a friendship which continued after Anthony's release.

He was sentenced again in 2001 to 15 months in prison in the United Kingdom for perverting the course of justice and other charges. By his own version of events, his car had hit a cyclist at night, killing her, but he had not stayed at the scene and later denied it to police. The person killed was Elizabeth Bracewell, sister of footballer Paul Bracewell, and she had been riding a motorcycle. Anthony's wife, Sara, received a sentence of 120 hours of community service for her role in the cover-up. When Anthony was jailed (as when he married) he used a a false date of birth.

Anthony set up Avanti Ministries in 2003 to support his evangelistic work (avanti is the Italian for 'go'). The organisation received charitable status on 3 June 2004.

In 2004, Authentic Media (then part of Christian publishers Send the Light and currently owned by the Australian company Koorong) published Anthony's autobiography, Taming The Tiger. The book won the 2005 Christian Booksellers Convention award, was translated into 25 languages, and 1.5 million copies were distributed. Taming The Tiger brought Anthony to the attention of Christians worldwide, who were enthralled by the conversion of such a violent criminal. He travelled internationally to tell his story; video interviews were broadcast in Canada on 100 Huntley Street in 2005 and 2011, and in Holland by Evangelische Omroep. Anthony was also the keynote speaker at the Global Day of Prayer event in London in 2010. He was a member of Leigh Road Baptist Church.

Investigation
Concerns began to be expressed about Anthony's claims. Christian journalist Gavin Drake writes:

"Questions were asked about the authenticity of Taming the Tiger ever since it was first published in 2004. Critics were quick to point out that it reads like a work of fiction..."

Users of a martial arts website also began to doubt Anthony's story, starting in 2007.

Mike Hancock is credited with initiating the events that finally exposed Anthony. Hancock was appointed as a director of Avanti Ministries in December 2010, but received evasive answers when he asked for proof of Anthony's claims. Having failed to convince the other directors of the need to verify Anthony's story, he resigned in January 2012. Hancock then joined with another former director of Avanti Ministries, Geoff Elliott, who had similar concerns, Anglican church leader Carl Chambers, and prison chaplain David Buick, and together they sought to uncover the truth about Anthony. Chambers created a website documenting his research into Anthony's claims. Additional members of the group were Tony Pancaldi, Aaron Peterson and Jon Mason. Collectively, they became known as the Research Group.

In October 2012, the Research Group presented a detailed complaint to the Evangelical Alliance, an umbrella organisation of which Avanti Ministries was a member. Following discussions with the Alliance, Avanti Ministries agreed to set up an independent investigation conducted by a panel comprising three senior members of the Evangelical Alliance council. A joint press release issued by Avanti Ministries and the Evangelical Alliance on 12 July 2013 advised: The panel produced its report on 26 June 2013 and concluded, based on the evidence submitted to it, that large sections of the book Taming the Tiger, and associated materials, which claim to tell the true story of Tony Anthony’s life, do not do so.

Avanti Ministries have refused to release the panel's report, citing confidentiality, but Gavin Drake has indicated that the Research Group challenged virtually all of Anthony's claims regarding his life prior to becoming a Christian. A comment by Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, confirmed that the information available online comprises most of the issues raised in the original complaint.

Specific aspects of Anthony's story that have been disputed include his birth in the early 1960s to an Italian father, his raising in China, his training in Kung Fu and winning of three world championships, and his role as a bodyguard and enforcer for international gangsters and diplomats. Drake indicated that Tony Anthony has confirmed that his real name is Andonis Andreou Athanasiou and he was born on 30 July 1971, which would make him too young to have participated in the events described in his book.

On 16 July 2013, the Avanti Ministries board made public their decision to close down the organization. Authentic Media, Anthony's publisher, also announced that they were withdrawing his materials from sale.

In a statement published on his personal website, Tony Anthony accepted that there were some errors in Taming the Tiger relating to his childhood, and claimed he was unaware of these details when the book was written. Anthony maintained that the substance of the book is true, but did not respond to the more significant allegations.