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I believe that is why Ransom replied as he did.is he the reason so many christians believe they should take no effective part in the american political process?...... and why they insist on clinging to 3rd party candidates who have no chance of winning?.... .....i wonder if he realizes his dogmatic statements do nothing to stop or limit abortion ... but instead .... by making the christian vote unimportant ... he only serves to enable those who would kill the most innocents in the womb to take office.....
the way i see it we can take an active part in elections and try to save as many as we can... or we can take the macarthur approach..throw our votes away... and save none at all...... i don;t see any christianity demonstrated in the macarthur approach.... . instead what i see is an unconditional surrender to evil....
is he the reason so many christians believe they should take no effective part in the american political process?
Yes. And in that regard, he's spot on.20 years ago, MacArthur wrote a book titled Why Government Can't Save You, which basically said not to put your faith in government to improve society. Only Christ is capable of the kind of transformation the utopians envision.
So in that respect, he's non-political.
That said, he was also at the forefront of the very political battle to keep churches open during the pandemic, after he decided that by extending lockdowns beyond the original few weeks, the government was illegitimately trying to steal authority that properly belonged to the church.
I've never heard of MacArthur saying Christians should stay out of the political process. He's not a Jehovah's Witness.
i agree.... i believe life begins at conception.... ..and i believe if prominent 19th century americans like ben franklin had a better understanding of scripture they would have believed that too.. (or if they really believed in God and the bible the way they are given credit for today).... ... there are many places in scripture that explain God places the baby in the womb.... ... but the one that stands out most to me is jeremiah 1 4-5....Let me say from the start that I believe abortion is the taking of human life. In Exodus 21:22-23 the killing of the unborn resulted in capital punishment. In Psalms 139:13-14 David talks about being formed in his mother's womb and being fearfully and wonderfully made. Paul Harvey explains how in 19th century America abortion was much more common than it is even today. Women at that time didn't believe that being pregnant was carying a human life until the "quickening" or until there were signs of life by the baby moving or kicking. Could the lack of scientific knowledge that we have today and the sincerely held belief that pregnancy did not produce human life until the time of "quickening" in the 19th century be at all justified? How is it different than bloodletting which was practiced for thousands of years and other medical beliefs that we now know are absurd? From what I understand from the American Revolution to the mid-19th century pre-quickening abortion was not an issue and was legal in every state. I have tried to find what Charles Spurgeon believed on the subject but the only thing I can find is he talks about infanticide but it doesn't say whether he believed that included pre-quickening. Benjamin Franklin gave instructions on at-home abortions in a book in the 1700's. Once again I believe life begins at conception.
Could the lack of scientific knowledge that we have today and the sincerely held belief that pregnancy did not produce human life until the time of "quickening" in the 19th century be at all justified?
unless a woman was sleeping around on a regular basis... ... and if she stayed true to her husband in a healthy relationship.... she would know fairly quickly that she was pregnant simply by the changes taking place in her own body.... and that would happen long before she felt any movement by the baby.. and i believe it;s things women have known since the beginning of time.. ...... ..i;m not going to spell out what those changes are here but i will say that women who "sleep around" ..(as is the polite way to say it).. and who live a raunchy lifestyle.. will not be able to recognize those changes as quickly as one who is devoted to a husband and only one intimate partner.... ....Insofar as "the quickening" was often the first sign that a woman was pregnant at all, I guess it's a fairly good indicator that a new life has begun.
That said, why should a modern Christian be bound to a medieval interpretation of human anatomy? I've been told many times by some poor-choice that "Aristotle said" or "this Pope said" or "Thomas Aquinas said" human life began at such-and-such a time. I don't care. I'm not Catholic and I think we've learned a thing or two about embryology since the thirteenth century.
Bernard Nathanson, the former abortionist, became a pro-life advocate because the invention of the sonogram made it impossible to deny there was a living human being growing in there. Sure, Augustine might have said human life began at quickening, but what might he have said if he had had access to ultrasound in the fourth century?
Mac Arthur or the meme?No, MacArthur isn't right. Sorry.
Both... they're together in the meme...JMac is just as wrong as he often is if he truly said this. We can only vote for the one closest to the Biblical stance, nothing more.Mac Arthur or the meme?
A position I believe he holds. Especially coming from the land of fruits nuts and flakes, he understands this.Both... they're together in the meme...JMac is just as wrong as he often is if he truly said this. We can only vote for the one closest to the Biblical stance, nothing more.
“We have to be the people who uphold righteousness. When we come to vote, we want to vote for that which is the most righteous option. Obviously, we can't vote in righteousness, but we have to vote in a way that reflects our commitment to the righteousness of God," he said, adding that Christians ought not to elect leaders who affirm abortion, LGBT behavior, or any other form of immorality.
"It gets harder, doesn't it, nowadays? Because even sometimes, when politicians are more conservative and anti-abortion, they may be sinful and wicked in some other categories. And it's very hard to find out who is really honest and who is simply dishonest and seeking power," he said.
"But in the end, we do what we can [politically] with the understanding that the responsibility of the Church is not to advance the kingdom of this world. That's a faulty viewpoint." Link
i read it.... and i am still not convinced that macarthur would not advocate christians voting for a 3rd party candidate that had no chance of winning - provided that 3rd party candidate appeared to be more pious or more "holy" than the other 2.... .....Speaking of context, Mac is prolifically unashamed and available in the online arena, so here's some general Macarthur context...
i read it.... and i am still not convinced that macarthur would not advocate christians voting for a 3rd party candidate that had no chance of winning - provided that 3rd party candidate appeared to be more pious or more "holy" than the other 2.... .....
which brings up the question of mike pence.... again...... ....mike pence recently stated on record he would not endorse donald trump for president... ...many people believe that means pence will eventually come out to run as that 3rd party "holy" candidate... .. others i know say they are going to write his name in on the ballot on election day anyway......
either way.. by saying what he did.. mike pence has undoubtably discouraged some conservative christians from voting for trump that might have done so otherwise...... ...... ... in effect ... and unless he does present himself as a 3rd candidate.. he has endorsed joe biden by default.. .....and... once again... either way - whether he runs himself or not ...has made joe bidens chance of winning in november stronger..... .
where would john macarthur stand on an issue like this?......... ...throwing a vote away like that is in effect helping enable the worst of 2 evils to take power...