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Book Review - Ashamed of the Gospel
- 01/22/06
- 19
It was just over one hundred years ago that the great preacher Charles Spurgeon began the long battle that would ultimately cost him his life. He saw in the church of that era a trend away from the preaching of the gospel and towards entertainment. The church began to focus on pleasing people rather than preaching the gospel in all its offense and power. The battle Spurgeon waged became known as The Downgrade Controversy.
Now, a full century later, John MacArthur is sounding the alarm to warn discerning believers that the crisis the church faced in the late 19th century has come to the modern-day church. The church is, once again, on the downgrade. While Spurgeon fought against the influence of liberalism in the church, today we need to fight against the influx of pragmatism. Believing that those who ignore history are dooming themselves to repeat it, he has written Ashamed of the Gospel to show that the alarms Spurgeon sounded are equally relevant in the 21st century church. To prove this point he precedes each chapter with a relevant quote from Spurgeon.
MacArthur believes that the root cause of the downgrade of our day is a deep-rooted shame for the gospel. The church has grown ashamed of the purity and simplicity of the gospel. In place of traditional “old-time religion” the church has begun to substitute a “show-time religion” that focuses on entertainment more than the preaching of the Word. Pleasing the goats has taken precedent over feeding the sheep - glitter over the gospel. Doctrinal purity has been replaced by pragmatism, what God commands by what works.
The themes of the book are easy to discern from an overview of the chapter titles. Some of the chapter titles are: Christianity on the Down-Grade, The User-Friendly Church, Gimme That Showtime Religion, All Things To All Men, The Foolishness of God, and I Will Build My Church.
Equally fascinating as the book are the appendices. The first is a history of the Downgrade Controversy, the second an examination of Charles Finney's contribution to pragmatism in the church, the third an essay by the puritan preacher Thomas Boston entitled Carnal vs Spiritual wisdom and the fourth an update on Evangelicals and Catholics Together. The final appendix is especially interesting as it allows MacArthur a forum to explain how ECT came together and why he stood strong against it.
A courageous book that has likely earned MacArthur far more enemies than friends, I highly recommend this book to all believers, both clergy and laity, but especially those who are discontent with much of the modern church-growth movement. If you have read books like The Purpose Driven Church you owe it to yourself to balance that book with this one. You will not regret it.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (19)
Tim,
Thanks for reviewing this book! Being the first book I would recommend to young pastors coming out of seminary, each of us should read this book annually…to inspire us in the struggle for the purity of the gospel.
Thanks for the book review. I just attended a general meeting at my church last night in which we discussed fulfilling a vision for growth. The proposed and approved course of action is to bring a consultant/coach to help us reassess restructure, and reorganize (if only repent were in the list).
I love my church and I think the hearts of leadership are in the right place, but we just went through the 40 days of Purpose and know it seems we want to become a mega-church. In addition, most of the outreaches we sponsor take the form of entertainment - comedians, plays, concerts, etc. As a church we are in some uncertain, scary waters…I hope to get a chance to read this book.
BTW - Great Blog!
Tim
Great book - I think it was published in the 80s, though relevant for today. I also have a copy of Spurgeon’s Down-Grade Controvery which is a great read.
Chris
I read this book 2 months before moving to California to plant a church. Thank God for providentially placing this book in my life when He did. It helped me focus on what was really important, and kept me from leaning on pragmatism when things got tough.
This book is in my top ten books every Christian should read.
Great book. I’ve read it as well as some of MacArthur’s other books that deal with the same subject. We would be wise to heed his adivce on this matter.
I must have read an old version … do you know if the Charles Finney article is by John MacArthur or Phil Johnson? I know Phil has written some things about Finney in the past and I could see MacArthur using him as a resource.
“do you know if the Charles Finney article is by John MacArthur or Phil Johnson? I know Phil has written some things about Finney in the past and I could see MacArthur using him as a resource.”
I’m not sure. I don’t know if there is necessarily a clear line between what MacArthur writes and what Phil writes…
When this book first hit the shelves, it introduced me both to John MacArthur and my future wife (who had her nose buried in her well-marked copy). 13 years later, I see the hand of divine blessing for bringing both of these my way.
p.s. I’ve got an extra copy of “Ashamed” in my giveaway box - used, but if someone wants it for $2 postage, just email me.
I must have read an old version … do you know if the Charles Finney article is by John MacArthur or Phil Johnson? I know Phil has written some things about Finney in the past and I could see MacArthur using him as a resource.
The first edition contains the appendix on Finney. Phil Johnson is MacArthur’s editor, not his ghostwriter. Unless otherwise stated, I would assume MacArthur wrote it. Some appendices in MacArthur’s books are written by others, but always with credit. Phil’s article (the one I know of) on Finney is here.
I further assume Phil did not write MacArthur’s appendix because there are no common footnotes between the two (I just checked).
Maybe Phil will pop in and settle this… or maybe not.
