John F. MacArthur

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John F. MacArthur, Jr.
Born	June 14, 1939 (1939-06-14) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Minister

John F. MacArthur, Jr. (born June 14, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a United States Reformed evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award winning MacArthur Study Bible.^[1] MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969, and as President of The Master's College (and the related Master's Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

[edit] Biography

The son of Jack MacArthur (an accomplished preacher in his own right), John MacArthur was an athlete and 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. He graduated with honors. From 1964 to 1966 he served as an associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church, Burbank, California, and 1966 to 1969 as a faculty representative for Talbot Theological Seminary, La Mirada, California. Then in 1969, he became the third pastor in the then-short history of the nondenominational Grace Community Church.

In 1985, MacArthur became president of The Master's College (formerly Los Angeles Baptist College), an accredited, four-year, liberal arts Christian college, and in 1986, founded The Master's Seminary. His daily radio program, Grace to You is broadcast throughout much of the world. He is the author of over 75 books, notably his MacArthur Commentary Series and the MacArthur Study Bible (ISBN 0-8499-1222-9). He works alongside Phil Johnson who edits his preaching messages into book form.

MacArthur was given an honorary doctorate from Talbot Theological Seminary (D.D.) and another one from Grace Graduate School (Litt.D).

[edit] Theological Views

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MacArthur is a proponent of expository preaching, and his theology is best described as Biblical, evangelical, Calvinistic, and dispensational, although he rejects some of the classic dispensational ideas – hence his self-description as a "leaky dispensationalist".^[2] His book The Gospel According to Jesus (ISBN 0-310-39491-0) caused controversy in the evangelical church by arguing for lordship salvation, which teaches that "you must receive Jesus Christ for who He is: both Lord and Savior (II Peter 2:20)." This is evidenced on pg. 150 in his book Kingdom Living Here and Now, (0-802-44564-0) in which MacArthur states: “Eternal security is a great spiritual truth, but 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."

In MacArthur's book, Charismatic Chaos he argued that Charismatic and Pentecostal theology and practice regarding the "gifts of the Spirit" (healing, miracles, glossolalia, etc.) are incorrect at best and blasphemous at worst.

MacArthur's writings similarly 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. He is also an advocate of Biblical Counseling (also known as Nouthetic Counseling) which stresses the Bible as a tool for counseling and rejects psychological theories and techniques that are contrary to the Bible in spiritual issues.

MacArthur has also been a proponent of Christians abstaining from alcohol, though he does not think it is necessarily sinful.^[3] (See Christianity and alcohol.)

MacArthur has stated that the "theology of Islam is false" and Allah is the "wrong god."^[2]

[edit] Controversy

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MacArthur has been a central figure in several controversies, the most notable of which was the first time an evangelical church had ever been sued for malpractice. Kenneth Nally, a 24-year old seminary student, committed suicide in 1979. The following year, MacArthur and several members of the staff were brought to court to determine the legality of counseling people from the Bible rather than modern psychology, although Nally had been receiving psychological help elsewhere as well. After seven years of court rulings, challenges and appeals, the California Supreme Court 5-2 majority opinion held that the clergy in this case were not licensed counselors and could not, therefore, be held legally liable for failing to provide proper care for the people they had advised.^[3]

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,". He 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 his series on election "convinced us that the direction of 'Grace to You' was toward Hyper-Calvinism..." MacArthur preaches salvation by election of God's sovereignty; he accepts Arthur Pink's view of the sovereignty of God in salvation (http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/sg60-2.htm).

The "Lordship salvation" controversy concerns MacArthur's view that submitting to the lordship of Jesus is a necessary part of receiving him as savior. MacArthur's views raised controversy within American Evangelicalism and were challenged in print by Charles Ryrie and Zane C. Hodges, who argued that MacArthur was teaching a form of works-based salvation.

The controversy concerning the efficacy of the 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 which 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.

[edit] Publications

[edit] References

1. ^ 1998 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners. Retrieved on 2008-03-06.
2. ^ John MacArthur Explains True Gospel
3. ^ [1]Clergy Malpractice - Further Readings

[edit] External links

• Grace to You
• Grace to You Podcast Archive
• Grace Community Church
• The Master's College
• The Master's Seminary