John F. MacArthur

John F. MacArthur, Jr.
John F. MacArthur
Born	June 19, 1939 (1939-06-19)
Occupation	Minister, Writer, Broadcaster

John Fullerton MacArthur, Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is a United States evangelical writer and minister noted for his internationally known and broadcast radio program titled Grace to You. MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker and has served as the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since February 9th, 1969, and as the president of The Master's College (and the related The Master's Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

Theologically, MacArthur is considered a Baptist and Calvinist, and a strong proponent of expository preaching. He has been acknowledged by Christianity Today as one of the most influential preachers of his time, and was a frequent guest on the Larry King Live TV talk show as a representative of an evangelical Christian perspective.

MacArthur has authored or edited more than 150 books, most notably the MacArthur Study Bible, which has sold more than 1 million copies and received a Gold Medallion Book Award. Other best-selling books include his MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series (more than 1 million copies), Twelve Ordinary Men, (more than 500,000 copies), and the children's book A Faith to Grow On, which garnered an ECPA Christian Book Award.

Biography

The son of Jack MacArthur (an accomplished preacher in his own right), and fifth cousin of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, John MacArthur attended Bob Jones University before transferring to Los Angeles Pacific College (now Azusa Pacific University). He later obtained his Masters of Divinity from Biola University's Talbot Theological Seminary, in La Mirada, California. He graduated with honors. From 1964 to 1966, he served as an associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church, in Burbank, California and, from 1966 to 1969, as a faculty representative for Talbot Theological Seminary. Then, in 1969, he became the third pastor in the then-short history of the nondenominational Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California.

His daily radio program, Grace to You, which is now broadcast throughout much of the world, began as an audio recording ministry to provide cassettes of his sermons to church members who were unable to attend. They were first broadcast in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1977.

In 1985, MacArthur became the president of The Master's College (formerly Los Angeles Baptist College), an accredited, four-year, liberal arts Christian college; and, in 1986, he founded The Master's Seminary. MacArthur also received an honorary doctorate from Talbot Theological Seminary and an honorary doctorate from Grace Graduate School.

Nearly 43 years after beginning in the pulpit of Grace Community, MacArthur completed his own life goal of preaching through the entire New Testament on June 5th, 2011, at the end of his projected target window, stated the previous January, to finish "some time in the summer." During the same interview, MacArthur projected he would complete his commentary series within another five years, some 35 years after beginning.

Theological views

Biblical Fundamentalism

Upon his appointment as president of The Master's College in 1985, the Los Angeles Times noted that "MacArthur has been among the leading fundamentalist ministers insistent on the preaching and teaching of an 'inerrant' Bible, devoid of mistakes or untrue statements, within conservative Protestant circles."

Creationism

MacArthur advocates Young Earth Creationism in his book, The Battle For the Beginning (2001), and in his sermons. Speaking about evolution, he writes that Christians "ought to expose such lies for what they are and oppose them vigorously."

Dispensationalism

MacArthur describes himself as a "leaky dispensationalist." While he holds to a premillennial and pre-tribulational rapture of the church and fulfillment of all the covenant promises made to the Jews at the end of the tribulation, he rejects some of the classic dispensational ideas, such as the Law having no application to the church. Dispensationalism has been a frequent source of controversy; critics claim that MacArthur's deviation from Reformed eschatology has led to an inconsistent Calvinism or self-contradiction suggesting two people groups of God, two roads to salvation, and the so-called, "Great parenthesis."^{[citation needed]}

Soteriology

MacArthur is a key person in the debate over "Lordship salvation" in the 1980s, arguing against, "Free Grace theology." He states, "you must receive Jesus Christ for who He is, both Lord and Savior, to be truly saved (II Peter 2:20)." Regarding eternal security, he states, "It should never be presented merely as a matter of being once saved, always saved--with no regard for what you believe or do. The writer of Hebrews 12:14 states frankly that only those who continue living holy lives will enter the Lord's presence." MacArthur's views raised controversy within American, conservative evangelicalism and were challenged in print by non-lordship dispensationalist theologians, Charles Ryrie and Zane C. Hodges, who argued that MacArthur was teaching a form of works-based salvation.

