Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire (Kindle Edition)

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REVIEW OF AUTHENIC FIRE BY DR. MICHAEL BROWN
5.0 out of 5 stars Keep the authentic fire burning, December 13, 2013
By

Steven S. Alt


This review is from: Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire (Kindle Edition)

In his book, "Strange Fire," John MacArthur levels a multi-pronged attack on the Charismatic movement. In "Authentic Fire" Michael Brown answers to these criticisms in a respectful and irenic tone, calling for unity and mutual appreciation, rather than division and exclusion. Brown repeatedly emphasizes that the Charismatic movement needs John MacArthur and what the cessationists contribute to the church, while the cessationists also need the things the Charismatic movement contributes.

After showing MacArthur to be guilty of inaccurate sweeping generalizations Brown goes on to demonstrate the many contributions made by Pentecostals and Charismatics in the last century - a necessary inclusion because MacArthur repeatedly makes the untenable claim that Charismatics have contributed nothing to the church. Then Brown accuses MacArthur of having a blind spot regarding his opinion of Charismatics. By this point the reader can hardly disagree. Brown even points out that MacArthur's criticisms of Charismatic worship may be as much because they are not hymn-like, as his tradition prefers, as they are because of their alleged superficiality. An entire chapter is devoted to the concept that different preferences of style need to be appreciated, and MacArthur's failure to recognize this is a significant part of the reason he has no place for Charismatics at his table of fellowship.

In one chapter Brown works form Jonathan Edwards' list of tests to determine whether a movement is from God, and shows how the Charismatic movement passes all of Edwards' tests of authenticity. This comes on the heels of revealing that MacArthur grossly misrepresented data from surveys, from which he concluded that the actions of a few Charismatic preachers on TBN represent the beliefs of the entire worldwide movement. Brown supplies further information on the results of the survey, demonstrating that almost the opposite conclusions should be drawn than the ones represented in Strange Fire.

But the greatest strength of Authentic Fire is its longest chapter, on the biblical teaching. In "Sola Scriptura and Therefore Charismatic," Brown convincingly shows that the Bible nowhere teaches the cessation of the gifts of the Spirit, but rather assumes their continuation. That the cessationist movement, which is so strongly centered in Scripture alone as the basis for their beliefs, is itself based on a doctrine not taught in Scripture, is so ironic it cannot be missed.by the reader.

One of the most impacting parts of the book is the chapter on "A God to Be Experienced." The attraction of a God who speaks to his people and demonstrates his power through them is a large part of what makes the Charismatic movement popular. Brown makes an appeal to every Christian to experience God as he really is and not reduce him to words on a page.

An unusually large percentage of the book consists of appendices, which address specific subjects not broached elsewhere in the book. This book should not be put down until they are read, especially the first one, where Craig Keener demonstrates the power of God through stories of healing and miracles from all over the world.

Ultimately, Brown makes a very convincing argument that Strange Fire fails to present a convincing biblical argument for cessationism, using misinformation and sweeping generalizations to write off the entire Charismatic movement because of the questionable practices of a small percentage of wayward leaders. In his defense of the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements, he does not excuse the excesses and abuses, with are many. But he defends orthodox Charismatic Christianity from a strong biblical stance, and from a biblical point of view, calling for unity and fellowship, rather than judgment. I highly recommend both the book and the spirit behind it.