# Free hardcover book from MacArthur



## reaganmarsh (Dec 31, 2016)

Greetings PB brethren, 

A free printed book for you from John MacArthur's 'Grace to You' ministry: _The Gospel According to Paul.
_
You may access the offer here (good through 1/15/17): https://www.gty.org/thegospel

Enjoy!

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## moral necessity (Dec 31, 2016)

Thanks for this.
I wonder if he will have softened his view on Lordship Salvation in this book...

Guess we'll find out.

Blessings!

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## reaganmarsh (Dec 31, 2016)

I'm not sure, brother, but I've never met a free theology book I don't enjoy. 

However, whether or not I agree with what's posited therein is quite a horse of a different color.

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## Ask Mr. Religion (Jan 1, 2017)

moral necessity said:


> Thanks for this.
> I wonder if he will have softened his view on Lordship Salvation in this book...
> 
> Guess we'll find out.
> ...


I think the whole matter from years ago has been blown a wee bit out pf proportion.

For example, see:
https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/question-about-lordship-salvation.82649/#post-1038734
and
http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A114/an-introduction-to-lordship-salvation

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## Branson (Jan 1, 2017)

MacArthur also has a systematic theology being released at the end of January.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1433...+macarthur&dpPl=1&dpID=41GalXkkBDL&ref=plSrch


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## Daniel M. (Jan 1, 2017)

I feel like some the leading theologians of the day are like my group of friends in my high school cafeteria.

- R.C. Sproul is the level-headed leader of the gang who's always right at the end.
- John Piper is the poetic drama king who's out crusading for a cause.
- MacArthur is that one guy who always has a crazy contrarian theory of some kind that he spends the entire lunch trying to convince you of.
- Doug Wilson is the one kid who's been messing around with the wrong crowd that you want to stage an intervention for but are afraid how it'll turn out.

Nevertheless, I'm blessed by John MacArthur. Much of his preaching is edifying to me, and I know that many are brought to Christ through his ministry and conscientiousness. 

Still, he is the most "non-Reformed" of the preachers I can stomach. 


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## Bill The Baptist (Jan 2, 2017)

Daniel M. said:


> - R.C. Sproul is the level-headed leader of the gang who's always right at the end



Always?


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## Daniel M. (Jan 2, 2017)

Not _always_, of course, but he is fair and deliberate in his representations of others' views, and does hold leadership among modern Reformed theologins for good reason!

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## reaganmarsh (Jan 2, 2017)

Branson said:


> MacArthur also has a systematic theology being released at the end of January.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1433...+macarthur&dpPl=1&dpID=41GalXkkBDL&ref=plSrch



News of this volume recently came across my radar, too. I'll be interested to read it.


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## Branson (Jan 2, 2017)

reaganmarsh said:


> News of this volume recently came across my radar, too. I'll be interested to read it.



As am I. MacArthur is a solid expositional preacher and teacher, and though he has a few quirks here and there, his impact on a bible hungry generation cannot be overstated. He has been a gateway into the reformed faith for myself and many others, and so a systematic theology from him is most welcome in my eyes.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Jan 2, 2017)

Thanks for sharing. I signed up.


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## Dachaser (Jan 3, 2017)

reaganmarsh said:


> News of this volume recently came across my radar, too. I'll be interested to read it.


 Should be very interesting, as he would be mixture of classic Reformed and classic Dispensational theology viewpoints, along with Baptist to boot!


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## Dachaser (Jan 3, 2017)

moral necessity said:


> Thanks for this.
> I wonder if he will have softened his view on Lordship Salvation in this book...
> 
> Guess we'll find out.
> ...


 Still the same on that issue, if anything, even more conviced that he is right on!


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## Dachaser (Jan 3, 2017)

reaganmarsh said:


> Greetings PB brethren,
> 
> A free printed book for you from John MacArthur's 'Grace to You' ministry: _The Gospel According to Paul.
> _
> ...


