John Macarthur and Mental Health

CW: SI, Depression, SA, and Anxiety. If you follow any of the links to Samantha Field’s blog, be aware she discusses SA at length as well.

John Macarthur has made it into the national news cycle again. And no it’s not for blatantly ignoring covid guidelines, victim blaming, encouraging women to stay in abusive marriages,¹ or ignoring child abuse in his church.² This time it’s been for his wild statements regarding mental heath. He has boldly stated that mental health problems and diagnosis are created by “big pharma” to sell drugs to you and your children.³

“The major noble lie is there is such a thing as mental illness. Now, this isn’t new. You have Thomas Szasz … writing a book, who was a psychiatrist, on The Myth of Mental Illness. There’s no such thing as PTSD. There’s no such thing as OCD. There’s no such thing as ADHD. Those are noble lies to basically give the excuse to, at the end of the day, to medicate people. And Big Pharma is in charge of a lot of that.”

John MacArthur. Credit to the Friendly Atheist for the transcript.

I’d like to interject there that John Macarthur is also trying to sell you something as well. It’s not pharmaceuticals, but his college “The Master’s University”⁴ is a heavy proponent of biblical counseling.⁵ And John Macarthur himself has multiple books⁶ to sell you on how to deal with your mental health struggles.

Okay back on track here. John MacArthur’s main argument seems to be that mental health issues need to be treated as if they are a “sin issue” something that can only be cured by belief in god, worship, reading the bible, and prayer.⁷ He even goes further by saying medication and mental health diagnosis allow a person to justify their sin and can lead a child to drugs and becoming “a potential criminal.”

“But if you clinically define that, you can give them a pill, a series of medications, and they end up in L.A., homeless on the sidewalk. In regard to children, it’s the most deadly thing that’s been unleashed on children—medication… We’re trying to make clear to parents that behavior is essentially the result of choices that kids make. And if you parent them properly, they’ll make right choices. But if you blame it on… something other than their choices, and you identify them as having something they can’t do anything about, but medicate it, you literally are turning your child into a potential, well, not only a potential drug addict, but maybe a potential criminal. Because they never learn how to navigate life in a socially acceptable way.”

John Macarthur. Credit to the Friendly Atheist for the transcript.

He’s also written blog post about a situation where he advised a young man who was suicidal to seek help using biblical methods and not psychology or medications.⁸ What he neglects to mention is the fact that biblical counseling at John Macarthur’s church seemed to push this man further into his depression (He eventually committed suicide).⁹

An extreme focus on biblical or nouthetic counseling is going to ignore anything other than the individual’s spiritual walk and their beliefs. It doesn’t matter than you want to kill yourself, struggle with compulsive thoughts and behaviors, or even if you deal with PTSD flashbacks nightly.¹⁰ What can truly heal you (according to MacArthur) is god and your faith and trust in him. If you name those thoughts as depression or PTSD you are just giving yourself room to sin and to sit in your unhealth. Give god the room in your life to change you instead of focusing on your sinful thoughts.^{11 12}

I’m trying to stay away from purely reactionary content here. (Writing just to oppose a headline or event). And I’d like to interject my own personal experience here. This is the exact teaching my parents used when I expressed depressive thoughts. They pointed out my sin, told me to ask god to forgive me, then pointed me to read scripture and dwell on it. They also completely ignored any traditional concepts around depression or SI taught by psychology. These teachings aren’t just abstract or some imagined argument between biblical and traditional psychology. They directly affect people’s lives.

My family and I are included in that. I’ve tried to cure my own OCD and anxiety with daily religious rituals (reading the bible, prayer, and centering my thoughts only on the divine). It didn’t help, and I struggled multiple times a week with panic attacks while I attended college. My partner can’t conquer her OCD without the help of medication. And she tried for years to solve it with scripture and dwelling on the right religious thoughts, that failed. Teachings like MacArthur’s caused us to be extremely skeptical of any outside help for mental health care, and we waited years before trying to seek out treatment.

Our college would deny SA victims mental health care and place the blame on the victims. The if the victim had “sinned” or broken the college’s rules in any way after, during, or before their assault then the college would place the blame equally between the victim and the perpetrator of the assault.¹³ During counseling, focus would also be placed on the victim forgiving the perpetration for their assault. If the victim was unable to do this then they would be told that they were living in a life of sin. All of this was done under the guise of biblical counseling. Pensacola Christian College rejected all traditional types of psychology and relied only on “biblical” counseling.¹⁴

I’d like to stress again, this isn’t some theoretical point to argue. The teaching that mental health disorders and neurodevelopmental disorders (like autism) are fake or made up, directly harms the people under these teachings, especially children. I think of the kids that are told their autistic traits are demonic,¹⁵ or kids with ADHD that are told they just need a “red rear end.” Which was a common saying in the circles my partner, who has ADHD, grew up in. I found a perfect quote on a Church of Christ website that sums up these ideas. That, mental health problems or even neurodivergence like ADHD is just sin that hasn’t been delt with in the child’s life.

