Wow! So much activity in this little part of my world. it is so inspiring yet humbling to see so many people so passionate - so willing to help. It’s amazing.
As far as MacArthur is concerned, I can not say whether it’s a good idea or not to look into his ideas. I can only say that I was forced to in order to:
- know what he was alleging
- understand where he was comming from, and
- determine if he was right or wrong
in order to either help my wife back onto the right track or move myself onto another one too.
So I did study him - a lot. I likely know more about him and his preachings (can’t say beliefs) than most of you. I listened to his CD on my laptop and took 15 pages of notes, writing down, verbatim, almost everything he said. Then I set out to see if I could prove that what he was saying was true. Notice that I did not endeavor to prove him wrong, but rather right.
For example, was someone named Tyndale killed by the Catholic church for translating the Bible into English? MacArthur casually throws that out during one of his more venomous diatribes against the church. Is it true. Can it be proven. If so, that’s one for him and reason to believe that maybe he’s accurate on other things.
Well I learned that the statement, thrown out so casually was offered without a full explaination of the real reasons the state, carrying out the judgement of the church, executed heretics. Knowing all the details of the grossly innacuare translation and how society considered such things surely shed new light on the accusation.
Does MacArthur, then do this in other instances. Well, continued research revealed to me that ,yes, infact he does it in almost all cases - including reading around scripture to ‘prove’ his point. Taking things completly out of context to use the Bible to say what he wants to say.
And when he can’t do that, he simply makes things up.
MAC - “the only mention of vestments or anything like them in scripture is in the Temple of Bale”. Is this true?
Well I found at least 10 references to vestments and “things like them” from Sirach through Leviticus and into Exodus - I stopped looking after 10.
So maybe he just hasn’t read the Bible - or, just perhaps, he’s willing to be less than frank when he’s trying to make a point.
Let’s go on.
MAC - “Rome changes to whatever it needs to be in any time - that’s how the devil works”. “Rome will change to whatever wins over the people”.
Really?
There are so many examples of the Catholic church refusing to change just to conform with the times that this statement would be funny if it weren’t true that unthinking people believe it.
No research needed here. There is plenty of empiricle eveidence to show me that this is a far reaching accusation.
MAC - “Pope John Paul II gained the whole world and lost his soul. He is in hell today.”
What an authority we have in John MacArthur - with the power and knowledge to pronounce who is and who is not in heaven or hell. Aren’t we lucky to have such an oracle from God in our times.
MAC - “people standing in long lines for hours to worship a dead man.”
Worship him? Has this guy never been to a funeral before? Passed by a casket? “Paid their respects”?
MAC - “I don’t think Jesus would go to a meeting with Muslims and kiss the Koran (like PJPII did)”
No, Jesus embrased tax collectors, and the rest of those thrown out of society as trash - and embrased and kissed lepers and prostitutes. Asked the father to forgive his executioners.
MAC - “I’ve been to Catholic churches all over the world and at the center of it is always Mary, rarely ever is Christ present, rarely ever God, but always Mary.”
What? Anyone who’s ever been in a Catholic church is forced to see Christ on the cross as the primary focus of the building.
He then quotes PJPII “For those who have never heard the Gospel, salvation is accessible in mysterious ways.”
MAC - “Oh, so you don’t know the church, you don’t know the Gospel, but in some “mysterious” way, you can get into Heaven.”
Without ever reading a word of scripture or knowing anything, there is something within me - a sense that God put there, that there is a place in heaven for those who’ve never heard the Gospel. I just know by some sense of myself that he’s wrong here.
“Papal infallability was voted in in 1870 by a split vote.”
Well, it was 1871 and they didn’t vote anything in at all, but rather reconfirmed church doctrine. I don’t need to know if it was by one vote because MacArthur is wrong on every other aspect of it.
too long read on.
