John McArthur

John MacArthur is a wonderful preacher of the Bible. I listen to him as often as I can.

 

I Like him very much. He is a very talented Bible expositor.

His web site is

http://www.GTY.org



[ September 01, 2002, 12:01 AM: Message edited by: John3v36 ]

 

Do you mean John M-A-C-A-R-T-H-U-R? If not the please ignore my post.

Within the past year John MacArthur Jr.
wrote a book expressing a strongly opinionated stand on 6-day creation (verses old earth creationism). He rehashed old argument rather than bringing up any new thoughts. In the diatribe, he ignored many fine arguments for old earth creationism and certainly implied (although it may have even been said) that us "old earthers" were rather strongly deceived by Satan himself. I don’t have a problem with a prominent theologian taking a stand on the issue. I do have a stand on how it was presented. The book and sermons were so poorly researched and one sided that I truly wonder where he is coming from. Was he just trying to sell another book?

By the way, my teenaged daughters have his study Bible so I’m not totally against him, just suspicious.

Here’s his recent book that has caused problems.
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/82475845?item_no=16259&event=ESRC

 

I’m not sure anyone can send you to a site with an unbiased opinion about him except to read his books yourself! Anybody’s opinion is just his or her biased opinion.

Good for you, John3v36, you gave the only site without bias, John, MacArthur’s own site.
(James 3) The tongue is a terrible weapon (Justified version???)

 

Brother MacArthur is the "Einstein" of the theologians. Can't really think of any one particular group that doesn't like his teaching--except, of course, the Catholic' & Morman's!! But all he does is "pin their ears to the wall" with the truth!!

He ranks in the top 3 theologians in my library!

 

That might be a little strong. I had never heard of him (even after three years of seminary and several years in the pastorate) until coming to this board. He may be read widely in IFB circles, but not in moderate/liberal ones.

Joshua

 

I don't care for most of John MacArthur's teachings. He believes in Lordship Salvation, is a strong Calvinist, and is not dispensational. Many think that he is dispensational, but as far as I know he only divides the OT from the NT, and recognizes the difference between Church and Israel. But I especially disagree with his positions on predestination, and Lordship Salvation. Listening to him on the radio has caused me to have little respect for his teachings. While I could not document all that I hear, he has made some outlandish statements. Once I heard him teach that if a "Christian" was not regularly attending a local Church, then they really are not Christian at all. He also mixes Salvation with the teachings of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount has nothing to do with Salvation, thank goodness.

Here are some excerpts from the following web site:

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/macarthur/general.htm

For the record my stance on MacArthur does not in any way put me in the same theological system as that of Rev. Joshua I am certainly not moderate/liberal .

 

For the record, John MacArthur is not a theologian. He is a pastor in Southern California. He has a large and thriving ministry and a much listened to radio program called "Grace to You." Pastor MacArthur is probably best described as being somewhere between traditional and progressive dispensational (which I do not disagree with), a definite Calvinist (I am not but I am an Historic Particular Baptist), believes in Lordship salvation (is there any other kind - Romans 10:9?) and definitely not Independent Fundamental Baptist. Not a Baptist at all in the "capital B" sense of the word. He pastors Grace Community Church. He is a prolific writer and conference speaker, and most of his books are excellent. His study bible is one of the best ever published. I disagree with him on matters of church polity, and some other minor things, but over all I have to admit I agree far more often than I disagree with him.

 

As I was taught a theologian is a person who studies about God. I think that describes us all.

 

Josh,

We don't take credit for listening to him either. I have never been in a IFB Church that recommended listening to him or buying his books either.

 

quote:

Originally posted by blackbird:
Brother MacArthur is the "Einstein" of the theologians.

Joshua Said:

That might be a little strong. I had never heard of him (even after three years of seminary and several years in the pastorate) until coming to this board. He may be read widely in IFB circles, but not in moderate/liberal ones.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
John MacArthur is not IFB. He's not even Baptist. But he is a sound Bible teacher. I know personally Episcopals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Church of Christ, and (Yes) Baptists, among others who have heard of him. I find it hard to believe that the moderate/liberals Don't know of him. I know a ton of them also. They love and hate him. Could it be you just never asked them? His most popular, notorious or infamous book(however you want to look at it) is "THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS". You may want to look at it. It caused quite a bit of commotion about ten years ago. He is worth at least one look.

