The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ

The following is a book review for John MacArthur's book The Jesus You Can't Ignore. The following is the description on the back of the book: Best-selling author John MacArthur gives readers a fresh look at how Jesus addressed attacks against the truth. Meek and mild. Politically correct. A great teacher. These are the popular depictions of Jesus. But they aren't the complete picture. Maybe because it's uncomfortable, or maybe because it's inconvenient, Christians and non-Christians alike are overlooking the fierceness of the Savior, His passionate mission to make the Gospel clear and bring people into the Kingdom of God. A mission that required he sometimes raise his voice and sometimes raise a whip

I have great respect for John MacArthur as I'm sure many others do, and that was precisely why I chose to read this book. I have also learned a lot from him in other books that I've read by him. However, this book did not sit well with me and there were many points where I disagreed with him. While I do agree, Jesus has a fierceness and passion for the truth I disagreed with John on the motivation that was driving that firceness. I felt that the book was written with a personal agenda to attack targeted styles of Christianity. I felt that this personal agenda caused him to read "between the lines" of Scripture and add more than what was there in order to prove his points. The only positive from the book for me was that it produced many lengthy and in-depth conversations with my husband about what we believe and why. I personally do not recommend the book.

This is a followup to the Truth War and in this book MacArthur examines the life of Christ and how he dealt with false teachers and false doctrine. Some wonder why MacArthur did not name names and the reason is simple and smart. MacArthur wanted his book to be "timeless." Anyways the thesis of the book is stated on page xv and that we need to have the attitude of Jesus when it comes to false doctrine and false teachers. Some write that this book is a critique entirely of the emerging and post Modern movements. I disagree as this book is also an attack on separatist Fundamentalists as stated on page 16 which MacArthur says are the modern embodiment of the Pharisees. And I would agree as I personally have met Fundamentalist who preach one thing but live another, (I will add that not all Fundamentalist are this way and I have ALSO MET many that are true born again Christians) Fundamentalist who preach the gospel, yet are filled with hate towards their brothers and sisters in Christ and others that "worship God in a contemporary form, or use the New International Version of the Bible." Fundamentalist who preach the gospel, yet are filled with racism. People like Fred Phelps would be one example of a Fundamentalist (hyper Calvinist) whom is filled with hate. MacArthur also exposes them as well so his book does not just focus on the Emerging evangelicals whom no doubt dominate the California area where MacArthur lives.

On page xxxiii MacArthur prefers the direct and severe approach to confronting a false teacher (2 Jn 10-11, 2 Tim 3:5). I would agree in some ways as long as we do not slander or lie about them. On page xxxv MacArthur says that we need to be militant against false teachers, religious hypocrites and others. MacArthur reminds us on page 51 of Rev 3:19 that rebuking and confronting a false teacher or religious hypocrite are very loving things to do as the Bible says in that verse. On page 65 MacArthur tells us that many false teachers spread in the evangelical movement because people do not wish to expose them by name and so they spread like wild fires. On page 76 MacArthur says that Jesus instigated all the open conflicts with the religious leaders of his time. On page 191 MacArthur reminds us of the spiritual battle we are all engaged in and all must fight to win. And on page 198 Macarthur reminds the reader that the boldness to assault error is in very very short supply today and I strongly agree with that statement! So many today think its not nice to expose a false teacher or religious hypocrite and this is the sad truth. One must expose the false teachers and hypocrites. In another part of the book MacArthur said that we must not be witch hunters or harsh on other christians that are caught in sin and this is what the Bible teachers. However for false teachers its a different matter. I really enjoyed this book and wish for all Christians to read it for many are not bold and not serious about confronting false teachers and error.

WOW! WOW! WOW! John MacArthur has summed up precisely what I've thought and said for awhile now, of course people listen to him! We are so often told or hear that Jesus was a man who would have patted a sinner on the back and just excused the person's behavior - kind of like a 'well it's okay for you but not for me' mentality. I'm so glad to hear someone speak up and defend the Word of God and say Jesus got mad - He ran the money changers our of the Temple. He didn't pat the adulteress and tell her what she was doing was okay as long as she didn't hurt someone else - He told her to sin no more.

Like the book description says we should be confronting the lies (i.e. there is more than one way to Heaven) and standing up for the Truth of the Word of God (i.e. Jesus is the only way to Heaven) which will further His Kingdom which all Christians are called to do. Is it easy, no, but neither were we promised a life of ease once we became a Christian. I'm so glad that John MacArthur has written this much needed book and I would desire other Christians to read it.

John MacArthur is one of the best Christian teachers of our day. If you want the truth of God's word and to know Jesus and be challenged in your faith this is a must read.

This annointed, Holy Spirit-led work by John MacArthur was about informing and challenging the reader to not only understand the bold confrontations of Christ but to ponder His example and do the same as mandated in their own dealings with others. Scripture was laced throughout the book to support the argument that Jesus Christ did indeed have righteous anger and did call out sin in many places other than the Temple. I enjoyed the Prologue as well as the Epilogue. I did not merely scan those two documents but I devoured each sentence and argument.

