In the mid-
20th century Reformed scholars began to question whether the opposing could even be considered "Christian"
[1] and if the Gospel of the new evangelical culture was even the true
gospel.
[2]
Dispensational leaders, many of whom advocated carnal Christianity, were slow to respond to this observation, especially given their recent experience separating from Dispensational Fundamentalists, an experience not shared or duplicated by Reformed Evangelicals.
[3] The Reformed tradition, with its historical debates with
Arminianism and its self-identification with
Augustine in his debate with
Pelagius, gave Reformed scholars and church leaders an intellectual tradition from which to oppose what they considered a false gospel.
[4]
The first known use of the term "lordship salvation" occurred in a 1959 debate in Eternity magazine between Presbyterian
Everett F. Harrison, a professor at
Dallas Theological Seminary, and
John Stott, an
Anglican theologian. The controversy moved to the forefront of the evangelical world in the late 1980's when
Calvinist John F. MacArthur argued against the doctrine of carnal Christianity in his book The Gospel According to Jesus (
ISBN 0-310-39491-0). In response, in 1989,
Charles Ryrie published So Great Salvation and
Zane C. Hodges published Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation. Both MacArthur's and the Hodges's books were published by
Zondervan. MacArthur later published Faith Works (1993) and Hodges released a 2nd edition of his earlier title,
The Gospel Under Siege in 1989.