In December 1989, the Bible Broadcasting Network terminated MacArthur's "Grace to You" program. In explaining that step, BBN president Lowell Davey referred to MacArthur's teachings on the blood of Christ, "Lordship Salvation," and, "Hyper-Calvinism." Davey called these teachings "confusing." In a letter dated January 15, 1990, Davey cited a, "....drift by Dr. MacArthur to a theological position that we could not adhere to," and said that MacArthur's sermon series on the theology of election "....convinced us that the direction of 'Grace to You' was toward Hyper-Calvinism...." MacArthur preaches "Salvation" by election of God's sovereignty. However, the term "Hyper-Calvinism" is used by some to denote 5-point Calvinism or even any strong defense of Calvinism, rather than the historical "Hyper-Calvinism" position that only the "Elect" may be offered the Gospel. This position does not seem to accurately reflect MacArthur's position in his sermons. The controversy concerning the efficacy of the Christ's blood stems from MacArthur's statement that it is not the literal liquid blood of Christ that saves, but his sacrificial death on the Cross, a view that he espoused in an article titled, "Not His Bleeding, but His Dying," published in the May 1976 issue of the Grace to You family paper that is distributed to his church. MacArthur himself, though, later clarified what was stated of him in the article, noting his position concerning Christ's blood and death in atonement, mentioning that the efficacy of Christ's blood is not some particular physical property of the blood itself, but the fact that He shed blood in dying, and his affirmation that Christ's blood in death was necessary to satisfy God's holy requirement for atonement.

Christology

In 1983, MacArthur first published his belief in the doctrine of "incarnational sonship." In 1989, after some criticism, he defended his views in a plenary session of the annual convention of the Independent Fundamental Churches of America. Subsequently, MacArthur has written that he has reversed this position and no longer regards Christ's sonship as a role he assumed in his incarnation.

Spiritual gifts

MacArthur is a cessationist, arguing that Charismatic and Pentecostal theology and their practice regarding the "gifts of the Spirit" (healing, miracles, Speaking in Tongues, etc.) are not for these times. Rich Nathan, pastor of Vineyard Church of Columbus published "A Response to Charismatic Chaos" in 1993.

Psychology

He is also an advocate of Nouthetic Counseling, which stresses the Bible as a sufficient tool for counseling people with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. MacArthur rejects psychological theories and techniques, considering psychology and psychiatry as contrary to the Bible. In Our Sufficiency in Christ: Three deadly influences that undermine your spiritual life MacArthur criticises "so-called Christian psychologists and psychiatrists who testified that the Bible alone does not contain sufficient help to meet people's deepest personal and emotional needs," and he claims "Such a thing as a 'psychological problem' unrelated to spiritual or physical causes is nonexistent." Concerning people who consult secular mental health professionals, MacArthur opines "Scripture hasn't failed them—they've failed Scripture."

MacArthur has argued that "True psychology (i.e. "the study of the soul") can be done only by Christians, since only Christians have the resources for understanding and transforming the soul. The secular discipline of psychology is based on godless assumptions and evolutionary foundations and is capable of dealing with people only superficially and only on the temporal level... Psychology is no more a science than the atheistic evolutionary theory upon which it is based. Like theistic evolution, Christian psychology is an attempt to harmonize two inherently contradictory systems of thought. Modern psychology and the Bible cannot be blended without serious compromise to or utter abandonment of the principle of Scripture's sufficiency.... "

His stance has caused several controversies, the most notable of which was the first time an employee of an evangelical church had ever been sued for malpractice.

Other Christian movements and other religions

His writings are critical of other modern Christian movements such as those who run "seeker-friendly" church services such as Robert Schuller, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren.

Taking a strong stand against popular mega-church pastor Joel Osteen, Pastor MacArthur has spoken of him as a quasi-pantheist and proclaimed his teachings to be Satanic.

He has also taught that Catholicism is "a Satanic religious system that wants to engulf the earth."

He also has stated that Billy Graham is a false teacher who believes in the catholic teaching.

He has also stated that the "theology of Islam is false," and that Allah is the "wrong god." Although he is a proponent of Christian abstinence from alcohol, he does not teach it is necessarily sinful. (See Christianity and alcohol.)

Selected publications

Main article: John MacArthur bibliography

• Gospel According to Jesus (1989) ISBN 0310286514
• Charismatic Chaos‎ (1993) ISBN 0310575729
• Our Sufficiency in Christ (‎1998) ISBN 1581340133
• Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World‎ (2001) ISBN 1581342888
• Think Biblically!: Recovering a Christian Worldview (2003) ISBN 1581344120
• Fool's Gold?: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error‎ (2005) ISBN 158134726X
• Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You (2008) ISBN 1400280281
• The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ (2009) ISBN 140020206X

Further reading

• Jones, Karen (Nov-Dec 2009). "John MacArthur: Unleashing God's Truth—One Verse at a Time". Bible Study Magazine 2 (1): 10–14. 

External links

• John MacArthur.org – 40th anniversary legacy site presented by Grace Community Church
• GTY.org resources page – all of MacArthur's sermons (audio and text) available for download
• Radio Archive
• Grace to You Podcast Archive
• Grace Community Church
• The Master's College
• The Master's Seminary
• Bible Bulletin Board – contains many of MacArthur's sermon texts and articles
• Catholic response to John MacArthur's attack