John MacArthur’s Strange Fire, Reviewed by Eddie L. Hyatt
This is a pre-publication review of John MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Thomas Nelson, Nov 12, 2013) 9781400205172.
As a life-long Pentecostal-Charismatic, I recommend that every Pentecostal-Charismatic leader read Strange Fire by John MacArthur. I say this because we need to see how the bizarre “spiritual” behavior and doctrinal extremes by some in our movement are viewed by those on the outside and are used to whitewash the entire movement. We have done a very poor job of addressing these problems from within, so I do not doubt that God has raised up a voice that is fundamentally opposed to our movement to address these extremes. If God could use a pagan Babylonian king to discipline his people Israel for their sins (Jeremiah 25:8-11), could he not use a merciless fundamentalist preacher to point out our shortcomings?
That being said, MacArthur’s latest book does not represent an honest search for truth. It is obvious that his mind was already made up when he began his research for Strange Fire, and he found what he was looking for. He presents a circular argument, beginning with a faulty premise and proceeding with selective anecdotal evidence that determines the outcome. He begins with a commitment to cessationism, the belief that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were withdrawn from the church after the death of the twelve apostles and the completion of the writings of the New Testament. Since that is the case for him, that means modern expressions of Spiritual gifts must be false. He then utilizes the selective anecdotal evidence to buttress his presupposition, which leads him back to his starting point of cessation.
It seems that MacArthur wants to believe the worst about the movement of which he writes. At times I felt he was embellishing the bad to make it even worse. For example, Oral Roberts was not a Christian brother with whom he had profound differences but a heretic who did much damage to the body of Christ, “the first of the fraudulent healers to capture TV, paving the way for the parade of spiritual swindlers who have come after him” (155). Make no mistake about it, MacArthur is not out to bring correction to a sector of Christianity with which he disagrees; his goal is to destroy a movement he considers false, heretical and dangerous.
MacArthur is either unaware or purposely ignores the historical evidence for the continuation of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit as was presented in my book, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity. He ignores clear statements of church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Augustine about healings and miracles in their time. He uses Augustine’s statement about tongues being “adapted to the times” as an argument that the gifts had ceased. He ignores, however, Augustine’s later works, including Retractions, in which he acknowledges the ongoing miraculous work of the Spirit and tells of miracles of which he is personally aware.
MacArthur’s Biblical argument for cessation is also very weak. He relies primarily on Ephesians 2:20 where Paul told the Ephesian believers that they were being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. He then argues that the gift of apostleship was only for the foundational period of the church, which in his mind is the first century. He then argues that the other gifts of the Spirit passed away with the gift of the apostle. This, at its best, is convoluted thinking that goes far beyond what the text actually says. Paul’s point in this passage is not to teach cessationism, but to show the common faith of Gentile and Jewish believers in that both are built on the same foundation, which is Jesus Himself, and this fact is witnessed to by the Old (prophetic) and New Testament (apostolic) writings.
MacArthur’s disdain for women and their prominence in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement spills over when he refers to 1 Corinthians 14:34, which carries the admonition for women to be silent in the churches. He then says, “Given the nature of typical Pentecostal and charismatic church services, simply following that final stipulation would end most of the modern counterfeit” (152). He fails, however, to address the fact that Scripture itself states that women will have a prominent voice when the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh, as Peter so eloquently stated in Acts 2:17-18. The prominence of women, therefore, may be seen as an indication that the modern Pentecostal-Charismatic movement is a genuine work of the Holy Spirit.
In summary, may we not flinch or compromise our commitment to the ongoing, dynamic workings of the Holy Spirit in the Church and the world because of Strange Fire. At the same time, may we be diligent to address the errors and extremes that always creep in to any Spirit filled movement, whether the church in Corinth, early Methodism or the modern Pentecostal-Charismatic movement.
PR
MacArthur is a modern G Campbell Morgan who was known for stating that the outpouring of the early twentieth century was "the last belch of hell." This book is just an updated version of The Charismatics, written in 1978.
I've never read a John MacArthur book, but I thought the reviewer's book, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity was just awful.
1978 "The Charismatics"!! That was the book that someone gave me to prove that the charismatic/Pentecostal movement was bogus. I remember a lot of outrageous anecdotes in that book like the story about a woman who claims that her dog barked in tongues.
I agree that there are some who identify as "charismatic" or "Pentecostal" are not perfect and many do not hold what I consider to be sound doctrine. However, the mistakes/errors/sins of some individuals are not sufficient to indict the entire group.
Someone might be lucky if some strange fire doesn't start their tail on fire! Ha!
