In 2020, John MacArthur Will Become Chancellor of The Master’s University

Yesterday, The Master’s University released this statement to faculty.

October 19, 2018
Press Release
The Master’s University and Seminary
***************
Since 1986, The Master’s University and Seminary has been a beacon of Christian education preparing men and women for gospel ministry and professions around the world. Over the last three decades, TMUS has trained and sent out over 8,500 graduates to proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These graduates have established other global training centers which have resulted in another 5,500 graduates trained for ministry and deployed around the world. For 33 years God has blessed this institution through the leadership and efforts of our President, Dr. John MacArthur.

Today, the President and Board of Directors determined that over the coming months, The Master’s University and Seminary will enter a period of transition. In May 2020, Dr. John MacArthur will continue his involvement in the institution by becoming Chancellor of The Master’s University. At the Seminary, he will continue in his role as President. During this transition period, the future relationship of the two schools will be clearly identified. Moving into the future, TMU and TMS remain firmly committed to the authority of Scripture, the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the mission of training men and women for kingdom work.

The Board of Directors is extremely grateful for the leadership that Dr. John MacArthur has provided for this institution over the past 33 years and is eager for his influence to continue impacting both organizations after this transition is finalized. We understand that this announcement may prompt questions, and it is our intention to address those questions in forthcoming communications as this process unfolds.

There will be staff meetings at both TMU and TMS in the coming week week that will answer any questions the staff or students may have related to this announcement.

Thank you for your continued prayers and partnership with the ministry of TMUS.

For the Master,
The Board of Directors

For reasons I don’t understand, TMU’s board refers to Rev. MacArthur as “Dr” even though MacArthur doesn’t have an earned doctorate and as far as I know doesn’t have an honorary doctorate from TMU.

Using “Dr” when only having an honorary degree isn’t considered acceptable in most academic institutions I have surveyed (see link for more information).

26 thoughts on “In 2020, John MacArthur Will Become Chancellor of The Master’s University”

  1. This page is nothing but slander. JMac has legitimate honorary doctorates and has accomplished more than most people in this thread combined.

    1. This page is nothing but slander.

      Slander is making false statements to hurt someone’s reputation, the key being “false.” What about the post is not accurate?

      JMac has legitimate honorary doctorates…

      Where did Warren say he doesn’t? The problem is in misrepresenting such doctorates as other than honorary, i.e. earned. This is deceptive, which one would think is antithetical to the principles MacArthur purports to hold dear.

      [MacArthur] has accomplished more than most people in this thread combined.

      How could you possibly know this to be true? More importantly, how would that make any difference to the facts?

    2. John Macarthur has managed to get his son-in-law paid in excess of $7,000,000 through the non-profits he controls. That IS an accomplishment well beyond most people here combined.

    3. I don’t see anyone denying JMac his honorary docs, do you? However, why would he use a title that misleads his audience? Surely, JMac wouldn’t want to deceive anyone would he?

    4. He is an opportunist using a “gospel” to stuff his pockets and pump up his already inflated ego. These are not the ways of any true follower of Jesus Christ according to Jesus Christ. We need to stop the nonsense of worshiping these guys who act more like Satan than the truly Humble Jesus. Our celebrities are self-centered and do not act out the orthodoxy of the pure gospel. This guy also has told the Holy Spirit where He can shove His gifts which is way too close to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit to me.

  2. I remember a lengthy community discussion on the use of the title “Dr” from your Patheos days. I’m still miffed you elected to give RC Sproul a pass on his use of “Dr” even though he didn’t complete coursework or a dissertation. Maybe I do have a tiny little soul. The guy is dead after all.

    There was a time I was addicted to glibness masquerading as scholarship (it made me feel…smart? Superior? Elected!) So I listened to lots of Xian radio, including “Grace to You with Dr. John MacArthur” as he was introduced before every show. I recall researching and finding that his honorary doctorate was given by Talbot Seminary where he had earned his masters. I also learned that honorary degrees are conferred by the institution from which one graduated and that their use should be restricted to events involving that institution.

    And I learned somewhere in my childhood that when we transgress our repentance should be as widely known as our transgression. Such a paradox that the sins of pride remain hidden because of, well, pride.

