Conviction And Controversy: Pastor John MacArthur’s Legacy

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Religion Unplugged - The Media Project - Institute for Nonprofit News [Dallas TX]

July 18, 2025

By Bobby Ross, Jr.

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” meets readers at the intersection of faith and news. Click to join nearly 10,000 subscribers who get this column delivered straight to their inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr.

(ANALYSIS) Pastor, theologian and author John MacArthur made a major impact on Matthew Dowling’s life and ministry.

“Dr. MacArthur was the first preacher I heard who demonstrated expository preaching and carefully unfolding Scripture verse by verse and allowing the text to speak for itself,” said Dowling, a minister in Plymouth, Michigan. “This approach impacted not only how I preach but how I read and trust God’s Word.”

MacArthur’s books shaped Dowling, too.

‘The Gospel According to Jesus’ challenged me to think biblically about the nature of discipleship and salvation,” Dowling said. “Because I used to be an evolutionist and a scientist before my ministry career, his book ‘The Battle for the Beginning’ provided me with an insightful and solid foundation for believing and defending a literal Genesis. Both works were formative in establishing my confidence in Scripture’s authority.”

• • •

WHEN A HIGH-PROFILE religious leader dies, it’s always fascinating to see what words various news organizations choose to encapsulate that person.

Such is the case with this week’s passing of MacArthur — after his hospitalization for pneumonia — at age 86.

MacArthur was “among the country’s most influential evangelical pastors with a prolific media reach,” according to the Los Angeles Times’ Dakota Smith.

He was “a theologically uncompromising pastor … who influenced generations of evangelical preachers and became a culture warrior late in life,” the New York Times’ Ruth Graham writes.

He “taught Scripture to millions through taped sermons, radio broadcasts, Bible commentaries, and a best-selling study Bible,” Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman reports.

He was “an influential and exacting evangelical preacher,” The Associated Press’ Tiffany Stanley puts it simply.

But he “faced criticism in recent years over his handling of sexual abuse cases and other issues,” The Roys Report’s Sarah Einselen points out.

• • •

HERE ARE FIVE roles MacArthur filled:

1. California church leader: He pastored Grace Community Church in the Los Angeles area for 56 years, as noted by Baptist Press’ Brandon Porter:

“At the center of Dr. MacArthur’s ministry was an unwavering commitment to declare God’s truth, and Pastor John preached the Word in season and out of season,” the church’s elders said in a statement posted on the church website

“Even in recent years, though beset with health challenges, he persisted in teaching, leading, and investing in the ministries the Lord had entrusted to him. Pastor John modeled a true fortitude for His Lord Jesus, believing that to live is Christ and therefore to die is gain,” they wrote.

2. Communicator: “His followers lauded him for his expository preaching, in which he walked them through Scripture line by line,” AP writes. “He wanted his sermons to be timeless explanations of the Bible as he interpreted it.”

Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana offers a similar characterization: 

He would become known as one of the nation’s foremost expository preachers, committed to preaching verse by verse through the Bible, rather than the more topic-driven approach taken by most megachurch pastors. MacArthur’s sermons were also broadcast by “Grace to You,” the radio ministry he founded the same year he arrived at Grace Community Church.

3. Conservative: MacArthur leaned to the right theologically and politically, from his complementarian view of women’s roles in the church to his support of President Donald Trump.

He even dressed conservatively, as the New York Times details:

When he was preaching, he always wore a suit and tie, eschewing the casual style of many evangelical pastors.

His church’s growth defied conventional wisdom about “seeker-sensitivity,” a model that emphasized appealing to non-churchgoers. Mr. MacArthur rejected a more accessible evangelical preaching style that favored ostensibly real-life anecdotes and practical applications. 

4. Culture warrior: MacArthur and his church made national headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic for fighting California’s strict guidelines against in-person worship.

The Los Angeles Times notes:

There is no pandemic,” MacArthur told his followers in August 2020, though later he would acknowledge the virus.

