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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged
Pastor, theologian and author John MacArthur made a major impact on Matthew Dowling’s life and ministry.
“Dr. MacArthur was the first preacher I heard who demonstrated expository preaching and carefully unfolding Scripture verse by verse and allowing the text to speak for itself,” said Dowling, a minister in Plymouth, Michigan. “This approach impacted not only how I preach but how I read and trust God’s Word.”
MacArthur’s books shaped Dowling, too.
“‘The Gospel According to Jesus’ challenged me to think biblically about the nature of discipleship and salvation,” Dowling said. “Because I used to be an evolutionist and a scientist before my ministry career, his book ‘The Battle for the Beginning’ provided me with an insightful and solid foundation for believing and defending a literal Genesis. Both works were formative in establishing my confidence in Scripture’s authority.”
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WHEN A HIGH-PROFILE religious leader dies, it’s always fascinating to see what words various news organizations choose to encapsulate that person.
Such is the case with this week’s passing of MacArthur — after his hospitalization for pneumonia — at age 86.
MacArthur was “among the country’s most influential evangelical pastors with a prolific media reach,” according to the Los Angeles Times’ Dakota Smith.
He was “a theologically uncompromising pastor … who influenced generations of evangelical preachers and became a culture warrior late in life,” the New York Times’ Ruth Graham writes.
This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.
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