John MacArthur and the Rapture – did MacArthur secretly change his position on pretribulationism? Over the years this rumor resurfaces. It was recently discussed in a social media forum.
Pretrib Monolith
This persistent allegation is based on the premise that pretribulationism is so heavily entrenched in The System that dissenters become silent converts for fear of being ostracized or losing followers. It probably gained ground when Marvin Rosenthal left the Friends of Israel ministry after adopting Robert Van Kampen’s Pre-Wrath Rapture view. Prewrath rapture advocate Charles Cooper’s departure from Moody gave legs to the theory.
Here’s the deal as I see it: If I was involved in a Prewrath Prophecy Organization with a strong emphasis on the rapture, and suddenly changed my position… well, you figure it out.
Van Kampen added fuel to the fire in his book “The Rapture Question Answered.” He claimed that Moody Bible Institute fellows would see him coming and run – presumably because they had no responses to his questions. Maybe he was simply being a pest? It happens.
In the same book he gives the account of a letter sent to him by someone who had a discussion with Donald Barnhouse regarding the pretrib rapture. This person claimed that Barnhouse told him he had unresolved questions concerning pretrib and that this was one reason why he hadn’t written a commentary of Revelation.
As I read that account, my impression was that Barnhouse was graciously encouraging someone who held to a different eschatological position. Ironically, Barnhouse did write a commentary on Revelation with a strong pretrib position. And it was published before Van Kampen’s book!
John MacArthur the Theological Softie
As for me, the elephant in the room is that J Mac isn’t the sort of man who submits to some monolithic requirement of allegiance. Remember that he got himself into a world of controversy over the Lordship Salvation issue. He even took hits from his Reformed non-premil colleagues for daring to suggest that Calvinism leads to Futuristic Premillennialism. These are only two examples.
Perhaps some PW folk are so adamantly convinced of the “insurmountable” arguments for their view that they begin to see motives which aren’t there.
John MacArthur – Will Believers Suffer Through the Tribulation?
Maranatha!
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