Tim,
This book was in fiest published on 1993 and is now out of print.What’s the purpose of reviewing books which are not longer availavle?
From Phil Johnson’s article in the above link:
“In other words, it was not merely hyper-Calvinism—or even simple Calvinism—that Finney rejected, but the biblical essentials of sola fide and sola gratia ,(justification by faith alone through grace alone). “emphasis mineInteresting that Mr Johnson has it backwards. We are not saved by our faith. We are saved by God’s grace and grace alone, through faith. There is a difference.
Take Care
The first edition contains the appendix on Finney. Phil Johnson is MacArthur’s editor, not his ghostwriter. Unless otherwise stated, I would assume MacArthur wrote it. Some appendices in MacArthur’s books are written by others, but always with credit. Phil’s article (the one I know of) on Finney is here.
Certainly could be the case. It has been quite a while since I have read that book (then again … most of John MacArthur’s books run together in my head). Thanks for the info.
-mike
“This book was in fiest published on 1993 and is now out of print. What’s the purpose of reviewing books which are not longer availavle?”
First off, I think I can review just about anything. If it’s out of print you’d probably still be able to find it quite easily on eBay or Amazon.
But in this case it doesn’t matter because as far as I can see it is not out of print. It’s available new from Amazon and I’ve seen it recently on the shelves of stores…
I have read and reread this book several times. John has certainly made no friends with this, and his ‘The Gospel According to Jesus’, but he certainly challenged those who would participate in the modern downgrade movement.
I never liked John MacArthur (I came from the Free Grace side and had been ‘warned’ about him), but I once went and heard him speak and briefly met him and found that the things said about him were not true. John was gracious and caring and had a true concern for God’s people.
Amongst many of my old friends, his name is still anathema,and its sad…
Also, I just read one of Spurgeon’s sermons on Genesis 24 — WOW! you could preach that today and it would be as current as 1888. He was warning THEN about the over-emphasis on entertainment in the church, what would he think today?
Finally (and I apologize for the length of this post), I look forward to a review of ‘Promises Kept’ as I have been eyeing that in the bookstore.
I read this book alongside the Purpose Driven Church, and I have to say I didn’t enjoy either of them.They both made good points, but in the end I got haf way through both and never picked em up again.
John K wrote about Phil J:”Interesting that Mr Johnson has it backwards. We are not saved by our faith. We are saved by God’s grace and grace alone, through faith. There is a difference.”
Seeing as grace is a work of the Holy Spirit, as well as faith…what’s the difference with respect to salvation, seeing as they are both required for it, and both come from God?
We are saved BY grace, THROUGH faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, that no one may boast. They are both essential…both working together for our justification, for our salvation.
Our salvation comes by way of faith because of grace. I am curious how what Phil wrote in the part you quoted alters the truth. You said there is a difference…what is it?
Thanks.
This book was in fiest published on 1993 and is now out of print.What’s the purpose of reviewing books which are not longer availavle?
Did you miss the Amazon link at the end of the review?
VOTS said,
Seeing as grace is a work of the Holy Spirit, as well as faith…what’s the difference with respect to salvation, seeing as they are both required for it, and both come from God?
You and I might both see it that way, but I expect someone (Finney himself, perhaps) who view faith as a work of man would be quite happy with the misquote. IMO, it’s a matter of priority, or preeminence, if you like. Grace came first, then faith, and I just think it’s important to remember the sequence. If I’m nit-picking, so be it, but if Mr Johnson was intending to base his comment on Eph 2:8, it was a rather curious misquote.
Take Care
John k wrote:”Grace came first, then faith, and I just think it’s important to remember the sequence. If I’m nit-picking, so be it, but if Mr Johnson was intending to base his comment on Eph 2:8, it was a rather curious misquote.”
Thanks for the reply, John. Please know that I understand what your point is, but I don’t think Phil’s sequence is necessarily wrong. Faith came because of grace.
Perhaps we can look at what Scripture says about how one is justified: by faith. Is not justification equivalent to salvation? Indeed it is, unless one holds to a loss of salvation possiblity for the elect.
In the end, all this may actually be a lot of hot air, as what Phil said may indeed be a misquote on his part. But I think this is where we can fall into disagreement over something that we shouldn’t. To the extent I contributed to more needless disagreement, I apologize.
If you read In My Father’s House by Corrie Ten Boom, you will see that many of her complaints with her modern day church were also like today.
It is vital that we examine what has happened.
In her day relativism was becoming rampant. She was not allowed to teach the Bible in her girls clubs because it was considered “religious propaganda.” She said the YMCA spent so much time on character building — at a meeting she said:”WE must introduce children to more than character bulding — we must introduce them to the builder of the firm foundation.”
I see many common elements in the book you are recommending. I am looking forward to comparing it to the ten Boom books I’ve just finished. I’m inspired just by your review. Thank you!