 
Thanks, as have learned much over the years from him, from both his study bible and radio broadcasts


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## moral necessity (Jan 3, 2017)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> I think the whole matter from years ago has been blown a wee bit out pf proportion.
> 
> For example, see:
> https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/question-about-lordship-salvation.82649/#post-1038734
> ...


 
Thanks for the links.
I appreiciated Rich's comments in the first one.
I hear what you are saying about "out of proportion".

For me, I took McArthur quite literally, and maybe not general enough.
His first books ended up being quite volatile to my conscience.
I never knew when He was Lord enough...
As a result, I could not attain a settled conscience in regard to Justification.

I am very thankful that the Lord brought me out of that entanglement.
It took quite a while.
Luther and many other books were very helpful.

Blessings!


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## Dachaser (Jan 4, 2017)

moral necessity said:


> Thanks for the links.
> I appreiciated Rich's comments in the first one.
> I hear what you are saying about "out of proportion".
> 
> ...


 
He wants to make sure that we are really saved, is a true conversion, and not just went forward at the altar call as a one time thing. But I think he stresses at times too much of what we _do_ and not who we now _are_ in Christ!


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## joebonni63 (Jan 4, 2017)

I am not one for post trib but John is an ok kinda dude and yeah every now and then something crazy comes out of his mouth but living here in California his like the only thing that keeps us reformed although there are some cool reformed pastors here they have not really broke out, so I will look forward to reading his book........ as I have some of his other books.


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## DMcFadden (Jan 4, 2017)

"I am not one for post trib . . . " ??? 

MacArthur is pre-trib.


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## joebonni63 (Jan 4, 2017)

Sorry I typed that on my phone I meant pre trib


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## Shane2336 (Jan 4, 2017)

May have to look into this one. While I may not agree with MacArthur on some pretty substantial things, the man is a gifted writer and speaker!


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## reaganmarsh (Jan 4, 2017)

With MacArthur, you eat the fish and spit out the bones (dispensationalism, premillennialism, etc.)

That being said, God has used him greatly in my life, and I look forward to reading his book when it arrives.


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## Dachaser (Jan 5, 2017)

reaganmarsh said:


> With MacArthur, you eat the fish and spit out the bones (dispensationalism, premillennialism, etc.)
> 
> That being said, God has used him greatly in my life, and I look forward to reading his book when it arrives.


 
Agree with you, as he is still a gifted preacher/expositor of the scriptures, and just filter through where he is coming from regarding certain things.


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## Brian R. (Jan 5, 2017)

reaganmarsh said:


> With MacArthur, you eat the fish and spit out the bones


Thanks for this! Perfect description of how to take MacArthur. Love him dearly, just have to watch out for those bones.

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## ZackF (Jan 15, 2017)

Has anybody received this yet?


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## Pilgrim (Jan 16, 2017)

ZackF said:


> Has anybody received this yet?



I see that the publication date for this book is April 4th. I doubt it will ship before then.

I think that signing up or requesting the book online or whatever only needed to be done by people who aren't already on the Grace to You mailing list. Unless I'm thinking of a different book which they announced around the same time, I think this may be their February offer and those on the mailing list will receive the form to return then. 

As far as I know, there is no way to effectively be on the GTY list electronically and get the offers emailed instead of snail mailed. But the same seems to go for various Reformed seminaries that have been mailing me stuff for years in an attempt to get me to donate. 

Now what would be great, albeit somewhat surprising, would be for them (or maybe the seminary) to make the upcoming theology textbook available for free. I'd feel a strong obligation to send a donation in that case. (I think I usually end up donating something whenever I accept a "free" book offer anyway, which is the whole point.) The ESV MacArthur Study Bible (Hardcover) was part of a free offer when it was first released, and the list price on that was probably close to whatever it will be for the theology text. I don't remember them doing the same with the NIV edition of the Study Bible but I wasn't receiving regular mailings from them at that time either.

