John MacArthur Answers Critics Who Say His Strange Fire Conference Is Divisive and Unloving

The Rev. John MacArthur responded to critics of the Strange Fire conference, a three-day event held at his Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, that ended on Oct. 18, 2013. Critics have said the conference is causing division among the faithful. MacArthur, a pastor, author and seminary president, has taught that the Charismatic movement is leading people astray and dishonors the Holy Spirit. The conference was attended by more than 3,000 people and was viewed online in more than 127 countries.

Some critics have said MacArthur is fixated on the Charismatic movement. He answered that in his 45 years in ministry, Strange Fire was the first conference he had held on the movement, and that he believes it has come too late. Addressing the more than 3,000 attendees on Friday night, he said that attacks on the conference had been difficult to avoid and that he wanted to answer the criticisms. He said the conference was intended for “the true church,” so that believers could discern error, be protected from it, and be a source of truth for others. He also said his book, *Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit With Counterfeit Worship*, could withstand close scrutiny when measured against the Bible.

MacArthur said the conference was not aimed at nonbelievers within the Charismatic movement, whom he said there are many. He argued that unbelievers do not ordinarily seek the truth unless the Holy Spirit prompts them to do so.

He also responded to accusations that he is unloving. He said the most loving act is to tell someone the truth, and that “it is unloving to leave people in darkness and error.” He cited Acts 20 and Titus 1:4 in describing the role of pastors and elders in identifying error. On the charge that he is divisive, he said, “I would agree with that,” and argued that truth is by nature divisive and that “it is far more important to be divided by truth than united by error.” He recalled that a well-known evangelical preacher once told him he had divided the body of Christ, and that he had replied by asking whether what he had written was true.

Other critics have said the issue is not clear in Scripture and that some respected Bible scholars have held that view. MacArthur said that if the issue is unclear, it has become so “under the influence of false teachers.” He said the position was clear to the apostles, the early church fathers, the Reformers, the Puritans, the Westminster Confession, and theologians including B.B. Warfield, Charles Spurgeon and, in more recent times, R.C. Sproul. He asked whether the issue had become unclear because of figures such as Aimee Semple McPherson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker and Kenneth Copeland, and called that idea “ludicrous.”

Another critic has said MacArthur and cessationists are describing only the extreme fringe of the movement. MacArthur said that claim is “patently not true.” He asserted that about 90 percent of people connected to the Charismatic movement worldwide accept the prosperity gospel, that 24 to 25 million of them deny the Trinity, and that about 100 million are Roman Catholics. “This is not some fringe; this is the movement,” he said, adding that it is growing rapidly.

Other critics have said the movement has enriched Christian worship through its music. MacArthur said he was convinced that contemporary Charismatic music is “the entry point for Charismatic theology into church,” and that “if you buy the music, the theology follows.” He said the movement has “significantly diminished worship” by moving it out of the realm of truth and the mind and reducing it “to the feelings of the flesh.” In reply to those who said he was attacking his brothers in Christ, he said he wished he could affirm that. He and other speakers at the conference had said the movement is made up largely of non-Christians.

MacArthur concluded his response by saying, “If reformed leaders who know the truth, Gospel and word of God don’t police this movement, the spiritual terrorists will dominate.” He said he hoped he had told the truth with kindness and love, adding, “I do care about the feelings of people; I do care about offending them; but not nearly as much as I care about offending God.” (Ephesians 4:15)

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