John Mcarthur: Has He Lost His Way In Faith?

John MacArthur is an influential American pastor and author who has hosted the Christian radio and television program Grace to You. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. He is also the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in Santa Clarita and The Master's Seminary. MacArthur is a proponent of expository preaching and has written or edited more than 150 books, including the MacArthur Study Bible, which has sold over a million copies. He has been described as a faithful pastor and one of the most influential preachers of his time by Christianity Today.

However, MacArthur has also been criticised and embroiled in several controversies. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he defied orders from Los Angeles County public health officials regarding services at Grace Community Church, arguing that there was no justification for closing down churches. He also made headlines for his comments about religious liberty, stating, I don't even support religious freedom... Religious freedom is what sends people to hell. In recent years, MacArthur has been accused of using ghostwriters for his books and improperly responding to domestic abuse cases within his church.

Despite these controversies, MacArthur remains a prominent figure in American Christianity and continues to have a significant influence on evangelicalism.

John MacArthur's stance on COVID-19

John MacArthur, the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, has been vocal about his opposition to COVID-19 restrictions and his stance on the pandemic. MacArthur has defied public health orders and continued to hold in-person services at his church, with congregants sitting close together without masks. He has also spread misinformation about the virus, downplayed its severity, and questioned the effectiveness of vaccines.

In July 2020, MacArthur released a statement saying that he and the Grace Church elders would disobey the government's temporary ban on churches gathering together. He justified his decision using Bible verses and popular conspiracy theories, such as politicians manipulating statistics and the media covering up the truth. MacArthur's services attracted thousands of non-masked and non-socially distanced conservative evangelicals, with his henchman, Phil Johnson, boasting about the full church on Twitter.

MacArthur has argued that COVID-19 is not as dangerous as it is made out to be and has said that the survival rate is 94%. He has also promoted natural immunity over vaccination, telling his congregants, "The natural immunity that God has designed is the greatest protection... God has a way of taking care of us as we love each other and share our germs." This statement was met with laughter from his congregation.

MacArthur has also denied the existence of the pandemic and the spread of COVID-19 within his church. In August 2021, however, he admitted for the first time that he, his wife, and many others at Grace Community Church had contracted COVID-19 in December 2020 or January 2021. This admission came as the church was preparing to settle a lawsuit brought by Los Angeles County over its failure to report an outbreak to health officials. MacArthur argued that it couldn't be proven that people had contracted COVID-19 at the church and that there was no evidence tracing back to Grace Church.

MacArthur's stance on COVID-19 has been controversial and has led to legal battles with Los Angeles County. The county sued the church over its refusal to follow COVID-19 protocols, and the church counter-sued, claiming a violation of religious freedom. Eventually, the lawsuits were settled out of court, with the county and the state paying $400,000 each to Grace Community Church.

John MacArthur's views on gender and sexuality

John MacArthur is a prominent California pastor and author who has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. He is also the host of the national Christian radio and television program "Grace to You". MacArthur is a vocal critic of same-sex marriage, the ordination of women, the Roman Catholic Church, and the social justice movement.

MacArthur has asserted that "no one is gay" because, in his view, God does not "hardwire" individuals to be gay any more than he "hardwires" them to be adulterers or bank robbers. He compares the claim that sexual orientation is an innate trait to a hypothetical bank robber arguing that they are a robber because they rob banks.

In a 2012 incident, MacArthur responded to the name "Steven Furtick" with the word "unqualified" during a word association questionnaire at the annual Shepherd's Conference. He went on to argue that Furtick, the pastor of Elevation Church, was unqualified by Biblical standards to be a pastor. MacArthur has also stated that women should not preach, citing 1 Timothy 2:11–12, and told female preacher Beth Moore to "go home" during a similar word association exercise in 2019.

MacArthur's views on gender and sexuality are informed by his belief in the infallibility of Scripture and the idea that Christians are obliged to submit fully to its authority. He cites biblical passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11–12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 to support his stance on gender roles and the exclusion of women from leadership positions in the church.

In December 2021, MacArthur urged pastors in the US and Canada to preach on January 16, 2022, about God's plan for human sexuality, in response to Canada's broad new law banning conversion therapy. He described this law as a threat to the Gospel message and encouraged pastors to stand united against it, even if it meant preaching illegally.

