Charismatic Chaos | John MacArthur

Charismatic Chaos | John MacArthur | Very Interesting But One Sided

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Charismatic Chaos

	Charismatic Chaos John MacArthur Zondervan, 1993 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 136 reviews view larger image
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Recognizing the importance of the charismatic movement and the need for a biblical evaluation of it, MacArthur analyzes the doctrinal differences between charismatics and non-charismatics in the light of Scripture.

Good Read

This is a good read. Has a good common sense approach seen in the book. It is a rather lengthy book for the topic, atleast for me, but all the better because of it. Great job on addressing the prophesying and tongues issues (it is a sad state that some Christian brothers and sisters are in). I have had my experiences with the results of Pentecostal/Charismatic movements and was a long and painful experience for me to try my best to lovingly rebuke their false beliefs in Gifts, which have ceased and were never to be used in the manner in which they are used today (run-on sentence prob- Sorry). Plain reason, and indepth contextual readings of scripture (As well with a Koine Greek knownledge) seems to prevail against these false (and maybe even demonic) experiences. Many people of these movements will get uptight and upset about it but it is important to remember 2 Timothy 4:1-5

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Very Interesting But One Sided

This is a very interesting polemic against the charismatic movement. MacArthur makes good points about the extremes of the movement that claim new prophecies and merely use "proof texts" if they reference the Bible at all. However, MacArthur does not acknowledge the possibility of Christians having direct experience of God except through the study of the Bible. He is denying the authenticity of the experience of the closeness of God of so many faithful Christians. He makes many misstatements denying the history of charismatic expression in the Christian tradition. I would love to see him write another book that incorporated more knowledge of the history of Christian Spirituality and directed his great knowledge of the Bible to develop guidelines to assist charismatics to discern their experiences.

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Not fair, not balanced, and not to be ignored.

Nobody even remotely familiar with John MacArthur will ever accuse him of being wishy-washy, indecisive, or politically correct. MacArthur tells it exactly how he sees it - nothing more, nothing less - and for this reason he is often cast as a theological version of the Oakland Raiders or NY Yankees. People either love him or they despise him, with very few undecideds.

In "Charismatic Chaos," MacArthur explores the roots, beliefs and practices of the 20th-21st century Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. Starting with the Holiness movement and Azusa Street revivals, he takes us into the modern era with the Word of Faith movement, Vineyard, TBN, etc. This book was published before the national prominence of Joel Osteen and his contemporaries, so we only get as far as Benny Hinn, the Crouch's and Ken Copeland.

MacArthur's main thesis is that while there are many true, dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ in the modern Charismatic movement, at its foundation the movement is not based on sound Biblical teaching, and therefore is wide open to infiltration by any crazy (or downright evil) teacher who wishes to say whatever he/she wishes. He never specifically calls the movement (as a whole) cultic or apostate, but he pulls no punches when challenging the excesses, immorality and outright perversions of Scripture that are rampant in the movement.

Some of his most vocal complaints concern new revelation (the canon is closed, so how can anyone claim to have new direct revelation from God?), miraculous healing (show me a healing that can't be faked, or one that cures cancer or grows back limbs), tongues (ceased when the apostles died), prophecy (modern "prophets" prophesy falsely and therefore are not from God), and especially the excesses within the televangelist circles, particularly those who teach Word of Faith doctrine.

In his favor, MacArthur does his homework and expects (read that "demands") that his readers do the same. Why does he have such a problem with those who claim the power to heal miraculously? Because we know from the gospels that Jesus healed blindness, restored withered limbs, healed paralysis, and many other things that no modern healer can touch. He is skeptical about tongues because 1 Cor 13 clearly says that tongues will cease, and the Greek word for this means a permanent ceasing. History not only shows that tongues were gone from view by the second century, but between then and now, no movement that claimed the gift of tongues was not eventually proven as heresy. So he concludes that tongues have ceased.

My biggest complaint with this book is that as in some of his other books, MacArthur often fails to use the most convincing arguments to make his most important points. For example, in arguing for cessation (i.e., tongues ceased when the apostles died out), MacArthur does not explore the possibility that maybe tongues have continued to exist in a very limited and non-visible way (like with a missionary in New Guinea, etc.). Just because something is not being used in a very public manner does not overrule the right of God to give gifts to whomever He chooses.

Ultimately, this book will not win over anyone from Charismatic circles, which is kind of the point of the whole thing. Non-charismatics are well aware of the problems with this movement and the heresies it is responsible for letting in, but where are the charismatics who are willing to stand up and call out the teachers guilty of these lies and distortions? Other than D.L. McConnell's "A Different Gospel" (which MacArthur heartily endorses in the notes), there are amazingly few charismatics willing to do so.

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