Think Biblically! Original edition copyright © 2003 by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue Published by Crossway Books a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law. Cover design: Kirk DouPonce, The DesignWorks Group, www.thedesignworksgroup.com Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible: ® English Standard Version ), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. References marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation and are used by permission. References marked KJV are from the King James Version. First printing, new cover 2009 Printed in the United States of America Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0398-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data MacArthur, John, 1939— Think biblically! : recovering a Christian worldview / John MacArthur and the Master’s College faculty ; John MacArthur, general editor ; Richard L.Mayhue, John A. Hughes, associate editors. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-412-7 (HC : alk. paper) ISBN 10: 1-58134-412-0 1. Christian life—Biblical teaching. I. Mayhue, Richard, 1944II. Hughes, J. A., 1941- . III. Master’s College. IV. Title. BS680.C47 M335 2003 230—dc21 2002151364 LB 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 DEDICATED TO the Board of Directors, friends of The Master’s College, faculty, staff, alumni, and present/future students at The Master’s College who are committed to living for God’s glory and pleasure according to the Christian worldview shaped by Scripture CONTENTS THE MASTER’S COLLEGE CONTRIBUTORS PREFACE INTRODUCTION PART ONE THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION 1 EMBRACING THE AUTHORITY AND SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE John MacArthur 2 CULTIVATING A BIBLICAL MIND-SET Richard L. Mayhue 3 COMPREHENDING CREATION John MacArthur 4 COMING TO GRIPS WITH SIN John MacArthur 5 HAVING AN ETERNALLY RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD John MacArthur 6 VIEWING THE NATIONS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE Mark A. Tatlock PART TWO THE BIBLICAL FORMULATION 7 UNDERSTANDING OUR POSTMODERN WORLD Brian K. Morley 8 PROFILING CHRISTIAN MASCULINITY Stuart W. Scott 9 PORTRAYING CHRISTIAN FEMININITY Patricia A. Ennis 10 ENJOYING SPIRITUAL WORSHIP AND MUSIC Paul T. Plew 11 WHY BIBLICAL COUNSELING AND NOT PSYCHOLOGY? John D. Street 12 WHY A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF SCIENCE? Taylor B. Jones 13 WHY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND NOT SECULAR INDOCTRINATION? John A. Hughes 14 REFLECTING HONESTLY ON HISTORY Clyde P. Greer, Jr. 15 DEVELOPING A BIBLICAL VIEW OF CHURCH AND STATE John P. Stead 16 PROPOSING A BIBLICAL APPROACH TO ECONOMICS R. W. Mackey, II 17 GLORIFYING GOD IN LITERARY AND ARTISTIC CULTURE Grant Horner NOTES THE MASTER’S COLLEGE CONTRIBUTORS Patricia E. Ennis, Ed.D, Northern Arizona University Chairperson, Department of Home Economics Professor of Home Economics Clyde P. Greer, Jr., D.A., Carnegie-Mellon University Chairperson, Department of History and Political Studies Professor of History Grant Horner, Ph.D. (A.B.D.), University of North Carolina Assistant Professor of English John A. Hughes, Ph.D., Brigham Young University Vice President for Academic Affairs Professor of Education Taylor B. Jones, Ph.D., University of Texas Chairperson, Department of Biological and Physical Sciences Chairperson, Department of Mathematics Professor of Chemistry John MacArthur, Litt.D, D.D., Talbot Theological Seminary President Professor of Bible R. W. Mackey, II, Ed.D., Pepperdine University Chairperson, Department of Business Administration Professor of Business Administration Richard L. Mayhue, Th.D., Grace Theological Seminary Senior Vice President and Provost Professor of Bible Brian K. Morley, Ph.D., Claremont School of Theology Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics Paul T. Plew, Ed.D., Nova Southeastern University Chairperson, Department of Music Professor of Music Stuart W. Scott, D.Min., Covenant Theological Seminary Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling John P. Stead, Ph.D., University of Southern California Professor of History and Political Studies John D. Street, D.Min., Westminster Theological Seminary Chairperson, Department of Biblical Counseling Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling Mark A. Tatlock, Ed.D., Nova Southeastern University Vice President for Student Life PREFACE In keeping with the mission of The Master’s College to empower students for a life of enduring commitment to Christ, biblical fidelity, moral integrity, intellectual growth, and lasting contribution to the kingdom of God, this volume has been written to instruct and exhort all those who will eventually read this material to embrace a Christian worldview. Without apology or reservation, The Master’s College is committed to the absolute authority, centrality, inerrancy, infallibility, primacy, and sufficiency of God’s Word. Thus Scripture is by far the single most important source that informs and shapes our view of God and His created world. Think Biblically! targets students and nonstudents alike. In an era of postmodern influence that advocates that there are no absolutes and that everyone’s opinion is of equal value, this volume issues a serious call to recover a Christian worldview that is absolute and exclusive. As many individual believers, conservative evangelical churches, and Christian schools drift away from a high view of God and His Word, their worldview will be compromised by error. These essays are intended to reaffirm and restore a biblically-based view of life’s reality from God’s perspective; some of the content is intended to be prescriptive and some proscriptive. Whether the reader is a student in high school or college, a pastor or professor, a missionary or biblical counselor, a layperson or Christian worker, this book will help refocus proper attention on God’s understanding of the world in which one lives. This volume is not intended to be an unabridged treatment of the subject. For instance, the explanations of and defenses against other 1 worldviews have not been included. Further, no single chapter exhausts its subject but rather furnishes a suggestive, general treatment. Each chapter could have been expanded into a full-length book. Also, additional disciplines could have been treated had space permitted. However, the broad sweep of this presentation is its intended strength.