THE Duggar family is mired in controversy after Josh Duggar was jailed for receiving and possessing child pornography.
Here's everything you need to know about the Duggar family's faith.
What faith is the Duggar family?
The Duggars are a devout family who take pride in living conservatively.
Jinger Duggar revealed in her book, Becoming Free Indeed, that they follow a non-denominational religious organization known as the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Some people have called the IBLP a cult.
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The IBLP follows principles from the Bible and was founded by Bill Gothard in 1961.
The group reportedly promotes home schooling and male superiority.
Jinger told People in January 2023: “[Gothard’s] teachings in a nutshell are based on fear and superstition and leave you in a place where you feel like, ‘I don’t know what God expects of me’.
“The fear kept me crippled with anxiety. I was terrified of the outside world.”
She added that the teaching was "harmful" and "damaging".
The Duggar family featured on the reality TV show 19 Kids And Counting between 2008 and 2015, and spin-off program Counting On from 2015-2020.
The shows frequently touched on their values and relationship with God.
The Duggars avoid birth control, saying they have decided to allow God to determine the number of children they have.
Michelle attributed a miscarriage to her use of contraceptives so she and husband Jim-Bob decided to ditch the pill after believing they were being punished.
Daughter Jill and her husband Derick Dillard do use contraceptives and have broken most of the rules of their strict family.
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All of the children are homeschooled, and access to entertainment such as movies and television is limited.
The Duggars also practice chaperoned courtship, in which a couple becomes acquainted only in a group setting.
How many children make up the Duggar family?
The Duggars rose to the limelight with their TLC reality series 19 Kids And Counting.
Jim Bob and Michelle are parents to 19 children and the show follows their life as a family together and apart.
All of their children have names which begin with the letter J.
Joshua, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn-Grace and Josie, were all raised in the family home in Tontitown, Arkansas.
19 Kids And Counting ran from 2008 to 2015 upon its cancellation.
The show became TLC's most popular, averaging 2.3 million viewers per new episode in season 10.
On May 22, 2015, TLC suspended 19 Kids And Counting when the Duggars' eldest son Josh publicly apologized for having "acted inexcusably" following reports that he molested five girls, including some of his sisters, by fondling them.
These events occurred in 2002 and 2003, when he was 14 to 15, and prior to the beginning of the show.
The show was officially cancelled in July 2015 and would not resume production.
On December 9, 2021, six years after Josh's public apology he was found guilty on both counts of possessing and receiving child pornography.
Josh was arrested on April 29, 2021, on charges relating to child sexual abuse materials.
Jim Bob and Michelle released a statement on the family's website to comment on their disgraced son.
It read: "In the days ahead, we will do all we can to surround our daughter-in-law Anna and their children with love and support.
"As parents, we will never stop praying for Joshua, and loving him, as we do all of our children."
How can I watch Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets?
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, a new documentary series investigating the Duggar family, was released in June 2023.
The docuseries explores Josh's crimes and the family's promotion of fringe religious group IBLP.
You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