John MacArthur's views on authority

John MacArthur is a prominent figure in American Christianity, and his views on authority are complex and multifaceted. Central to MacArthur's theology is a high view of scripture, considering the 66 books of the Protestant Bible as inerrant and infallible because they are "the Word of God". He believes that Christians are obliged to submit fully to scripture above all else. This belief in the authority of scripture shapes his views on other matters, including gender roles, sexuality, creationism, and the role of the church during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MacArthur holds a complementarian view on gender roles, citing biblical passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11–12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 to support his position. He opposes both "male chauvinist and feminist views" and believes that the Bible forbids women from preaching to or exercising authority over men in churches. He also argues against the ordination of women and is a critic of same-sex marriage.

In terms of creationism, MacArthur is a young Earth creationist and advocates for this position in his book "The Battle For the Beginning" and in his sermons. He writes that Christians should "expose [evolutionary theory] as lies" and that the debate is "a battle between two mutually exclusive faiths—faith in Scripture versus faith in anti-theistic hypotheses".

During the COVID-19 pandemic, MacArthur contravened orders from Los Angeles County public health officials by refusing to close his church, Grace Community Church, for in-person services. He and his congregation believed that the government was overstepping its authority by restricting religious gatherings. MacArthur argued that there was no justification for closing down churches, and he received criticism for his stance, with Los Angeles County suing the church.

In addition to his views on scriptural and governmental authority, MacArthur has also commented on the moral authority of the presidency. In a 1998 sermon, he criticised then-President Bill Clinton's moral failings and lying, arguing that a ruler who is a liar is a serious matter to God. However, in a more recent interview with Ben Shapiro, MacArthur remarked that Christians should not expect the presidency to be "a position of moral authority". He compared it to a brain surgeon's work, saying that we should not be concerned about the moral life of the president as long as he performs his duties.

Overall, MacArthur's views on authority are shaped by his interpretation of scripture, and he believes that Christians should submit to the authority of the Bible above all else. This leads him to take strong stances on various social and political issues, often generating controversy and sparking debates within American evangelicalism.

John MacArthur's views on religious liberty

John MacArthur is a prominent evangelical figure and the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He has been criticised for his comments on religious liberty, which have been described as an attack on the concept.

In a sermon on 17 January 2021, MacArthur stated:

> I don't even support religious freedom. Religious freedom is what sends people to hell. To say I support religious freedom is to say I support idolatry. It's to say I support lies, I support hell, I support the kingdom of darkness.

He went on to say that no Christian with "half a brain" would support religious liberty. MacArthur's comments were in reference to the idea that Christians should look to God, rather than "earthly powers", for protection. He clarified that he did not believe Christians should "commandeer governments" to force Christianity on the world.

MacArthur's comments were criticised by several evangelical leaders, including members of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which has long held religious liberty as a distinctive value. In response to the backlash, MacArthur appeared to double down on his original statements. In a sermon the following week, he said:

> Now I told you last week that I do not believe as a Christian that I can support strongly freedom of religion, because that would be to violate the first commandment, right? 'Have no other gods'.

He went on to say that political laws do not aid or hinder the church of Jesus Christ, as it is a "separate kingdom".

MacArthur's views on religious liberty have been described as dangerous and "entirely unconvincing logically, Biblically, and historically". Critics have pointed out that MacArthur's ministry has benefitted from the religious liberty he criticises, as the First Amendment of the US Constitution safeguards his right to worship and lead a like-minded religious community.

John MacArthur's views on creationism

John MacArthur is a prominent advocate of Young Earth Creationism, a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis, and the belief that the Earth is 6,000 years old. MacArthur's views on creationism are informed by his belief in the infallibility of scripture, and he argues that Christians are obliged to submit to the Bible above all else. In his book, 'The Battle for the Beginning', MacArthur writes that Christians:

> ought to expose such lies [evolutionary theory] for what they are and oppose them vigorously.

MacArthur's views on creationism have been the subject of controversy, with some critics arguing that his stance on the issue is too rigid and that it risks alienating young people from the church. MacArthur, however, remains steadfast in his conviction that the Bible should be interpreted literally and that any other interpretation is a "lie".

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