Christian conservatives respond to John MacArthur comparing ‘religious freedom’ to ‘idolatry’ By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter for Christian Post
GNN Note – This is the last straw with John MacArthur. We have overlooked and we have try to accept some of the nonsense he has been spewing for the past two years. This is it. We will no longer be publishing his sermons or anything else from Mr. MacArthur. It’s a real shame that he has lost his way. / END
Prominent pastor and theologian John MacArthur has come under fire after a video resurfaced of him taking issue with the idea of “religious freedom,” with some Christian speakers debating whether his comments were taken out of context.
A video of one of MacArthur’s sermons from early last year at California’s Grace Community Church resurfaced over the weekend after Matthew Sheffield, who describes himself as a “former right-wing activist, now working to elevate new topics & voices against fascism,” sharedit on Twitter.
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“Extremist Christians love to claim they’re all about ‘religious freedom,’ but the truth is that they hate the idea,” Sheffield, the editor of The Flux and host of the “Theory of Change” podcast, wrote.
Extremist Christians love to claim they’re all about “religious freedom,” but the truth is that they hate the idea.
Sometimes when they’re in a safe space, they admit this. Here’s evangelical megachurch pastor John MacArthur telling you what they really think: pic.twitter.com/viT96Y7tkv
— Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) January 9, 2022
“Sometimes when they’re in a safe space, they admit this,” he added. Sheffield cited the video, taken from a January 2021 sermon, as an example of what many Christians “really think” about the topic of religious freedom.
In the video, MacArthur asserts that “I don’t even support religious freedom.” He went on to allege that “religious freedom is what sends people to Hell.”
“To say I support religious freedom is to say I support idolatry. It’s to say I support lies. I support Hell. I support the kingdom of darkness. You can’t say that. No Christian with half a brain would say ‘we support religious freedom.’”
MacArthur suggested that Christians should proclaim that “we support the truth” as the crowd erupted into applause. He warned his congregation that “if the new administration supports religious freedom, get ready.”
