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Quick to Listen

John MacArthur Is No Stranger to Controversy

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3622 Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2019

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Transcribed highlights of the show can be found in our episode summaries. Last week, John MacArthur celebrated 50 years in the pastorate at a conference at his congregation Grace Community Church. During the event, MacArthur accused the Southern Baptist Convention of taking a “headlong plunge” toward allowing women preachers after women spoke at the SBC’s 2019 annual meeting. That, he said, was a sign the denomination no longer believed in biblical authority.“When you literally overturn the teaching of Scripture to empower people who want power, you have given up biblical authority,” said MacArthur, as a Religious News Service story reported. A moderator also asked MacArthur and his fellow panelists to offer their gut reactions to one- or two-word phrases. When the moderator said “Beth Moore,” MacArthur replied, “Go home.” MacArthur has never shied away from controversy. Last year, he helped organize a controversial statement responding to social justice. He has frequently spoken out against the modern Charismatic movement. Part of the impetus behind MacArthur’s tendency to speak out comes from how he understands his belief in a high authority of Scripture, says Jonathan Holmes, a pastor and counselor who graduated from the Master’s College and worked there for several years. “There are a lot of things many evangelicals would say are non-essentials, for instance, a woman's role in the church, or drinking, or dancing, or creation or the end times,” said Holmes. “But those all become major touchpoints for MacArthur because his view of Scripture is such that if you budge on the grammatical, literal interpretation of the Bible in any of these areas, the whole thing begins to fall apart.” Holmes joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss whether MacArthur is a fundamentalist or evangelical, whether he has ever changed his mind with regards to his own theological convictions, and what to make of a Master’s Seminary grad preaching at one of Kanye West’s Sunday Services. Today's episode of Quick to Listen is brought to you in part by Baylor University’s Truett Seminary, where Kingdom-minded women and men are equipped to follow their callings. By learning to think theologically, developing ministry skills, cultivating a community of support, and engaging in spiritual formation, Truett students are uniquely prepared to make an impact in the Church and the world. Learn more at baylor.edu/truett. This episode of Quick to Listen is also brought to you by Christianbook.com. With over 500,000 products to choose from, Christianbook.com brings everything Christian right to your fingertips. Go to Christianbook.com. This episode is also brought to you by the Wheaton College Graduate School. Respected and represented the world over, the Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy at the Wheaton College Graduate School will inspire, challenge, and equip you to be a servant scholar for Christ and His Kingdom. Learn more at wheaton.edu/QTL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.

0:11.1

Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion. Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail Del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.

0:23.3

Last week, John MacArthur celebrated 50 years in the pastorate at a conference at his congregation, Grace Community Church.

0:31.2

During the event, MacArthur accused the Southern Baptist Convention of taking a, quote, headlong plunge toward allowing women preachers after women spoke

0:39.0

at the sbc's 2019 annual gathering that he said was a sign of the domination no longer believed

0:46.2

in biblical authority i'm going to quote him here when you literally overturn the teaching of

0:50.6

scripture to empower people who want power, you have given a biblical authority,

0:54.8

said MacArthur, as a religion news service story reported. A moderator later asked MacArthur and his

1:00.4

fellow panelists to offer their gut reactions to one or two word phrases. When the moderator said,

1:06.7

quote, Beth Moore, MacArthur replied, go home. MacArthur's response provoked a strong reaction on social media, which is not a surprise, I'm sure,

1:15.0

including current Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greer, who tweeted,

1:19.3

quote, dear Beth Moore, you're welcome in our home anytime.

1:23.1

This is hardly the first time that MacArthur has been associated with controversy.

1:27.2

Last year, he helped organize a controversial statement responding to social justice and Christianity.

1:32.0

He has frequently spoken out against the modern charismatic movement.

1:35.3

And the college that he founded, the Masters College, is on a predivation probation.

1:39.9

A strong proponent of expository preaching in 2006, MacArthur was acknowledged by Christianity

1:45.0

today as one of the most influential preachers of his time, and he's been a frequent guest

1:49.8

on Larry King Live as a representative of evangelical Christianity. But for many, MacArthur

1:54.8

remains just another name that pops up when some controversy swirls. We wanted to go deeper

2:00.6

on who John MacArthur is and what he believes.

2:08.1

I'm Morgan Lee, digital media producer here at Christianity Today.

...

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