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| The Gospel According to the Apostles | 
 enlarge | Author: John Macarthur
Publisher: Nelson Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 1678435
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8
ASIN: B000F6Z8BU
Publication Date: March 8, 2005
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| Customer Reviews:
 Commendable in Many Ways, but Lacking in Focus May 18, 2006
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
At the end of Appendix 1, "The Gospel According to the Apostles," in his bestselling book The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur lamented the brief space he gave to the appendix's subject matter and spoke of his desire to write a book on the topic. That dream became reality with the publication of The Gospel According to the Apostles (originally titled Faith Works) in January 1993, over four years after the release of The Gospel According to Jesus. In the intervening years, much debate had been caused by the original work, and full-length book responses had been written by Charles Ryrie and Zane Hodges. Now, with this sequel, Word's marketing department made a bold claim: "The Gospel According to Jesus began the debate. This book ends it." Well, the debate didn't end, and while The Gospel According to the Apostles has many elements worthy of commendation, it suffers from a misplaced focus: Despite MacArthur's stated intentions to the contrary, the book is structured in such a way as to place primary emphasis on MacArthur's responses to his critics, not the subject matter promised by the title.
The Gospel According to the Apostles' focus becomes clear as early as Chapter 2, "A Primer on the 'Lordship Salvation' Controversy," with its multitude of citations (complete with page references) to Ryrie's and Hodges' books. While I had read The Gospel According to Jesus twice (the two readings separated by an over 15-year time period) and Ryrie's book once before coming to The Gospel According to the Apostles, and so was familiar with the issues, others who do not have this background may get lost quickly. MacArthur does write more clearly than he did and is better organized than he was in the original edition of The Gospel According to Jesus, but it's a lot to throw at someone unfamiliar with the controversy.
Beginning with Chapter 3, the structure of the rest of the chapters becomes plain. MacArthur begins each chapter by discussing a theological issue related to the controversy, often covering the historical background of the topic, and then mentions or tackles his critics' position(s) on the subject matter. Next, he conducts a Bible study on the given topic taken from one of the New Testament epistles; even here, MacArthur keeps responding to his critics. The chapter always ends with a strong restatement of MacArthur's argument.
Since each chapter covers a different theological topic (as even a quick glance at the chapter titles reveals), MacArthur's fine, careful definitions of terms that may be unfamiliar to some of his readers are greatly appreciated. As in The Gospel According to Jesus, MacArthur shows a praiseworthy concern for the wisdom of Christians throughout the ages. (Being Reformed himself, MacArthur naturally leans toward Reformed theologians for his support.) The Bible studies of the apostles' teaching are good as far as they go.
Unfortunately, they don't go far enough. One of the primary strengths of The Gospel According to Jesus was that it essentially was a Bible study of Jesus' evangelistic methods. Theological issues were discussed as they arose in Scripture, but the book centered around a study of a different passage in Scripture in each chapter. A reader of the first book might assume that MacArthur would continue the same style in the sequel. That is not the case. Because MacArthur centers the chapters around different theological issues and responses to his critics' views on those issues, the Bible studies get short shrift. In Chapter 5, for example, MacArthur spends only the last 3 of 13 pages on a Bible study of the apostles' view of repentance. And in Chapter 6, MacArthur correctly notes that several chapters could be written on the apostles' view of justification, but that's all the more reason to puzzle over the brevity of a Bible study that only takes up 7 pages out of an 18-page chapter.
As a result, The Gospel According to the Apostles sadly does not stand well on its own; instead, it is in many ways dependent upon The Gospel According to Jesus, So Great Salvation (Ryrie's response), and Absolutely Free (Hodges' response). What's missing here is a book consonant with the original vision of The Gospel According to Jesus: A detailed, exhaustive Bible study of the apostles' handling of the gospel. The relevant sections in each chapter whet the reader's appetite for more, but are not enough in and of themselves.
This book, then, is not the clearest (much less the final) word that MacArthur would make on the "lordship salvation" controversy. (Even 2003's Hard to Believe returns to this issue.) If you can read only one book on this topic, pick up the 1994 revised and expanded version of The Gospel According to Jesus. It offers MacArthur's most clear, compelling, and complete coverage of this important issue. I am glad that MacArthur really did clarify some things in The Gospel According to the Apostles; I just wish for an approach more in line with the book's predecessor.
 THE BEST! November 29, 2005
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
THE BEST!
As with Dr. Macarthur's books, The Truth War, Fools Gold, Think Biblically, "Hard to Believe", "Charismatic Chaos" and "Twelve Ordinary Men", etc., this is EXCELLENT! All of Dr. John Macarthur's works are packed with life changing Biblical TRUTHS, wisdom and sound doctrine.
The Gospel According to Jesus Continued March 26, 2005
I truly enjoyed reading and studying John MacArthur's now classic work THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS. The book came to me at a time when I was studying the Bible with some Bible college students who held to a radical non-Lordship view of salvation (see Zane Hodges' ABSOLUTELY FREE!). Dr. MacArthur helped me to firmly grasp what the Bible teaches about the Lordship of Jesus over my entire life.
This book, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE APOSTLES, is a follow up to THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS. In this book, Dr. MacArthur looks at the Lordship issue from the epistles. Did the Apostles embrace Lordship? Did the Apostles expect the entire Church to submit to the Lordship of Christ? This book examines this issue.
Dr. MacArthur also examines arguments against the Lordship issue in more detail and includes historical sermons and statements from the pages of Church History concerning the Lordship issue.
A great book and a must read for anyone interested in the Lordship issue or you simply want to grow closer to Jesus.
Once again, the master preacher does not disappoint October 14, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Once again, the master preacher does not disappoint - this is exactly what we in the Evangelical church ought to be hearing today. Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)
A Masterful Defense of the Biblical Gospel December 28, 2001
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
My wise pastor once told me, "When two people take diametrically opposite, incompatible positions on a subject, one of them is right and the other is wrong, or they are both wrong, but they cannot both be right." John MacArthur's view of the Gospel is diametically opposite and incompatible with the gospel of Charles Ryrie, Zane Hodges, et. al. When it comes to the subject of salvation, one had better figure out who or what is right, since his or her eternal destiny is at stake.John MacArthur Jr. masterfully expounds and defends the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as revealed in the Gospels), the Gospel proclaimed by the Apostles, the Gospel of the Bible. If you've read or are considering reading a book by those of the so called "free grace" position, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Then read the New Testament and decide for yourself which "gospel" is the true, biblical Gospel.
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