Dr. Abner Chou, president of The Master’s University and Seminary, recently contributed to a special edition of The Master’s Seminary Journal (TMSJ) honoring Dr. John MacArthur.
TMSJ is a semi-annual journal published by The Master’s Seminary for the edification of pastors and laypeople. The most recent edition of the journal, published this spring, was a special festschrift project produced in honor of the chancellor of TMUS.
The edition highlighted “The Word of God and the Pastor-Theologian,” emphasizing the centrality of Scripture to the study of theology and the praxis of pastoring across 20 articles. Contributors included Dr. Steve Lawson, Dr. Ligon Duncan, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, and H.B. Charles.
Chou’s contribution to the journal is titled, “The Hermeneutics of the Pastor-Theologian.” As a preface to the article, he wrote the following:
“For over 50 years, Dr. John MacArthur has engaged in faithful exposition of God’s Word. What has attracted people to his preaching is neither creative theology nor homiletical theatrics, but that he unleashes God’s truth one verse at a time. His hermeneutic simply endeavors to bring forth all that Scripture says with the confidence that it is absolutely authoritative and sufficient.
“In some ways, my life as an instructor of hermeneutics has been to reverse engineer Dr. MacArthur, to explain how he does what he does. And what makes his preaching work is that it is so in tune with how the Scripture works. His insistence on detailed exposition, going word by word, and comparing Scripture with Scripture, taps into how the biblical writers read God’s Word and, under the inspiration of the Spirit, designed it to be read. Years of faithful study have not only conformed his heart and life in alignment with the Scriptures, but his hermeneutic as well. His ministry is a testament to the beauty and depth of championing the authorial intent of Scripture alone.”
This and all past editions of TMSJ can be read online for free here.
As Chou explains in his article, in order to read and understand Scripture accurately, we must draw our method of interpreting the Bible from the Bible itself. This approach to biblical hermeneutics is believed and proclaimed by all of The Master’s University faculty, who work out the implications of a thoroughly biblical worldview in the particulars of their individual fields of study. In doing so, they model for their students what it means to submit all things to Christ and Scripture.
Learn more about who we are at TMU here.
Kaelyn Peay is TMU’s communications and public relations writer.
