The Battle for the Beginning

by John F. MacArthur

Publisher:

W Publishing

, 2001

Overview

"Thanks to the theory of evolution," writes best-selling author John MacArthur, "naturalism is now the dominant religion of modern society. Less than a century and a half ago, Charles Darwin popularized the credo for this secular religion. Naturalism has now replaced Christianity as the main religion of the Western world, and evolution has become its principle dogma."

Many Christians who claim to believe that the Bible is God's revealed truth seem willing to allow modern scientific theories to replace the Genesis account of creation. Such compromises present a conspicuous danger. Bible teacher and pastor, John MacArthur, believes that in Genesis 1-3 we find the foundation of every doctrine that is essential to the Christian faith—the vital underpinnings for everything we believe.

The Battle for the Beginning draws a clear line on today's theological landscape. "Everything is Scripture that teaches about sin and redemption assumes the literal truth of the first three chapters of Genesis. If we wobble to any degree on the truth of this passage," John MacArthur insists, "we undermine the very foundations of our faith."

Contents

Top Highlights

“So in an important sense, everything Scripture says about our salvation through Jesus Christ hinges on the literal truth of what Genesis 1–3 teaches about Adam’s creation and fall. There is no more pivotal passage of Scripture.” (Pages 19–20)

“The notion that natural evolutionary processes can account for the origin of all living species has never been and never will be established as fact. Nor is it ‘scientific’ in any true sense of the word. Science deals with what can be observed and reproduced by experimentation. The origin of life can be neither observed nor reproduced in any laboratory. By definition, then, true science can give us no knowledge whatsoever about where we came from or how we got here. Belief in evolutionary theory is a matter of sheer faith. And dogmatic belief in any naturalistic theory is no more ‘scientific’ than any other kind of religious faith.” (Page 12)

“John Ankerberg and John Weldon point out that matter, time, and chance constitute the evolutionists’ holy trinity.” (Page 35)

“But Genesis 1:1 accounts for all of Spencer’s categories. ‘In the beginning’—that’s time. ‘God’—that’s force.¹⁴ ‘Created’—that’s action. ‘The heavens’—that’s space. ‘And the earth’—that’s matter. In the first verse of the Bible God laid out plainly what no scientist or philosopher cataloged until the nineteenth century.” (Page 41)

“the naturalist’s formula for the origin of the universe: Nobody times nothing equals everything.” (Page 31)

Product Details

• Title: The Battle for the Beginning
• Author: John F. MacArthur
• Publisher: W Publishing
• Print Publication Date: 2001
• Logos Release Date: 2003
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Creationism; Fall of man; Bible. O.T. Genesis 1-3 › Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9781418591335, 1418591335
• Resource ID: LLS:43.10.13
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-28T20:20:50Z

About John F. MacArthur

John MacArthur (b. 1939) is a Calvinist theologian, author, editor, and teacher. He is a popular conference speaker and the president of both The Master's College and The Master's Seminary. He has also served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969. Best known for his expository exegesis of the Bible, Logos has collected more than 3,000 of his sermons in the John MacArthur Sermon Archive and offers the complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary.

MacArthur’s pulpit ministry extends around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly 2,000 English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and CDs by John MacArthur. He has written hundreds of books and study guides, including the bestselling John MacArthur Essential Bible Study Library and the MacArthur Study Bible. He is also the author of notable titles like Different by Design and Twelve Ordinary Men.