Fool's Gold?: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error

By John F. MacArthur Jr.

"Eureka "

In an age of open-mindedness, many believers accept too much with too little discernment, resulting in great confusion and compromise. But God's Word makes it clear that not everything that glitters is gold. False teaching is at every turn, and the temptation to embrace it is great. As God's people we are called to sift through the overwhelming number of traditions and trends and use the truth of Scripture to determine which are the true treasures-and which are "fool's gold."

General editor John MacArthur and the contributors of this uncompromising book define the principles of biblical discernment and use them to address several contemporary Christian issues. They provide straightforward, biblical critiques of some popular but unfortunate Christian trends, such as watered-down preaching and doctrinally questionable best-selling books. Dr. MacArthur ends with a practical plan for cultivating discernment in the Christian life.

It is the duty of every Christian-not just pastors and elders-to follow the biblical command to cling to what is good and to reject what is not. This book will equip you with a foundation for biblical discernment that will enable you to make careful distinctions in your thinking about truth.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B01BODU2D6
• ISBN13: 9781581347265
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Crossway
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Discerning Writing in a Careless Age

FOOL'S GOLD is an excellent series of articles that come from the Shepherd's Conference held yearly at Grace Community Church of which John MacArthur is the pastor. The articles are essentially the notes and the talks given by the various teachers of the seminars. The book itself is an eye-opener and calls the believer to discernment in an age of careless theology (and no theology at all in most churches). The book deals with nearly every hot issue of the evangelical church from Rick Warren's popular but misleading Purpose-Driven ministry to the modern feminist movement. The book deals with music issues, church discipline, and a host of other local ministry issues. Nothing is left untouched. Dr. John MacArthur and his staff at Grace Community Church, The Master's College and Seminary, and Grace To You are to be commended for giving the Church this book. Truly, the modern Church is looking for God but finding fool's gold. Only by a return to the authority of Scripture will we truly find God's blessing.

This is not Pyrite

It is rare these days to find a book on Christian discernment when everyone appears to be jumping on every band-wagon of the Evangelical church that comes along. MacArthur has assemblied an excellent set of essays by the staff of Grace Community Church, including several young men who are recent graduates of the Master's Seminary. I found the most insightful chapters to be the ones in the middle of the book dealing with some of the hottest sellers in the Christian Bookstores (not to mention everywhere else). Nathan Busenitz' critique of "The Purpose Driven Life" is one of the best I have read. Although there are perhaps some redeeming features of the book, they are very few. It is a snapshot of just how shallow American Evangelicalism has become and the degree to which professing Christians are unable to tolerate serious engagement with a truly Biblical Worldview. Daniel Gillespie's review of "Wild at Heart" was aslo excellent. John Eldredge has zeroed in a narrow and spurious definition of masculinity, the notion that men need to tap into our wild and carefree ambitions; a throw-back to our so-called primal instincts that can be renewed if we just get back to the untamed wilderness of nature and find ourselves again. Gillespie points out that Eldredge skews the Biblical evidence in favor of his own thesis and fails to deal with explicit texts of the Bible that deal directly with masculinity (namely, because they contratict his thesis). Perhaps the most shocking expose of the book is Rick Holland's review of the new Bibzines, "Revole" and "Refuel"; New Testaments for teenagers designed to look like magazines (inside and out) for those who are afraid to carry traditional looking Bibles because they are too "freaky." The chapter focused on "Revolve" for girls. Inside the Bible is a colorful array of sidebars and boxes with opinions from guys who are 'hunks'; advice on self-esteem; beauty tips for making yourself as beautiful as the next girl; shop-til-you-drop tips so that you can be totally accessorized; and advertisements for other cool books by the publisher. Instead of focusing on what Jesus and the Apostles mean by what they say (as in other study Bibles), these cleverly packaged 'non-Bibles" are focused on the self. It is undiluted narcissism geared to the vulnerable youth of our churches. These Bibles are selling like hot cakes which, like "The Purpose Driven Life", is a sad commentary on the state of the American Church. Other highlights of the book include the critique of 'altar calls' by Carey Hardy. Very little has been written on this venerable tradition in many Evangelical churches. This essay shows the theological and very practical dangers of the invitation system that reeks of evangelistic manipulation. MacArthur's chapter, "Plexiglass Preaching" is an excellent 15 point summary of what is wrong with so much banal preaching today. This ought to spur many pastors to re-evalute their preaching ministry that is so

Bravo!

