f The Wittenberg Door: John McArthur – Servant of the Word and Flock

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Commenting on Christendom, culture, history, and other oddities of life from an historic Protestant perspective.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

John McArthur – Servant of the Word and Flock

Arminian Today offers a review of John McArthur – Servant of the Word and Flock by Iain Murray. This is a fine review, but there’s another reason I’m featuring it here at The Wittenberg Door: I’d like to take the opportunity to commend Arminian Today. We, Calvinists and Arminians, have important differences when it comes to man’s plight and how God reconciles His people to Himself. So what I’m about to say should not be construed as diminishing those differences. The reason that Arminian Today is the only Arminian blog to which I link is because I’ve found it to be thoughtful, honest, and charitable. Unfortunately, this is not typical of the Arminians who comment on my blog (and elsewhere) or of the Arminian sites that I visit.

Being a former Arminian, I am very sympathetic to their position. I think it was B.B. Warfield that said that we are born Arminian, so I certainly understand the inclination. As wrong as I think they are on these issues, we are still brothers in Christ. We Calvinists and Arminians must remember to treat each other as brothers in Christ. This means that we must take the time to understand each other’s views, carefully consider them, and respectfully respond. So, in that spirit, I am pleased—even excited—to feature a blog by an Arminian that I can respect. I pray that other Arminians will likewise follow the example of Arminian Today.

Here is how Arminian Today kicks off the book review:

Iain Murray is one of my favorite biography writers. His books on Evangelicalism history have always been good reading to me as was his book on the Holy Spirit. For Christmas 2010 I received Murray's book on John Wesley and the men who followed him after his death and the history of the early Methodist movement. Murray, despite being a Calvinist, was fair to Wesley and the early Methodist leaders even if he disagreed with their theology.

I was then excited when I first heard that Murray was writing a biography on John MacArthur . I enjoy Dr. MacArthur's ministry even if he and I don't see eye to eye on every point. I was thrilled then to learn more about Dr. MacArthur and his background. I was not disappointed with the book.

You can read the rest of the review here.

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