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## ZackF (Jan 16, 2017)

Pilgrim said:


> I see that the publication date for this book is April 4th. I doubt it will ship before then.
> 
> 
> 
> Now what would be great, albeit somewhat surprising, would be for them (or maybe the seminary) to make the upcoming theology textbook available for free. I'd feel a strong obligation to send a donation in that case. (I think I usually end up donating something whenever I accept a "free" book offer anyway, which is the whole point.) The ESV MacArthur Study Bible (Hardcover) was part of a free offer when it was first released, and the list price on that was probably close to whatever it will be for the theology text. I don't remember them doing the same with the NIV edition of the Study Bible but I wasn't receiving regular mailings from them at that time either.



Thanks for the catch. Anyway, I shouldn't be so picky and impatient as it is free. 

Regarding the systematic theology, it's not high on my list. I can think of many others I want to read to first.


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## bookslover (Jan 17, 2017)

Per Amazon, the list price for the systematic theology is $60.

John MacArthur and Richard Mayhew are the editors. If I had to guess, I'd say that the various chapters of the book are written by Master's Seminary faculty. But, that's just a guess.

Might make an interesting read (look out for bones, etc.). I hope it's carefully done, as he's very influential in American Christianity.


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## bookslover (Jan 18, 2017)

By the way, seeing as MacArthur will be 78 this year (June 19), I've been wondering when he'll retire. I'm sure he'll continue to minister as long as he feels the Lord wants him to, and as long as his health permits (as far as I know, he's in great shape). I'm sure he's too intelligent to stay so long that his health deteriorates and he collapses in the middle of a sermon, or some such.

I was thinking that, if he _does_ retire in the next few years, 2019 would be a good year to do it (to my organized type of mind). Why? Well, he will have been pastor of his church for 50 years that year (in February) and will turn 80 that year (in June). Seems like a perfect time to bow out, if he's going to, while he's still on top.

Professional church-watchers (Barna Group et al) will be interested to see what happens when he _does_ retire (life-cycles of churches and all that). (The first thing that will happen, obviously, is that parking will get somewhat easier to find, since all the "looky-loos" will be the first to disappear.) Many questions to answer: how will the church handle to transition to whoever the next pastor is? Will the seminary survive? Etc., etc.

If it's handled well, and biblically, the transition could be smooth. Sometimes, though, churches will very-long-time pastors don't handle these things very well.

I guess we'll find out eventually....


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## Pilgrim (Jan 21, 2017)

bookslover said:


> By the way, seeing as MacArthur will be 78 this year (June 19), I've been wondering when he'll retire. I'm sure he'll continue to minister as long as he feels the Lord wants him to, and as long as his health permits (as far as I know, he's in great shape). I'm sure he's too intelligent to stay so long that his health deteriorates and he collapses in the middle of a sermon, or some such.
> 
> I was thinking that, if he _does_ retire in the next few years, 2019 would be a good year to do it (to my organized type of mind). Why? Well, he will have been pastor of his church for 50 years that year (in February) and will turn 80 that year (in June). Seems like a perfect time to bow out, if he's going to, while he's still on top.
> 
> ...



I watch their live broadcast sometimes, usually in the evening. (We occasionally watch in the morning also. Due to the difference in time zone, it doesn't conflict with the services we attend.) I doubt he used to do this as much, but he appears to take at least a couple of months off in the summer and also preaches less than most other pastors do throughout the rest of the year. I'd be interested to know how much attendance drops off then. My guess is that those churches that see a huge drop off are ones where the pastor is there almost every week. I can't say that I've seen a drop off in the quality of the preaching when he isn't there.

I understand that they've always had a lot of people attending that never join. Some of that is probably due to those who are mainly interested in a celebrity pastor and part of it may be their elder rule ecclesiology in which members vote on practically nothing (if anything at all). In churches of that type, the members have less of a voice than they do in churches like the OPC and PCA where officers are nominated, the budget is voted on, etc. (I don't know how that might differ from traditional Scottish Presbyterianism.) 