"Bravo!" I don't think I said the word aloud when I finished reading Fool's Gold, but it may have slipped out. John MacArthur is the general editor of this new book from Crossway, and contributing authors are several of his ministry associates. The theme of the book is spiritual discernment; not set forth in a didactic way, but in a series of topical snapshots. Section one lays the foundation for the chapters to follow: a call for biblical discernment, and the consequences of a weak proclamation of Christianity. MacArthur makes the point that discernment is not just the responsibility of pastors and Christian leaders, but of every Christian. He covers the favorite verse of many in today's church: "Judge not, lest ye be judged." (Matthew 7:1) and compares that with 1 Thessalonians 5:21: "Test everything." In the second chapter he lists fifteen negative effects of superficial preaching, whittled down from an original list if sixty-one! My only reservation is with the twelfth point, and his comment about the difficulty of exercising church discipline where there is no commitment to the authority of God's Word. I'm not sure that very many churches even practice biblical church discipline, according to the teaching of Matthew 18:15-19. Perhaps a brief exposition of this passage, and an example of how this is practiced in his church is in order. The final two chapters of the book, "A Doctrinal Framework for Developing Discernment" and "A Practical Plan for Developing Personal Discernment" are excellent. I particularly appreciated the exhortation on page 201: "Discernment is not enough apart from obedience." The rest of the book is a series of chapters looking at current doctrinal trends in the church and in Christian books. The contributors cover such things as altar calls, contemporary worship music, Wild at Heart and The Purpose Driven Life, as well as politics and consumerism. This is a must-read, written in a clear, straightforward style. I have already loaned out my copy to two people, and one of my pastors is referring to it in the college Bible study he teaches. I heartily commend it to you. - Pam Glass, Christian Book Previews.com

Very Insightful and practical

This book is vintage MacArthur. It is concise, uncompromising and totally committed to a through exegisis of Scripture. I find it disturbing that books such as this are even needed today. But sadly, they are. Most profressing Christians are so biblically illierate that they don't know how to recognize truth, much less error and deception. Here again, I find myself wishing I could disagree with MacArthurs findings and teachings, but yet again, I can't. I have to say, the other contributers to this book are on the same caliber as MacArthur himself. Which isn't surprising, considering they all serve at MacArthur's church. I found this book very practical and very disturbing. It is also very convicting. I have struggled with some of the very things addressed in this book. This book has shown me that my concerns are not unfounded. I truly believe that MacArthur is not overstating his case. Discernment is crucial today. The reader is encouraged to critique every sermon, book, song, teaching, movement and everything else that is labeled Christian through the grid of Scripture. This is a book that should be read and re-read. MacArthur has done a great service to the church by writing this book. Everyone who professes to know Christ would do well to take his message and his advice to heart.

Don't Be Caught Treasuring Fool's Gold!

All that glitters is not gold. This is a lesson many thousands of men learned in the 19th century when they stormed California seeking their fortunes. While there was treasure to be found, as evidenced by the wealth many gained from their mining ventures, there was also what came to be known as fool's gold. While this looked like gold, it was in reality valueless iron pyrite. For a miner to be successful he had to learn to discern the true gold from mere fool's gold. A man's livelihood depended on this. Because it was difficult to tell one from the other only by looking at it, miners develped some simple tests. One was the hardness test, where a miner could bite a rock in question. Fool's gold was hard while real gold was much softer. A broken tooth would prove the rock to be fool's gold. For a second test a miner would scrape the rock against a white stone. True gold would leave a yellowish streak while fool's gold would leave one that was greenish-black. This is the historical backdrop against which John MacArthur and the staff of Grace Community Church compare today's church. We are in a time where the church is filled with fool's gold and only godly discernment will show what is true treasure and what is trash. Fool's Gold is divided into four sections. In the first John MacArthur provides a call for biblical discernment and examines the devastating consequences of a watered-down message to the church. The second section, entitled "Practicing Discernment in your Local Bookstore" examines four of the latest Christian bestsellers in the light of the Scripture. Nathan Busenitz reviews The Purpose Driven Life, Phil Johnson introduces the New Perspective on Paul through What Saint Paul Really Said, Daniel Gillespie evaluates Wild at Heart and Rick Holland looks at The Revolve New Testament Bible-zine. The third section provides pointers for "Practicing Discernment in your Local Church." Receiving attention are contemporary worship music, altar calls, the American-Christian approach to politics and the consumer mindset. The book wraps up with an examination of "hills to die on" - a doctrinal framework for developing discernment, and a practical plan for personal discernment. As we have come to expect from MacArthur's books and ministry, this book is incisive, penetrating and inherently biblical. It cuts to the heart of the matters at hand. In fact, the authors' tasks were quite simple ones - they had to merely hold the church's fads and obsessions up to the light of Scripture and to examine them against God's unchanging standard. In many cases these fads were found wanting. The authors are careful to assign credit where credit is due and are consistently respectful to those whose teachings they oppose. At the same time, they are unapologetic in their defense of the truth and their desire to see God's standards held high. My only disappointments with the book were that the authors did not discuss two of the most pressing issues in evangelicalism