John MacArthur was an American pastor, author and broadcaster who led Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, for 56 years and became one of the most widely heard Bible teachers in the English-speaking world. He preached verse by verse through the entire New Testament, founded the radio ministry Grace to You, led a college and seminary, and wrote or edited more than 150 books. He was also a polarizing figure who criticized Charismatic worship, defied COVID-19 restrictions and drew objections over his statements on race, gender and abuse. He died on July 14, 2025, at age 86. Some sermon websites and church pages still describe him in the present tense, but he has not been the active pastor of Grace Community Church since 2025.
Early Life and Education
John MacArthur was born in Los Angeles in 1939 into a family of preachers. His father, Jack MacArthur, was a Baptist radio preacher, and his grandfather, Harry MacArthur, was a Canadian Anglican minister. He once said he was a distant relative of General Douglas MacArthur, a fifth cousin by his own account.
As a young man he hoped to play professional football, but a serious car accident at 18 changed the direction of his life. He attended Bob Jones University in South Carolina from 1957 to 1959, where his father recruited him to sing in the Voice of Calvary quartet, a group often heard on Southern California Christian radio. After a gap year he enrolled at Los Angeles Pacific College, and he earned a Master of Divinity at Talbot Theological Seminary in 1964. At Talbot he studied under Charles Feinberg and committed himself to expository preaching, the practice of teaching a biblical text passage by passage. He met Patricia Smith in 1963 and they married that year. They raised four children, Matt, Marcy, Mark and Melinda.
Grace Community Church
From 1964 to 1966 he served as associate pastor at his father’s church in Burbank, then worked as faculty representative for Talbot Theological Seminary. On February 9, 1969, he became pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, a neighborhood of Los Angeles near Burbank. He was the youngest pastor the congregation had called. The church’s own history says it doubled in size every two years in the early period of his ministry, moving into a new Family Center in 1971 and into its current Worship Center in 1977.
On June 5, 2011, he finished preaching through every book of the New Testament, a project he had called a life goal. It had taken 42 years. The church is elder-ruled, and for decades MacArthur was its singular public voice.
Grace to You and Wider Influence
Grace to You began when sermons recorded at the church on reel-to-reel tape were broadcast on WRBS in Baltimore in 1977, then spread to radio, television, print and later online platforms. The ministry says it reaches millions of people each day. MacArthur also became a fixture at conferences, including the annual Shepherds Conference for pastors, and appeared on national programs such as Larry King Live and The Ben Shapiro Show. Christianity Today named him one of the most influential preachers of his era.
His educational work was just as consequential. In 1985 he became president of what was then Los Angeles Baptist College, now The Master’s University. In 1986 he became president of The Master’s Seminary, which trains pastors in his expository method. Both institutions are in Santa Clarita, and he later held the title of chancellor emeritus.
Books and Bible Work
MacArthur wrote or edited more than 150 books. The MacArthur Study Bible has sold over a million copies and received a Gold Medallion Book Award. The Gospel According to Jesus (1989) became a flashpoint in evangelical debate, and his other well-known titles include Charismatic Chaos, Ashamed of the Gospel, Twelve Ordinary Men, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore, Strange Fire and the multivolume New Testament Commentary. In 2021 he worked with a team from The Master’s Seminary and the Lockman Foundation on the Legacy Standard Bible, an update of the 1995 New American Standard Bible.
Theology
MacArthur was a five-point Calvinist and a Baptist in practice, though his church was non-denominational. He held to cessationism, the view that miraculous sign gifts such as prophecy ended with the apostolic age. He described himself as a “leaky dispensationalist,” taking a literal approach to scripture, a distinction between Israel and the church, and a premillennial view of the end times. He was a young-earth creationist, a complementarian who limited the roles of pastor and elder to men, and a critic of same-sex marriage and the social justice movement.
His teaching on salvation, known as Lordship salvation, held that genuine faith includes submission to Jesus as Lord, not only trust in him as Savior. Free grace theologians such as Charles Ryrie and Zane Hodges argued this amounted to a works-based view of salvation, and the debate shaped evangelical circles in the 1980s. He also changed his mind on at least one doctrine. In 1983 he taught that Christ became the Son of God at the incarnation, and about a decade later he retracted this and affirmed the eternal Father-Son relationship in the Godhead.
Strange Fire and Public Disputes
In October 2013 Grace Community Church hosted the Strange Fire conference to launch his book of the same name, a sustained critique of the Charismatic movement. In sermons he said that modern claims of visions and prophecy were false, and he accused the movement of creating a counterfeit version of the Holy Spirit. Supporters saw a defense of doctrinal clarity. Critics, including many Pentecostal and Charismatic leaders, saw a sweeping condemnation of fellow believers.
Other moments drew public reaction. In 2012 he called Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church, “unqualified” for ministry. In 2019, asked about Beth Moore at a conference, he answered, “Go home,” and repeated that the Bible did not allow women to preach. Moore responded that she had followed God’s call and not a call from men.
