Book Review: The Truth War

The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
By John MacArthur

In an age of relativism and moral subjectivity there are many within the Evangelical church who are wondering how the Church should respond to the times. Answers to this dilemma are coming from all across the Evangelical spectrum. On one extreme we have those who say that we must completely separate ourselves from the culture in order to protect the truth. On the opposite extreme we have churches softening the very notion of truth to appeal to the culture. John MacArthur weighs in on this very issue in his latest book The Truth War. The title of this book alone reveals MacArthur’s belief that the church should not shy away from the culture, or the notion of truth. But instead the church must engage the culture with the truth.

MacArthur supports his belief by first defending the idea that “truth is worth fighting for.” For MacArthur the notion of truth is wrapped up in the character of God. As MacArthur points out “A denial that God exists instantly removes the whole justification for any kind of knowledge. As Scripture says, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge’ (Proverbs 1:7).” He goes on to show that truth is absolute and unchanging “because real truth is the unchanged and unchanging expression of who God is; it is not our own personal and arbitrary interpretation of reality.” This is without question a refreshing and biblical response to the relativism of our age.

Surprisingly there are fewer and fewer church leaders who are willing to come out and make declarative statements about truth. As MacArthur outlines in a chapter on our postmodern society, “postmodernism is largely a reaction against the unbridled rationalism of modernity. But many postmodernists’ response to rationalism is a serious over reaction. Lots of postmodernists seem to entertain the notion that irrationality is superior to rationalism.” This fact is seen in our culture’s distain for strong convictions. For, in the eyes of the culture, how can someone push their convictions on someone else when everyone is entitled to their own opinion?

This is the kind of postmodern thinking is what the church is now up against. And this battle against worldly thinking is exactly what MacArthur spends the majority of his book writing about. In fact, in chapters 3 thru 8 MacArthur is simply expounding upon Jude 1b-5a which says,
“To those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ; May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you once knew this…”

There will always be false teachers who come into the church trying to pervert the truth of the gospel. MacArthur refers to these individuals as “spiritual terrorists,” and asks the question “Is an attacking enemy who promises his arrival in advance and wears a uniform for easy identification as dangerous as a terrorist who is hidden and acts with deadly surprise?” Obviously the answer to that is no. And this is why the church must be vigilant and always ready to fight for the truth.

MacArthur’s expositional work and practical application of this passage from Jude is vintage MacArthur. In fact, this book – with its charge to fight for the truth of the gospel is the epitome of MacArthur’s ministry over the last 5 decades. In addition the material from the book of Jude, MacArthur provides his readers with an excellent explanation of the transition between the modern era and postmodern era. I appreciated the fact that MacArthur had criticism for both the modern and postmodern paradigms. All too often authors will blindly criticize one over the other. MacArthur dealt with both ways of thinking from a balanced Christian worldview.

There is little doubt that this book will prove to be a valuable resource for Christians who are diligently seeking to interact with, and spread the Gospel to the world around them. I would highly recommend it to all my readers.

You can purchase The Truth War  on-line by going HERE.