Authority of scripture

Central to MacArthur's theology is a very high view of scripture (the 66 books of the Protestant Bible).^[16] He believes that scripture is inerrant and infallible because it is "the Word of God" and that God cannot lie.^[16] Furthermore, he believes that Christians are obliged to render full submission to scripture above all else and that "[t]o mishandle the Word of God is to misrepresent the One who wrote it. To reject its claims is to call Him a liar. To ignore its message is to snub that which the Holy Spirit inspired."^[16]

Cessationism

MacArthur is a cessationist, holding that the "sign gifts" (such as prophecy) described in the Bible were temporarily granted to the apostles to authenticate the origin and truth of the scriptures, and that at the close of the Apostolic Age these gifts had served their purpose and ceased to be granted.^[17] He is one of the most prominent voices in American Christianity against the continuationist beliefs of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement, which assert that God continues to confer sign gifts today. MacArthur has written three books on the subject. In October 2013, his church hosted a conference called "Strange Fire" to mark the launch of a book of the same name.^[18] The event featured a number of speakers who argued for cessationist theology and strongly critiqued the Charismatic Movement.^[19][20]

MacArthur argues that modern "visions, revelations, voices from heaven... dreams, speaking in tongues, prophecies, out-of-body experiences, trip to heaven, anointings, miracles [are] all false, all lies, all deceptions attributed falsely to the Holy Spirit." He has remarked that "[t]he Charismatic movement has stolen the Holy Spirit and created a golden calf, and they're dancing around the golden calf as if it were the Holy Spirit."^[21][22]

Christology

In 1983, MacArthur first published his belief in the doctrine of "incarnational sonship." In 1989, after some criticism, he defended his views in a plenary session of the annual convention of the Independent Fundamental Churches of America (IFCA). A decade later, he announced he had retracted this view via an article from Grace to You.^[23]

Complementarianism

MacArthur has stated that he opposes both "male chauvinist and feminist views."^[24] He has a complementarian view on gender roles and considers that the Bible forbids women to preach to men or to exercise authority over men in churches, and he believes that the Biblical roles of elder and pastor are restricted to men. To this end he cites the biblical passages of 1 Timothy 2:11–12 [1 Corinthians 14:34-35].^[25][26][27]

Dispensational theology

MacArthur describes himself as a "leaky dispensationalist."^[28] MacArthur holds to the dispensationalist school of premillennialism, a pre-tribulational Rapture of the Church, and a literal Millennium. He teaches a completely restored Israel shall inherit physical ownership of the land of Canaan on the earth.^[29][30][31]

Lordship of Christ

MacArthur believes "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). This submission to Jesus as Lord when converting to faith in Jesus Christ became known to Arminians as the "Lordship salvation controversy" in the 1980s. MacArthur argues that confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is a necessary component of free grace theology. He states, "You must receive Jesus Christ for who He is, both Lord and Savior, to be truly saved (2 Peter 2:20)."^[32] Regarding eternal security, he states, "It should never be presented merely as a matter of being once saved, always saved with no regard for what you believe or do. The writer of Hebrews 12:14 states frankly that only those who continue living holy lives will enter the Lord's presence." These views raised controversy within American evangelicalism and were challenged in print by Free Grace theologians such as Charles Ryrie and Zane C. Hodges, who argued that MacArthur's ministry was teaching a form of works-based salvation. MacArthur denied the charge, as attested on two tapes recorded in 1989 when he was asked to "reason together with the IFCA man."^[33]

Young Earth creationism

MacArthur advocates Young Earth creationism in his book The Battle For the Beginning (2001), and in his sermons.^[34] Speaking about evolutionary theory, he writes that Christians "ought to expose such lies for what they are and oppose them vigorously." He argues that "the battle for the beginning is ultimately a battle between two mutually exclusive faiths—faith in Scripture versus faith in anti-theistic hypotheses. It is not really a battle between science and the Bible."^[35]

Response to and matters surrounding COVID-19

In 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 global crisis, MacArthur contravened orders from Los Angeles County public health officials regarding services at Grace Community Church, and insisted that no one from the church had become seriously ill, despite reports to the contrary.^[41] His major contention was that there was no justification for closing down churches over a disease with 94% survival rate according to misinterpreted data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).^[42][43] Los Angeles County sued the church over its refusal to close down, and the church counter-sued, claiming that the County was violating rights to freedom of religion.^[43] In August 2021, MacArthur told congregants that "many people" had contracted COVID-19 while it "went through" the church in December 2020 and January 2021, including both him and his wife. Eventually, all lawsuits were settled out of court with the County of Los Angeles and the State of California paying $400,000 each to Grace Community Church.^[44][45]

Accusations of improper response to domestic abuse

In March 2022, The Roys Report published an investigation implicating Grace Community Church and John F. MacArthur. ^[46]Several women victims of domestic violence were reportedly asked to return to their husbands, under threat of excommunication. MacArthur associate pastor Carey Hardy allegedly told a victim to lead by example and “suffer for Jesus” by enduring her husband’s abuse. A church elder, Hohn Cho, allegedly urged MacArthur to reconsider the victim's request, who told him "forget it." The victim was humiliated twice, in May 2002 and August 2002, by MacArthur in front of the congregation for having finally divorced her husband. In 2005, the victim's husband was sentenced to 21 years in prison for aggravated child molestation, corporal injury to a child, and child abuse. After the publication of the affair by Christianity Today in February 2023, the pastoral council denounced “lies”. ^[47]

Comments regarding Steven Furtick and Beth Moore

In 2012, at the annual Shepherd's Conference, MacArthur was participating in a word association questionnaire when the moderator gave the name "Steven Furtick." MacArthur responded "unqualified" and proceeded to argue that Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church, was not qualified, by Biblical standards, to be a pastor.^[48] Furtick responded to this comment in his 2016 book Unqualified: How God Uses Broken People to Do Big Things.

In 2019, at the Truth Matters Conference, during another word association questionnaire, MacArthur was given the prompt "Beth Moore". MacArthur responded, "Go home." Reiterating his stance on 1 Timothy 2:12, he went on to state, "There is no case that can be made biblically for a woman preacher. Period. Paragraph. End of Discussion."^[49] Moore responded to this stance by stating on her Twitter account, "I did not surrender to a calling of man when I was 18 years old. I surrendered to a calling of God. It never occurs to me for a second to not fulfill it."^[50] Pastor Wade Burleson considered that MacArthur comment was misogynistic, contrary to the Bible and the character of Jesus Christ.^[51]