COVID-19 Defiance
In 2020 and 2021 Grace Community Church held indoor services in violation of Los Angeles County health orders, without enforcing mask or distancing rules. MacArthur argued the restrictions infringed on religious liberty and said no one at the church had become seriously ill, which news reports disputed. A Reuters fact check examined his claim that most reported COVID deaths were not caused by the disease alone and found it did not undermine the disease’s deadliness. The county sued the church, and the church countersued. The cases were settled out of court, with the county and the state each paying the church $400,000, a total of $800,000. A 2023 docudrama, The Essential Church, told the church’s version of events.
Abuse and Slavery Controversies
In March 2022 The Roys Report published an investigation reporting that Grace Community Church had pressed some victims of domestic violence to return to their husbands or face excommunication, and that a church elder, Hohn Cho, had advised MacArthur to reconsider the stance. The church and its defenders disputed the framing of such accounts, but the report intensified public scrutiny of the church’s biblical counseling approach.
A 2012 sermon on slavery also resurfaced and drew sharp criticism. In it he said slavery was not objectionable if one had the right master, a remark critics said minimized a brutal institution. Baptist News Global later published an article examining what he had actually said on race and slavery, and his defenders argued that he was describing biblical-era servitude rather than endorsing the American practice. Readers should consult the original sermon and that analysis for context.
Illness and Death
MacArthur was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in January 2023, had a catheter procedure that July, and in the second half of 2024 underwent three more surgeries, including an aorta replacement and a lung procedure. He preached what is reported to be his final sermon on November 24, 2024. In January 2025 the church said his recovery had been slower than expected, with occasional setbacks affecting his heart, lungs and kidneys. On July 13, 2025, associate pastor Tom Patton told the congregation that MacArthur had contracted pneumonia and might soon be in the presence of the Lord. He died the next evening at a hospital in Santa Clarita.
His memorial service was held at Grace Community Church on August 23, 2025. John Piper, Alistair Begg and Joni Eareckson Tada spoke, Sinclair Ferguson preached, and Keith and Kristyn Getty led part of the music. He was survived by his wife, four children, 15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Succession and Legacy
After his death, Nathan Busenitz, who grew up at Grace and served for years as MacArthur’s personal assistant, became interim staff pastor. On August 20, 2026, the church’s elders unanimously affirmed him as senior pastor, and the church announced it three days later on the anniversary of MacArthur’s memorial. Busenitz was installed in a recent Sunday service and has said he aims to strengthen the local church and be a steward of MacArthur’s legacy, not to build a global platform of his own.
Conclusion
John MacArthur’s legacy is large and contested. To admirers, he was a rare preacher who held to a single method for more than half a century, produced an enormous library of teaching, and trained a generation of pastors. To critics, his certainty hardened into harsh judgments of other Christians and into positions on gender, race and abuse that caused harm. Both views are part of the historical record. What is not in dispute is his reach, and what happens next at Grace Community Church, The Master’s institutions and Grace to You will show how much of that influence outlasts him.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was John MacArthur?
John F. MacArthur Jr. was an American Calvinistic Baptist pastor, author and broadcaster who led Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, from 1969 until his death in 2025. He founded the Grace to You radio and media ministry, served as president of The Master’s University and Seminary, and wrote or edited more than 150 books.
Is John MacArthur still alive?
No. He died on July 14, 2025, at age 86, in Santa Clarita, California, after contracting pneumonia. The church announced his death and held a memorial service on August 23, 2025. Some websites that carry his archived sermons still describe him as the church’s current pastor, but that language is outdated.
Who replaced John MacArthur at Grace Community Church?
Nathan Busenitz, who grew up in the church and served as MacArthur’s personal assistant, became interim staff pastor after the memorial service. The elders unanimously affirmed him as senior pastor on August 20, 2026, and announced the decision to the congregation on August 23, the anniversary of the memorial service.
What is Grace to You?
Grace to You is MacArthur’s radio, video, audio and print teaching ministry. It began in 1977 when his sermons were first broadcast on a Baltimore radio station, and it has since grown into a global media operation that the ministry says reaches millions every day. It continues to publish his sermon archive and new content.
What did John MacArthur believe?
He held five-point Calvinist views on salvation, cessationism, premillennial dispensationalism, young-earth creationism and complementarian views on gender roles, including that only men may serve as pastors and elders. He also taught Lordship salvation, the idea that saving faith includes submission to Christ as Lord. His teaching was standard in many conservative Reformed and Baptist circles and sharply contested in others.
Why was John MacArthur controversial?
His critics pointed to his opposition to Charismatic practice in Strange Fire, his public rebuke of women preachers such as Beth Moore, his 2012 remarks on slavery, a 2022 investigation into the church’s handling of domestic violence cases, and his church’s defiance of COVID-19 orders. His supporters see those same moments as evidence of his commitment to scripture and religious liberty.
What happened with Grace Community Church and COVID-19 rules?
The church held indoor services against Los Angeles County health orders in 2020 and 2021. The county sued, and the church countersued, claiming its religious freedom was violated. The cases were settled out of court, and both the county and the state of California paid the church $400,000 each.
What books is John MacArthur best known for?
His most widely known works are The MacArthur Study Bible, which has sold more than a million copies, and The Gospel According to Jesus, the book at the center of the Lordship salvation debate. He is also known for Strange Fire, Charismatic Chaos, Twelve Ordinary Men, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore and the MacArthur New Testament Commentary series.