Born in June 1939, John MacArthur is the Pastor/Teacher responsible for Grace Community Church and the Bible seminary The Master College. His father, Jack MacArthur, was an accomplished preacher in his own right. MacArthur was a gifted athlete and attended Bob Jones University before that school's extreme fundamentalism led him to transfer to Talbot Theological Seminary in Los Angeles. He graduated with honors and in 1969, he became the third pastor in the short history (at that time) of the nondenominatinal Grace Community Church located on Roscoe Boulevard in Van Nuys, California.

In 1986, MacArthur became President of an extension of Talbot Seminary known as the Master's Seminary. His daily programme, Grace To You is broadcast throughout much of the world. He is the author of dozens of books, notably his MacArthur commentary series and the hugely popular MacArthur Study Bible.

MacArthur has been embroiled in a number of controversies, the most famous of which was the first time an evangelical church had ever been sued for malpractice. Kenneth Nally, a 24-year old seminary student, committed suicide in 1979. The following year, MacArthur and several members of the staff were brought to court. It took seven years of court rulings, challenges, and appeals before MacArthur's name and that of Grace Community Church was cleared of wrongdoing.

He theology is best described as Evangelical/Dispensational although he rejects some of the classic Dispensational ideas, hence his self description as a "leaky dispensationalist".

External Links

Grace to You (http://www.gty.org)