JOHN MacARTHUR: MANDATED BY GOD
UNINTELLIGENT DESIGNS ON A SCIENTIST
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
Our staff members are returning from World Youth Day, and they report that everything worked out better than expected.
All copies of "Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth" and "Pure Love" were distributed, 100,000 total in four languages: English, French, Spanish, and German. The crowds, as you have seen on television or in the newspaper, were immense, but things went so smoothly for our crew that there was no need to rely on any of several contingency plans. Even the weather cooperated.
Now it's time to start planning for the next World Youth Day, which will be held in Sydney, Australia, probably in early 2008, during Down Under's summer. There are not many Catholics in Australia (for that matter, there are not many people there, period), but they have an excellent leader in their cardinal archbishop, George Pell.
One thing is for sure: The crowd will be smaller in Sydney. You can't reach Australia by car or train, and the airlines will add only so many extra flights to accommodate the pilgrims. Don't expect a million people to turn out for the papal Mass. But do expect Catholic Answers to be there.
JOHN MacARTHUR NEEDS TO TALK WITH ROSALIND MOSS
Before she became a Catholic, staff apologist Rosalind Moss used to be a member of John MacArthur's congregation, Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He runs a ministry called Grace to You. Its motto is "Unleashing God's Truth One Verse at a Time." The unleashing is done chiefly through a widely-syndicated radio program.
In a June letter to his ministry's supporters, MacArthur wrote about John Paul II and the "amazing release of emotion" that accompanied his death. "From politicians and media pundits to Hollywood celebrities and everyday citizens, everyone had praise for John Paul II, his gentle ways and his social and political achievements as a world leader and statesman. I can understand that.
"What I cannot understand," continued MacArthur, "is the response of some Evangelicals to what matters most about the pope: his beliefs about God and the gospel. ... Influential leaders embraced the deceased pope as a brother in Christ and the Catholic church as just another Christian denomination. ...
"During the Reformation, countless men and women died rather than deny the biblical truths of salvation. Countless others today are giving their lives as missionaries to people lost in the darkness and guilt of Catholicism."
MacArthur goes on to write about the "damning error" that is Catholicism and notes that he has released a new 90-minute lecture called "Unmasking the Pope and the Catholic System." He says that "the church I pastor is loaded with people who were saved out of the Catholic church. ... A longtime Grace to You board member and dear friend of mine is a former Catholic. He speaks with great emotion about the bondage he and his wife lived under."
How many times have we heard these claims before? "The Catholic Church is not really Christian." "Catholics believe you 'earn' your salvation through good works." "Catholicism is based on guilt, not truth." "People are in 'bondage' to Catholicism--and we need to save them."
Each Sunday 7,000 people attend MacArthur's church. This is what he tells them about an institution that was around for nineteen centuries before he was born and that is now headed by a man who shows not a hint of MacArthur's arrogance.
It is MacArthur who claims a divine commission: "I do have a mandate from God to compare what others teach to the gospel of the Bible." He says, "'Does the pope teach the gospel?' is a valid question."
Rosalind Moss left John MacArthur's church because she realized that, yes, the pope really does teach the gospel--and that John MacArthur does not.
The Grace to You ministry's letterhead has this slogan at the bottom: "The Bible Teaching of John MacArthur." Benedict XVI is more modest in his claims. His letterhead does not have at the bottom "The Bible Teaching of Benedict XVI" because the Pope is not trying to push his own agenda.
Instead, he is the custodian of what has been passed down through the centuries. His job is not to refashion the Bible in his own image but to convey to us what each of his predecessors conveyed to the people of their time.
Grace to You is built around one man. It may have many employees, but when John MacArthur dies, his ministry will die. His flock will scatter, taking with them the silly prejudices he has imbued them with.
When Benedict XVI dies there will be another pope to succeed him, and another, and another, until the end of time. Each of them will demonstrate to those with open minds and hearts that, yes, the pope does teach the gospel.
SHHH! DON'T SAY THAT!
A man with two advanced degrees in evolutionary biology, Richard Sternberg edits a tiny-circulation journal called the "Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington." It is partly under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution.
In the journal Sternberg published a peer-reviewed article arguing in favor of what is called the "intelligent design" theory, which holds that Darwinism is unable to account for the development of complex biological structures and that this defect points to the intervention of a designer.
According to "The Washington Post," "within hours of publication, senior scientists at the Smithsonian Institution ... lashed out at Sternberg as a shoddy scientist and a closet Bible thumper."
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel investigated the ensuing brouhaha and concluded that "retaliation [against Sternberg] came in many forms ... misinformation was disseminated through the Smithsonian Institution and to outside sources."
What intrigues me more than the merits or demerits of the scientific and philosophical arguments is the overheated reaction from Sternberg's former colleagues. Some of them went so far as to make up stories about him, such as claiming that he had studied for the Orthodox priesthood or was a closet creationist who believed the Earth was no more than 10,000 years old. In short, they underwent meltdown.
You don't see this kind of fevered reaction in theology. When a heterodox Catholic comes out with a book denying the Real Presence or Mary's virginity or the teaching against contraception, the response by the orthodox side is measured: "Here is where you are wrong, and this is why you should change your tune."
No defender of traditional Catholic teachings has felt the need to make up stories about Richard McBrien or Matthew Fox or Rosemary Radford Ruether. It has been enough to address their arguments.
Most Americans think science is cooly rational while religion is a thing of the emotions. They expect scientists to work through disagreements calmly, and they expect religious folk throw anathemas at one another. Sometimes anathemas are thrown (see John MacArthur), and often scientists disagree amicably.
But when it comes to a reassessment of a dogmatic principle in science, such as Darwinism, anything goes. And one thing that goes out the window is civility.
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