Years ago a fundamentalist associate gave me a copy of MacArthur's, "Charismaric Chaos," which I read. It struck me as odd that MacArthur, who is noted to be strong in the use of Scripture, barely used biblical references to support his view that cessationism was the proper approach to take when discussing gifts, etc. In another place he wrote, to my bewilderment, that a person who comes to faith in Christ will find it impossible to grow in correct doctrine if merely left alone with the Bible. So, although this man is a talented teacher and expositor he is certainly human with all the bias that comes with not having complete knowledge. Therefore, I agree that Charismatics / Pentecostals benefit from reading those with whom they may disagree in order to see themselves through the eyes of those that are in opposition to their strongly held views. MacArthur, in the end, though surely sincere about his minority opinion, is just that, an opinion in the very small minority, of the few fundamentalist enclave left. His is a battle already lost in the larger arena of Christian faith and we must move on and not fight again battles already won.
Years ago i heard Oral Roberts say, "Listen to your enemies. They will tell you things you need to hear that your friends won't tell you." One area where John MacArthur has something to say to us (Pentecostals and charismatics) is in our neglect of God's word leading to a lack of discernment, manifested in the mindless pursuit of extra-biblical miracles such as gold dust, gems, angel feathers, etc. I have been in "revival" meetings where the audience was told to "turn your mind off." I say, "Open your heart and leave your mind on." The answer is not to dispense with the mind, for Jesus said we are to love God with all our mind. The answer is to renew the mind in God's word as Paul admonishes in Romans 12:2, "then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will."
That is why I like the book, Kundalini Warning. Goes after the non-sense without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
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Invitation to readers: develop a TL;DR summary of this review.
I found it interesting that the add above these comments said Pin Sol BRAND Cleaner HaHa. I fit into all of this that he has come against and fear he has a reprobate or corrupted mind!
Those much more educated and well spoken can and have said it like it is and I for one appreciate those that take a stand for Biblical truth.
Betty Nelms
Years ago i heard Oral Roberts say, “Listen to your enemies. They will tell you things you need to hear that your friends won’t tell you.” One area where John MacArthur has something to say to us (Pentecostals and charismatics) is in our neglect of God’s word leading to a lack of discernment, manifested in the mindless pursuit of extra-biblical miracles such as gold dust, gems, angel feathers, etc. I have been in “revival” meetings where the audience was told to “turn your mind off.” I say, “Open your heart and leave your mind on.” The answer is not to dispense with the mind, for Jesus said we are to love God with all our mind. The answer is to renew the mind in God’s word as Paul admonishes in Romans 12:2, “then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I found it interesting that the add above these comments said Pin Sol BRAND Cleaner HaHa. I fit into all of this that he has come against and fear he has a reprobate or corrupted mind!
Those much more educated and well spoken can and have said it like it is and I for one appreciate those that take a stand for Biblical truth.
Betty Nelms
MacArthur is a modern G Campbell Morgan who was known for stating that the outpouring of the early twentieth century was “the last belch of hell.” This book is just an updated version of The Charismatics, written in 1978.
Years ago a fundamentalist associate gave me a copy of MacArthur’s, “Charismaric Chaos,” which I read. It struck me as odd that MacArthur, who is noted to be strong in the use of Scripture, barely used biblical references to support his view that cessationism was the proper approach to take when discussing gifts, etc. In another place he wrote, to my bewilderment, that a person who comes to faith in Christ will find it impossible to grow in correct doctrine if merely left alone with the Bible. So, although this man is a talented teacher and expositor he is certainly human with all the bias that comes with not having complete knowledge. Therefore, I agree that Charismatics / Pentecostals benefit from reading those with whom they may disagree in order to see themselves through the eyes of those that are in opposition to their strongly held views. MacArthur, in the end, though surely sincere about his minority opinion, is just that, an opinion in the very small minority, of the few fundamentalist enclave left. His is a battle already lost in the larger arena of Christian faith and we must move on and not fight again battles already won.
Invitation to readers: develop a TL;DR summary of this review.
Well praise God, I guess this means that we need to walk in love and continue to heed the admonition of the Lord through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:1…..”Therefore pursue (relentlessly chase) love (God’s love) and desire (passionately burn for) spiritual gifts…”. Let’s us more importantly chase the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 16:…..”….and these signs shall follow (chase after) those who BELIEVE…”….Praise God this an opportunity to chase God’s love and a sign of the last days. The world, Israel and the Church is on the verge of THE GREATEST outpouring God’s power in the Holy Spirit that the world has EVER seen. The Spirit of God is peaceful and He is also wild! God the Holy Spirit is the most passionate being next to the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father that you will ever encounter!!!! Hallejah rejoice people of God!