John MacArthur met his own definition of a false prophet

This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 14, 2025.

How should we respond when someone who uses theology to promote ignorant, misogynistic, racist, power mongering authoritarianism dies?

To use biblical language, we might call these people false prophets, ravenous wolves, deceivers, anti-Christs, evil men, seducers, lovers of self, foolish and unlearned men, just to name a few.

And to be clear, I’m talking about John MacArthur.

After 55 years of using the church to promote his own power, John MacArthur, the Wicked Warlock of the West, is dead. As BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield wrote in 2023, “There is no single pastor who has been more influential on young theological conservatives in the last 50 years than MacArthur. Not Billy Graham. Not Adrian Rogers. Not Charles Stanley. Not John Piper. MacArthur has been the gold standard for conservative and Reformed theology not only through his preaching but through his books, his commentaries, his study Bible, his podcasts, his videos, his conferences, his public appearances.”

And while his minions across the world commit the pastoral malpractice of singing his praises, it would be an act of journalistic irresponsibility to miss this opportunity to highlight how MacArthur, according to his own words, was a false teacher who abused the least of these and thus deserves to have a millstone hung around his neck and be cast into the sea.

MacArthur’s definition of a false teacher

In a Q&A dated Aug. 29, 2024, MacArthur answered the question, “What are the marks of a false teacher?” He began by quoting the words of Jesus, saying, “We will know them by their fruits.” According to MacArthur, “The kind of person (a prophet) really is cannot help being revealed.”

MacArthur warned that “it is easy for (believers) to be deceived by someone who pretends to be orthodox.” Then he offered three tests to know whether a preacher is a false prophet — character, creed and converts.

“A person’s basic character — his inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes and ambitions — will eventually show through in what he does and how he acts,” MacArthur explained. Despite being able to disguise bad fruit with “ecclesiastical trappings, biblical knowledge and evangelical vocabulary,” MacArthur said, “what is in the heart will emerge, and corrupt theology will result in a corrupt life. False teaching and perverted living are inseparable and eventually will become manifest.”

Regarding a false teacher’s theology, MacArthur said, “What he teaches may seem biblical and orthodox, but careful examination will always reveal ideas that are unscriptural and the absence of a strong, clear theology.” Then he continued: “They have a ready hearing among most people, because they say only what people like to hear. … They want to hear illusions, not truth.”

“Their followers will be like them — egotistical, proud, self-centered, self-indulgent, self-willed and self-satisfied, while being religious.”

Then regarding a false teacher’s converts, MacArthur declared, “They will attract to themselves people who have the same superficial, self-centered and unscriptural orientation as they do.” And he proclaimed, “Their followers will be like them — egotistical, proud, self-centered, self-indulgent, self-willed and self-satisfied, while being religious.”

If one were to summarize his three characteristics of a false teacher, it would seem to be a person who uses theology and the church to create illusions that attract others toward the ascension of the self.

So let’s see how MacArthur fared according to his own standard.

MacArthur sacralized power mongering authoritarianism

All the spiritual abuse MacArthur perpetrated from his pulpit stemmed from his fundamental understanding of reality.

“Authority and submission pervade the whole universe,” MacArthur claimed. “In the relationship between man and man, there is authority and submission. In the relationship with man and God, there is authority and submission. In the relationship between God and God, there is authority and submission. The entire universe is pervaded by this concept.”

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