You can find it at:

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/82487165?item_no=39491&event=ESRC

 

I have been in several who recommend him with discernment, as all should. While I, like Thomas, disagree with him on many things (church polity, old/new nature, fellowship), I (like Thomas) find myself agreeing with him more often than not. He however is not really a theologian per se. He is a pastor with a special gift (and a large staff to help him study). But he is a gifted communicator and leader and a good expositor of the word.

 

Joshua,

Have you ever heard of John Shelby Spong before coming to this board?

 

I'm not a big fan of John MacArthur because of some of his views (as many other conservative people here expressed), but his book, "The Gospel According to Jesus" was an excellent read for me at a time when I was getting blasted by my fellow theology students for asserting the necessity of repentance and faith for salvation instead of the model perpetuated by Charles Ryrie and the Dallas Theological Seminary crowd.

When I first started getting serious about following Jesus, I bought a Ryrie Study Bible and read it through several times over the course of 16 months. I also spent a lot of time doing book studies in both the Old and New Testaments because I was trying to figure out if I was truly and believer or not. (My brother, a hostile agnostic, had effectively destroyed my childhood Sunday School faith with questions I couldn't answer and challenges to my faith I could not resolve. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because I started fresh with the Bible -- ignoring what I had previously been taught in church -- and decided to see it God would guide me into truth.)

After months of study I realized that Charles Ryrie was wrong about a number of things and I stopped treating the notes as anything more than opinions. The area I had the most problems with Ryrie was on the area of salvation. I decided that the Bible clearly teaches -- especially in the Gospels -- "Lordship salvation", but I didn't know anyone else who believed that. When I heard about MacArthur's book, I quickly bought a copy and realized that I wasn't a heretic after all. It was a great affirmation to me.

MacArthur's commentaries are a good reference for a theological library, but you will probably disagree with them fairly often. However he does a nice job of raising the good questions about the text and working the text from a number of different angles.

 

I have heard some of MacArthur’s preaching. Generally, I agreed with much of what I heard him say. However, there was a definite CHILL in his voice that left me cold. He sounded "cold," and distant - even a little arrogant. Maybe he is just a “serious” dude without much sense of humor. Maybe he just had a bad day when I heard him.

I’m not impressed that he has a “large and thriving” ministry as DocCas mentioned. That only causes me to have GREAT suspicion (Luke 6: 25-26, Luke 20: 46-47). There are many famous "TELE-preachers" who had huge thriving ministries, yet they were found to be desperate and notorious. Thriving ministries alone mean NOTHING. Pride goeth before the fall (Prov. 16: 18).

Does this guy SELL his products? (i.e tapes, cd's, books, etc). If so, is there a "profit" made in the sale? (i.e not at cost). If there is a "profit" made in the sale, is his "ministry" REALLY a ministry, or is it a business?

latterrain77

 

I'll agree he does come across as arrogant, both in his sermons and in his books. But as one who also often comes across as arrogant, I don't want to judge him to harshly there since I'm only half as arrogant as I come across.

Still, all truth is God's truth -- no matter where you find it. Whether C.S. Murphy and SheEagle911 presents it or Shelby Spong and Phil Donohue.

All I'm saying about John MacArthur is that he can be a good resource for a believer -- just be as discerning as you would with anything else.

 

Baptist Believer

I disagree with you that Ryrie is so wrong. I too have studied from a lot of his writings and find that he is theologicaly sound. I can't say I agree with everything he says, but He is not what you make him out to be. Seems like I have read you before express your distaste for him. Just wanted to express my disagreement.

For anyone interested, Charles C. Ryrie wrote an excellent little book called So Great Salvation showing the errors of John MacArthur's views on Lordship Salvation.

 

Okay, Doc Cas, Chet, anybody? Help a guy out, what do you mean by "Lordship Salvation"?

Eric