“These are behaviors, not diseases.”

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/how-do-you-handle-a-child-with-add-or-adhd/ (For context this was written in a dialog about AHDH on a Church of Christ website.)

Children, those that suffer from poor mental health, and non-neurotypical individuals are the people that suffer the most under these teachings. These are all individuals that are vulnerable in some way. And it pains me to see the church causing them more harm. Your own prophet declared.

^“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Matthew 18:6

John MacArthur is still extremely popular in Christian circles. One of my pastor’s used his study bible. I routinely see quotes from him reposted from my Christian friends on social media. These harmful statements are coming from someone widely listened to. Someone who has a dedicated hourly spot for his sermons on many local radio stations.¹⁶ Heck, my mom reposts his quotes often. His books are widely read within evangelical churches, and he’s been listed as one of the most influential evangelical pastors in America. ¹⁷ His ideas influence and help to direct the ideas of many evangelical Christians.

These lies about counseling and psychology are harmful and must be called out before more harm is done to the vulnerable individuals sitting under his teachings. John MacAthur is widely accepted by the evangelical church, and it hurts me to see him share these lies without pushback from mainstream evangelical leaders. Christians need to do better and call him out and condemn the lies. Before more people (and children) are harmed by these teachings.

1. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/grace-community-church-elder-biblical-counseling-abuse.html, https://youtu.be/5r13AtSirr4?si=GK4LdGgjYfhEvOw, and https://julieroys.com/head-counseling-john-macarthur-school-wife-endure-abuse/ ↩︎
2. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/charlie-dates-counters-john-macarthur-s-declaration-that-mlk-was-not-a-christian/ar-BB1keYA2 (His most recent scandal was over him declaring MLK was not a Christian. So, add some racism to that long list of wrongs as well.) ↩︎
3. He uses the world big pharma. That’s not me interjecting that comment into his speech. ↩︎
4. I wish someone would have had the guts to tell him how domineering and racist a college with the world “Master’s” in the name sounds. ↩︎
5. Biblical counseling, especially the type sold at Master’s University, stands heavily opposed to traditional counseling, psychology, and therapy. https://www.masters.edu/master_tmu_news/biblical-counseling-v-psychology/ ↩︎
6. Anxious for Nothing: God’s Cure for the Cares of Your Soul, Anxiety Attacked: Apply Scripture to the Cares of the Soul, Found: God’s Peace: Experience True Freedom from Anxiety in Every Circumstance, The Power of Suffering: Strengthening Your Faith in the Refiner’s Fire, The Only Way To Happiness: The Beatitudes All by written by  John MacArthur. This isn’t even including all of the books he’s written on biblical counseling. ↩︎
7. I can pull out the christian lingo when I need to. But if anyone is struggling with the Christianese, it basically means that he thinks these are spiritual problems and not psychological or physical problems. ↩︎
8. Part 1 and Part 2 ↩︎
9. https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/47/278.html ↩︎
10. https://x.com/brmorris/status/1786133075539214603 ↩︎
11. https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B121106/john-macarthur-on-anxiety-and-gods-sovereignty ↩︎
12. See also a quote from John Broger that quickly point to the idea as well. “Depression is not a disease. While there are some organic malfunctions that may trigger feelings of depression, many symptoms and maladies defined as depression (whether short-lived or chronic) are the consequences of unbiblical habits and/or sinful reactions to circumstances and other people. Depression that stems from unbiblical living can be overcome as you deal biblically with your sins and purposefully live in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.” ↩︎
13. http://samanthapfield.com/2014/05/24/monis-story-how-pcc-re-victimizes-students/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140602010444/http://www.xojane.com/issues/samantha-field-pensacola-christian-college-rape-stalking ↩︎
14. I know I’ve spoke before about how PCC had us read “Why Christians Can’t Trust Psychology” during our nursing psych courses. Samantha Field speaks about that exact topic and on her experience with biblical counseling at the college. ↩︎
15. https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/milton-quintanilla/controversial-pastor-greg-locke-says-ocd-autism-are-signs-of-demonic-oppression.html ↩︎
16. https://www.gty.org/broadcasts/stationlocator ↩︎
17. https://churchleaders.com/pastors/467295-discover-spiritual-leaders-top-100-american-pastors.html ↩︎