Although they are not connectional of course, it could be argued that they are sort of creating their own quasi-denomination (MacArthurism?) with the TMS grads out there and others who are of like mind. They've got a seminary, a college, a hymnal and now a systematic. I doubt the seminary is going anywhere. There is no other evangelical seminary of any prominence that has their doctrinal position, and some within their camp have started to publish books that are relatively well known in their circle if not otherwise. (Vlach and Waymeyer are a couple of examples.) While there are others that teach the doctrines of grace and expository preaching, many of those that teach dispensationalism (or their preferred term, "futuristic premillennialism") are either more consistently fundamentalist (i.e. separatist, unaccredited, etc.) or else are perceived to have gone wobbly on any of a number of issues and often aren't actively engaging other views.


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## ZackF (Jan 21, 2017)

bookslover said:


> By the way, seeing as MacArthur will be 78 this year (June 19), I've been wondering when he'll retire. I'm sure he'll continue to minister as long as he feels the Lord wants him to, and as long as his health permits (as far as I know, he's in great shape). I'm sure he's too intelligent to stay so long that his health deteriorates and he collapses in the middle of a sermon, or some such.
> 
> I was thinking that, if he _does_ retire in the next few years, 2019 would be a good year to do it (to my organized type of mind). Why? Well, he will have been pastor of his church for 50 years that year (in February) and will turn 80 that year (in June). Seems like a perfect time to bow out, if he's going to, while he's still on top.
> 
> ...



I've always guessed that's why Lance Quinn moved back there was to be groomed to replace MacArthur when he quit.


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## bookslover (Jan 25, 2017)

bookslover said:


> Per Amazon, the list price for the systematic theology is $60.
> 
> John MacArthur and Richard Mayhew are the editors. If I had to guess, I'd say that the various chapters of the book are written by Master's Seminary faculty. But, that's just a guess.
> 
> Might make an interesting read (look out for bones, etc.). I hope it's carefully done, as he's very influential in American Christianity.



UPDATE: Well, I was sort of right about the book. Perusing the small print from the excerpt from the book at Crossway's site, I notice that (1) six Master's Seminary professors provided drafts of several sections; (2) parts of chapters 4-7 are taken from other books and reference books published by MacArthur, (3) other books by MacArthur and others are quoted from and/or cited throughout; and (4) two of the seminary profs did the final edit for the entire volume (the finished book is about 1,000 pages). So, with (no doubt) freshly written material provided also, the book appears to have been cobbled together from various and sundry sources, along with written contributions from Master's Seminary profs, with MacArthur and Mayhue providing oversight for the whole project.

I'm NOT trying to imply that the book won't be valuable or useful. I think it will be. Just curious about how the book was put together.

Also: the official publication date, per Crossway, is January 31.


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## Bill The Baptist (Jan 26, 2017)

Seems almost like a more fleshed out version of Macarthur's earlier book, _Think Biblically_, which was also put together by the faculty of the Master's College and published by Crossway. https://www.christianbook.com/think...worldview/9781433503986/pd/503986?event=ESRCN


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## KGP (Jan 26, 2017)

MacArthur will preach as long as the church will let him - until he stops making sense or until he drops dead. He's said as much often before.


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## Pilgrim (Jan 27, 2017)

Bill The Baptist said:


> Seems almost like a more fleshed out version of Macarthur's earlier book, _Think Biblically_, which was also put together by the faculty of the Master's College and published by Crossway. https://www.christianbook.com/think...worldview/9781433503986/pd/503986?event=ESRCN



They've had a good many books that were put together similarly, either by Master's College faculty, Master's Seminary faculty, (e.g. _Rediscovering Expository Preaching_) or some combination of current and former Grace Church leaders and individuals who are of like mind on certain issues (e.g. _Fools Gold_, _Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong_, MacArthur's Pastor's Library).


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