# Phil Johnson vs. Mark Driscoll: A Review by Jonathan Christman



## Dr. Bob Gonzales (Mar 18, 2009)

Brothers,

At the 2008 Desiring God Conference, Mark Driscoll, a pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, preached a message entitled “How Sharp the Edge? Christ, Controversy, and Cutting Words” in which he defends from Scripture the use of strong and sometimes course language in the pulpit though he admits that he’s personally sometimes crossed the line. Driscoll’s message, however, has not satisfied most of his strongest critics. One of those critics is Phil Johnson who blogs for Pyromaniacs and who’s also an editorial assistant to John MacArthur. At the recent Shepherd’s Conference, Phil preached a provocative sermon entitled, “The Pornification of the Pulpit.” Although Phil’s sermon is not exclusively aimed at Mark Driscoll, he doesn’t deny that Driscoll is a primary target and mentions Driscoll by name.

Jonathan Christman, who’s a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently a pastoral assistant at Heritage Baptist Church, is attempting to offer an even-handed and charitable assessment of the controversy on this weblog “The India I Know.” He’s posted the first of what looks to be a series of posts, which is entitled, “Phil Johnson vs. Mark Driscoll - A Brief History.” I’ve provided the links to the sermons of Driscoll and Johnson as well as to Jonathan Christman’s review on RBS Tabletalk:
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Phil Johnson vs. Mark Driscoll: A Review by Jonathan Christman*

Your servant,


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## Zenas (Mar 18, 2009)

I propose a cage match.


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## ZackF (Mar 18, 2009)

Zenas said:


> I propose a cage match.



Uh..Driscoll likes the UFC and cage stuff I think. Phil probably wouldn't stand a chance.


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## Zenas (Mar 18, 2009)

Yeah but Phil runs a blog called Pyromaniacs. All the UFC training or watching in the world won't help when you've been set on fire with a can of spray paint and a lighter.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Mar 18, 2009)




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## AThornquist (Mar 18, 2009)

It was interesting to read the full story from Phil's vantage point. I agree with him 100%. Even if others are trying to bring Driscoll down for one reason or another, Phil isn't. In fact, he has used a very strong biblical argument in order to correct Driscoll and build him _up_. He has done so in a very tactful way.


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## ZackF (Mar 19, 2009)

AThornquist said:


> It was interesting to read the full story from Phil's vantage point. I agree with him 100%. Even if others are trying to bring Driscoll down for one reason or another, Phil isn't. In fact, he has used a very strong biblical argument in order to correct Driscoll and build him _up_. He has done so in a very tactful way.



Johnson gave two related talks at the 2009 SC. It seemed one was better than the other. I'll see if I can be more detailed soon.


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