So, notorious heretic, false prophet, sodomite*, and all around unrepentantly evil man John MacArthur has died.
This installment in my False Prophet Death Watch series hits far closer to home than previous ones. There are three false teachers who, more than anyone else, are responsible for the catastrophic implosion of my birth family: James Dobson, Bill Gothard, and John MacArthur. Each were hugely influential on my parents, in a thoroughly evil way that led them to abusive behavior. And indeed, thoroughly anti-Christian theology and practice.
I started working on this post in my head some time ago, but have realized that there is far too much to put in a single post. There is so much to say, both about my own trauma, and about the toxic theology MacArthur promoted, that it simply will not fit in one post.
So I will write several.
For this introduction, I want to mention a few things, and lay out what I hope to say, before diving into the details in future posts.
First, let me give some personal background. My family attended Grace** Community Church in Panorama City when I was aged 3 through 10 or so. Those are my first church memories, and I can still recall sights, sounds, smells, and even textures from those days. I hope to talk about that in one of the installments.
My dad in particular was heavily into MacArthur during my childhood years (my mom was more into James Dobson); and, while it took me a long time to come to an understanding of this, MacArthur and his false teachings lie at the core of how my dad went wrong. I recommend reading my post on how my parents changed for the worse over the last few decades.
Not all poisons work immediately. Many accumulate over the years until they cause cancer. In this case, MacArthur’s teachings slowly poisoned my parents until they developed cancer of the soul.
Over the course of this series, I want to address several issues with MacArthur.
Racism: MacArthur’s teaching about the “Curse of Ham,” a heresy invented to justify race-based enslavement. Which MacArthur supports.
Misogyny: MacArthur’s teaching about the subordination of women to men, based on a belief that power and authority are the fundamental pillars of Christianity. This has led to his chauvinistic treatment of women, particularly those who stand up for themselves. Whether telling lay minister Beth Moore to “go home,” disciplining women who left abusive husbands (even ones convicted of child molestation), or punishing rape victims at his college while letting the rapists go without consequences, his disdain for women has caused tremendous damage.
Authoritarian Parenting: Like the other two I mentioned as malignant influences on our family, MacArthur told parents to use physical violence on their children in order to break the child’s will. This is abusive, with or without the physical component, and is at the core of my own trauma and lost relationship with my parents.
Anti-LGBTQ hate: Even more than the typical Evangelical preacher, MacArthur advocated for mistreatment of LGBTQ people. This included telling parents to disown, isolate, and punish their LGBTQ children.
Covid Deaths: MacArthur refused to obey the law and stop in-person gatherings during the height of the pandemic. Not only that, he mocked those who wore masks or tried to social distance. This led directly to a number of deaths among his own parishioners, mostly the elderly or in poor health - the most vulnerable.
Anti-Social Justice: MacArthur went out of his way to tell people that it was sinful to seek social justice. After all, God himself created social and economic inequality, right? And don’t forget the racism above - this too is a reason he was against social justice.
I’m sure I will think of some more over time, and may add them here.
I will end this introduction with a line from Mark Wingfield at Baptist News Global:
John MacArthur did more harm to the cause of Christ than Paul Pressler — and that’s saying a hell of a lot. Pressler took control of one denomination; MacArthur influenced pastors and lay leaders across evangelical Christianity and taught them to be mean-spirited, divisive, judgmental and absolutely certain he alone held God’s truth. That is the definition of a cult leader, not a pastor.
MacArthur’s theology was and remains toxic. It was and remains abusive. It was and remains cruel. It was and remains untrue to the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Not to say so — especially at his death — is to be complicit with allowing that theology to go unchecked.
Let me leave no room for doubt: John MacArthur was a false prophet. He was an evil man. And he has done tremendous damage to the world and to millions of lives. We should not praise him, but acknowledge that he died unrepentant and proud of his sin.
I try to be gracious and wish that people will find a greater mercy than they were willing to show to others, but I am struggling with that right now in this case. For these three evil men (and for Trump, who came to power largely because of the poisonous teachings of men like MacArthur), I really fantasize about having a Princess Bride moment with each of them.
“I want my father back, you son of a bitch!”
I do not believe in Scary Evangelical Hell, but if MacArthur was right about Hell, then by the terms of his own Bible he is there.
***
* Sodomite: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50)
** Grace: “Grace” in Christianese is an example of George Orwell’s Newspeak. As the philosopher Inigo Montoya said, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” If you see “Grace” in a church name or on their website, run like hell. It is a social signal that the church is Fundamentalist in outlook, particularly when it comes to the Culture Wars™. If the word “sovereign” is in there too, that is a signal that the church is hard-core Calvinist, with all the cruelty and hate that implies.
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