Los Angeles County sued the church but ultimately settled in the face of Supreme Court rulings that sided with religious institutions. In a 2021 letter to supporters, MacArthur announced the church’s legal fees would be paid. The church later received $800,000 from the state and county for the fees.

“We know that there is no circumstance that can cause the church to close,” he wrote in the letter. “The church is not only a building but is the bride of Christ and exists to proclaim the truth.”

5. Controversial figure: MacArthur’s handling of abuse cases came under scrutiny.

The Los Angeles Times summarizes:

In recent years, at least two media outlets that cover religion — Christianity Today and the Roys Report — reported on allegations that women who sought biblical counseling over abusive marriages were advised by church elders to stay with their husbands and feared church discipline over the matter. The church did not respond to the allegations in the stories.

But the “waves of controversy, decade after decade, did not notably limit MacArthur’s influence,” according to Christianity Today:

Grace’s 3,500-seat sanctuary still filled multiple times per weekend in 2025. MacArthur’s sermons were broadcast on more than 1,000 radio stations across America and distributed by Grace to You. More than 700 men were enrolled at The Master’s Seminary, where MacArthur served as chancellor, and around 5,000 attended an annual conference for church leaders.

The MacArthur Study Bible continues to sell and is currently available with the New King James Version, the New International Version, the English Standard Version, the New American Standard Bible, and the Legacy Standard Bible translations. The MacArthur Daily Bible smartphone app has been downloaded more than 5 million times.

• • •

IN MY EMAIL EXCHANGE with Dowling — the Michigan preacher — he said of MacArthur: 

“What stands out most is his remarkable longevity and integrity. In an era when many prominent public ministers have fallen, Dr. MacArthur faithfully served for 56 years in the same pulpit without scandal or compromise. That kind of steadfast faithfulness is admittedly rare and inspiring.”

That statement prompted me to ask Dowling if he was familiar with the “tainted legacy” claims against MacArthur. 

[IMAGE: John MacArthur wrote numerous books and Bible study guides. (Shutterstock photo)]

He replied that he was aware of a few of them.

“To my knowledge, the criticism centered on Dr. MacArthur’s hard complementarianism and biblical counseling within his church, though I admit not knowing about some of the other allegations in this article, especially the charge of a personally lavish lifestyle or counseling women of abusers to remain married to them within church counseling sessions,” Dowling said. “That would be troubling.”

The bottom line for Dowling: “I still view Dr. MacArthur’s broader legacy as one of theological clarity, expository faithfulness, and personal consistency over decades. The global impact of his preaching and writing seems to have been deeply formative for many pastors and believers, including myself. I benefited from a reading of the biography of MacArthur by Iain Murray several years ago.”

Inside The Godbeat

My column last week inspired a kind message from Julie Zauzmer Weil, a former religion writer who now reports on taxes for the Washington Post. 

“I just wanted to say that I really appreciated your article on how bereaved parents understand the Texas flood,” Weil said. “My son’s death was very different (a stillbirth at 38 weeks pregnant) — and still, I find the flood coverage hard to read as a parent who knows what it is to lose a child. Thank you for thinking to ask the perspective of the parents you talked to. I hope you are doing all right.”

I reminded Weil how much I appreciated the compelling column she wrote last year on her late son Ezra’s first birthday — a piece I praised at the time. 

“Losing my son taught me a simple rule: When someone is mourning, say something,” Weil shared with readers.

The Final Plug

Christianity Today’s Daniel Silliman has joked about me being on the verge of turning Plug-in into a sports column. I hope he notices I didn’t do that this week.

But — for anyone interested — I did write a separate feature on the faith of “Little Savior” Evan Carter, who helped the Texas Rangers win the World Series in 2023. Check it out.

[IMAGE: Evan Carter sports a “Jesus Won” T-shirt during a pregame interview before his MLB debut in September 2023. (Photo by Bailey Orr, courtesy of the Texas Rangers)]

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Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.


Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.

https://religionunplugged.com/news/2025/7/18/john-macarthur-evangelical-death-complicated-legacy