Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Dr. MacAuthur follows up with his assessment of the condition of the cessationist church after his conference.
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It was now evident that Pentecostalism was moving beyond the Pentecostal denominations and beginning to infiltrate (Note the pejorative choice of words.)
mainline denominations and independent churches. (That is, it's apparently a malevolent force. Is it possible, however, that there is something attractive about charismatics to these dry, staid, and prim churches for those who long for something real and relevant? Just asking.)
To this day the charismatic movement remains a dominant influence—perhaps the single most powerful culture-shaping element—in Southern California’s evangelical community.
Non-charismatic churches on the West Coast have been surrounded and under siege (Again note the choice of words.)
by the movement for years. That isn’t necessarily true of all communities in the US. Older pastors in the Presbyterian Church of America or the Southern Baptist Association, for example, haven’t necessarily been forced to deal with aggressive charismatic influences (Again note the choice of words. Remember, Dr. MacArthur is talking about other Christians, perhaps mistaken people, perhaps deceived, or perhaps simply having a different understanding of doctrine. He chooses hostility rather than mercy and compassion.)
throughout their whole ministries. They may wholeheartedly share our commitment to the principle of sola Scriptura, (He implies this isn't the case with charismatics. But we find his proclamation of allegiance to Sola Scriptura hollow, since in this presentation he won't quote or reference a single Scripture.
One of the five solas coming out of the reformation, Sola Scriptura is an affirmative statement, not a club to be used to beat down your theological enemies. Its intent was to establish the pre-eminence of Scripture in matters of doctrine and holy living. Charismatics agree.
Sola Scriptura has been misappropriated by cessationists. It does not mean "Scripture and nothing else." If that were true, we would have no need of sermons, commentaries, or even this article written by Dr. MacArthur himself. Since we know that cessationists do not forgo these things, they betray their hardline stance on Sola Scriptura.)
our belief that the canon of Scripture is closed, (Charismatics agree.)
and our unshakable conviction that prophesying falsely in the Lord’s name is evil. (Charismatics agree.)
But in the regions where they minister, the challenge to those principles typically comes from the world, not from within the church. Perhaps it’s hard for someone in a context like that to appreciate the difficulty of keeping one’s sheep faithful to biblical principles while facing a relentless onslaught of charismatic pressure, propaganda, proselytizing, and hype. (Again the pejorative language. Clearly charismatics are the enemy.)
I suspect that explains why there was a degree of diffidence from certain corners with respect to the need for a conference the size and scale of Strange Fire.
Prior to the 1960s, biblically-based critical analyses of Pentecostal teaching were fairly commonplace and easy to come by. But over the past four or five decades, non-charismatic evangelicals have gradually adopted a laissez-faire stance with regard to charismatic claims. It has been twenty years or so since a significant critique of the movement was published—even though some of the most visible and influential charismatic figureheads (including Joel Osteen, Bill Johnson, T. D. Jakes and an army of the best-known televangelists) are rapidly drifting from anything resembling basic Christian orthodoxy—and they are taking millions of people with them. (Other millions of charismatics reject the excesses of these "figureheads" of Pentecostalism. Dr. MacArthur paints with a broad brush, which is intellectually less rigorous than to accurately assess what really is happening in charismatic circles.)
Charismatic falsehoods (ranging from the rank heresy of the prosperity gospel (Most charismatics reject the prosperity gospel.)
to patently false miracle claims) (Hmm. Miracles don't happen?)
have all but silenced the gospel on the movement’s leading edge. (Unsupported assertion. In fact, Dr. MacArthur asserted in another article that people are indeed being saved in charismatic churches.)
The full catalogue of charismatic errors is colossal. (Will he tell us what these are? And how contemporary expression have anything to do with the biblical case for cessationism?)
The worst false teachers in the movement have become its biggest celebrities. (Unsupported assertion.)
Since the heretical districts are where the most numerical expansion occurs, the proliferation of heresy from within has gone virtually unchecked for decades. It is now a massive global problem.
Among more conservative charismatic leaders (and many non-charismatic evangelicals) embarrassed silence has become the standard response to most of the movement’s patently false and spiritually deadly teachings. (Ahh, so the charismatic movement is not the monolith he previously asserted. Apparently, there is diversity among charismatics, but there's a new sin: They are remaining silent. This isn't even close to true, unfortunately for Dr. MacArthur.)
The consensus seems to be that the problem must be swept under the rug in the name of brotherhood and harmony. (Unsupported assertion.)
As critics have been silenced (or silenced themselves) the charismatic movement has been gaining a frightening amount of momentum. (Unsupported assertion.)
(The Strange Fire Conference was an attempt to sound a clear warning in hopes of slowing the movement enough to give as many passengers as possible an opportunity to jump off.)
The charismatic movement makes its appeal to people at the visceral and emotional level. (Unsupported assertion.)
The promise of the supernatural is a lure that will always draw crowds of people, whether or not they are authentic believers. (Unsupported assertion. And by the way, why is it bad for an unsaved person to go to church?)
People crave miracles and paranormal wonders, but that craving is no true sign of faith. (Unsupported assertion.)
(This is one of the central lessons of John 6.) Eastern religions are rife with the very same kinds of phenomena that are touted as gifts of the Holy Spirit in the charismatic movement. (This is an Association Fallacy. That is, because there are superficial similarities between the two things, they must be connected somehow.)
My desire in writing Strange Fire and hosting the conference was to make those points, to expose the vast amount of chicanery that has been given a pass by gullible charismatics, and to encourage people to evaluate these issues critically by measuring charismatic claims against Scripture—to be like the Bereans. (We have read and commented on a number of Dr. MacArthur's writings, and have yet to see him make a scriptural case for cessationism. In this very article there is a paucity of scriptural quotes. It seems he is content to mention the Bereans but not actually do what the Bereans did.)
In that respect, we have certainly seen a significant measure of success. The statement we made was long overdue. Some people were offended, of course, not only because the issue itself is divisive, but also because the charismatic movement has enjoyed such a long moratorium without any significant critique. (Which is not true. There are many articles on Dr. MacArthur's website. Google "charismatic false" and you will be greeted with thousands of links.)
These days, any word of caution would come as a shock. And let’s face it: the truth is usually divisive. (Dr. MacArthur has spent many words decrying charismatic divisiveness. Now he's happy to be divisive himself. So, who's divisiveness is because they teach the truth, and who is divisive because they teach error, hmm?)
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(Once again we note the lack of biblical evidence in Dr. MacArthur's presentation. If you check the labels cessationism, Doctrine, you will find additional commentary. For those who appeal to Scripture for their cessationism, we deal with that.)
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