As every Christian non-fiction book review I enter the process with the sole question, "What does the Bible have to say about this or that?" This book nailed each point made with solid doctrine and Scripture references. The author obviously respects the Word of God - - all of it. This fact is evidenced by the inclusion of not just one or two Bible references in a point made but often four or five. I do enjoy going back into the Old Testament and learning about the Judaic Law and how it relates to the New Testament. This book was quiet generous with laying the Biblical foundation in order to dismiss "old" ways of thinking or "myths" that our culture has come to preach as Gospel.

I learned much about why many Jewish persons today still do not believe the New Testament applies to them even though Jesus fulfilled many OT prophesies during the time He walked among the people. I now understand the Jewish culture better as the historical and biblical landscape for the reasons they did what they did. I learned alot about the spiritual blindness that existed though they saw the miracles and witnessed Jesus fulfilling prophecy firsthand! I enjoyed learning more about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. What hope we have for others to come to Christ though we do not see so many outward signs of them doing so!!

This book is a meal and the reader needs to shut out all other distractions so as not to lose even one concept as presented by Mr. MacArthur. There were times I was reading this book and I would not be in the frame of mind to fully gleam the truths presented. If you do want the rich teaching and fact-finding that this book contains you may want to read it slowly, highlighter in hand in a quiet place. I do not believe this book is necessarily the book you want to take to the beach for a relaxing, feel good, get-away-from-it-all read. But it is so much more! It is a book I will keep in my library. I don't plan on lending it out for fear of not getting it back as I have made notations and highlights and scribbles all over the place. But I will buy this book for loved ones and those seeking to confront others with the love of Christ.

I have a few Pharisaic friends that would benefit from this amazingly convicting book. And if they do not read the entire book I will pray they do read the Epilogue. Especially starting on page 202 the section entitled Walking As He Walked. I thoroughly enjoyed those five pages leading up to A Final Word From Christ.

The paragraph on page 206 that made me shout "Hooray!" was and I quote: "As we have seen throughout this book, the popular notion that conflict is always to be avoided is simply wrong. There are times when we must be confrontative rather than collegial. "For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped" (Titus 1:10-11). If you wince at that or think there's no way such an aggressive attitude could possibly be a sanctified response to doctrinal error in a postmodern culture, you need to review and rethink what the entire New Testament says about false teachers and how Christians should respond to them - especially from Jesus' point of view."

Amen and I say Amen! Buy the book. You will be glad you did.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their[...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Are you a manufacturer of a product or currently market a service and would like Christina to review it? If so, please email [...] product name, description and msrp and any other information relative to said product. Christina will contact you within two weeks from receipt of contact if product will be reviewed. Please note not all products will be considered reviewable. Please do not send products without prior consent from Christina. Note: Products sent for review will not be returned. Product aubmission authorizes consent for said product to remain in sole possession of recipient. No monies shall be exchanged for product submission nor permissions granted for review of reviews prior to submission. Reviews shall remain effective and in force at discretion of blog administrator and/or all authors related to christinawillreviewit.blogspot.com.

The goal of this book was to dispel the myth that some Christians have about Jesus. Many people seem to think Jesus was a nice guy. While they are right in saying He is a nice guy, that doesn't mean He didn't say things that might offend people. He spoke the truth out of love.

MacArthur reviews several key confrontations that Jesus had with religious leaders of His day. From these confrontations we see that Jesus was not the happy-go-lucky many people envision Him as.

Overall, I was not too interested in this book.

When I first got the book I thought MacArthur would have some valuable insight into these confrontations. Most of what MacArthur wrote can be easily understood from Scripture itself.

Although, I guess if people did understand the Scripture there would have been no need for MacArthur to write this book. That is his intended audience for this book, not me.

This book also seems as thought the editor, Phil Johnson, spent many days and nights flipping through a thesaurus. I had to look up several words in almost every chapter.

Here are some examples from one chapter of words that I wasn't sure of the meaning:
pedantic
polemic
satiety
jeremiad
casuistry
sophistry
tawdry
diatribe

So my question is, if people can't understand the confrontations of Christ from Scripture, how are they going to understand if from this book when the author uses words that the average person probably doesn't know?!

If you think Jesus was a nice guy and never said or did things to offend others then read this book. Otherwise you can probably skip this one.

Hard Cover

If you want to get to know the real Jesus Christ, John MacArthur book will open your eyes to what many have overlook. I highly recommend this book.

'The Jesus You Can't Ignore' is one of those books that you want to like, but early on the whole premise of it is so one-sided and two-dimensional that's it's almost hard to take it seriously. I think it's safe to say that Jesus wasn't always the peace-loving, docile teacher that so many churches like to portray him as, a Messiah with no edge who's basically almost been feminized over the years. John MacArthur would seem to be calling that brand of Christianity to task with this book, a Christianity defines by its lukewarmness and avoidance of any kind of confrontation, no matter how necessary or right. The problem is that by the time everything is said and done, Jesus himself is reduced to a one-sided, macho caricature in the other direction while the Pharisees are condemned and stereotyped in one fell swoop in his effort to aim this squarely at a certain segment of contemporary Christianity. In some ways, the scholarship of the book is solid (Scripturally, there's not much that can be questioned), but even that is skewed by the lop-sided, extreme premise. Ultimately, shouldn't a wise man avoid ALL extremes?

I received the book quickly and it was just as advertised. I am in the process of reading it but it is very good so far.