      1. Possibly, but what I remember well is that your responses to comments revealed a rather complex topic in a classroom-type setting. I believe it was in the substance of your responses that I learned enough to continue the learning. So thanks, Prof.

  3. His understanding of the world seems to stagnate somewhere around 500 CE. At least he doesn’t seem to believe the earth is flat, there is that.

  4. As has routinely been pointed out and demonstrated, the use of “Dr” for an honorary degree is acceptable so long as it is not presented as an academic degree. Why do people keep going down that road as if it matters? Out of everything wrong in the world, that is a very strange and minor thing to be hung up on. Can we not move past that?

      1. And as you probably remember, multiple links were posted on those threads about the legitimate use of the title, so long as it is not presented as academic.

        Strangely, the comment sections on those posts appear to be empty for me. But as I recall, there were quite lengthy discussions.

        Again, with everything that is wrong, why is this such a burr in one’s saddle?

    1. Luckily, we have the capacity to comment on more than one issue at a time, and there are countless venues in which to do so.

    2. The illegitimate use of a fake degree serves only one purpose, which is to deceive. Given the degree of abuse within religious organizations, the use of self-aggrandizing artifice is just one more tool for grooming.

      1. I agree. But the use of an honorary degree is not necessarily illegitimate. All illegitimate uses should be abandoned. And self-aggrandizing should also be rejected. But neither precludes the legitimate use of an honorary degree.

  5. Could the Board’s sychophancy get any, er…, deeper? All in order to extend a bigger paycheck toward MacArthur.

  6. So TMU Board of Directors appoint John MacArthur as Chancellor, the guy with a Master’s Degree from 1963 who releases public statements against Intersectionality and other analytics he obviously does not comprehend?

    Students should take action, not unlike Liberty University students who wrote that powerful open letter to Jerry Falwell Jr. a couple years ago. I’d like to think TMU faculty would take a stand, but perhaps they’ve long ago accepted their 30 pieces of silver. The institution is still under probation and the investigation is ongoing, right? Their working and learning environment must be soul crushing.

  7. Seems to be a rash of this self-promotional false title bestowing. A real rash. Someone call a Doctor!

    1. Assigning false credentials to MacArthur is not a smart move given that the institution is on probation while under investigation for academic misconduct and mismanagement.

  8. His Wikipedia article claims an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Talbot in 1977 and a Litt.D. honorary doctorate from a place called “Grace Graduate School” in 1976. His CV lists both with his regular degrees. https://www.tms.edu/bio/johnmacarthur/ leaving it up to the reader to know that Doctor of Divinity is an honorary degree in the US. The Litt.D. from Grace is also honorary (there is a picture of it at http://dustoffthebible.com/Blog-archive/grace-graduate-school-honorary-doctorate-john-macarthur/).

    1. For his TMS page to list these honorary degrees as though they are earned degrees is bearing false witness, plain and simple.

      1. By giving them as DD and LIttD he gave himself some plausible deniability since in the US those are almost always honorary degrees. The problem is that the majority of people looking at his page and seeing them next to his academic degrees won’t know that. And people from countries where a LittD actually is significant would definitely be misled unless they were up on US norms for that degree.

        I do know academics at major universities who don’t have PhDs; however, they don’t claim the title of doctor (they may get it sometimes because people assume all professors are PhDs). If they mention honors in their CVs the first are likely to be honors by major academic societies (or at the top a Nobel prize) not honorary doctorates. Then of course there are people who have the PhD but haven’t done anything significant since.

  9. His Wikipedia article claims an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Talbot in 1977 and a Litt.D. honorary doctorate from a place called “Grace Graduate School” in 1976. His CV lists both with his regular degrees. https://www.tms.edu/bio/johnmacarthur/ leaving it up to the reader to know that Doctor of Divinity is an honorary degree in the US. The Litt.D. from Grace is also honorary (there is a picture of it at http://dustoffthebible.com/Blog-archive/grace-graduate-school-honorary-doctorate-john-macarthur/).

    1. John MacArthur is a fraud. Impersonating law enforcement is against the law (ranging from misdemeanor to fourth degree felony). In MacArthur’s case, his repeated impersonations are a form of Theological Malpractice.

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