Dear Editor,
Much as I recognise the debt the evangelical church owes to MLJ, I do get concerned when he becomes so revered he appears almost beyond criticism or contradiction. In the last of the series of articles about him (en, June 2026), Adam Ramsay quoted Bob Horn, who wrote that he (Bob Horn) “disputed all such minimisations [of MLJ]”; Horn referred to him as “The Gospel Lion”, who had “a far bigger mind than any who played him up or put him down...[he was] bigger than them all. That was his greatness...”
In the light of this, who could ever disagree with MLJ? Lloyd-Jones himself would often defend his view (or attack an opposing view) on the grounds that his view was “Biblical”, whereas the other was clearly not – as if there was self-evidently only one correct view on the matter.
I for one have not found his view of the paradigm of Acts as helpful or persuasive. Whether you are a continuationist or a cessationist, we should all recognise that there was something unrepeatable and unique in the ministry of the apostles in the Book of Acts – something Paul indicates in 2 Cor. 12v12, and that is reinforced by texts like Heb. 2v4; and I personally would not expect as a matter of course events like those recorded in Acts 5v12-16 or 19v11-12 to accompany any revival (though I do not deny God is quite at liberty to perform these if He chooses). It has also long been recognised that what happens in Acts 2 is something of a counterpart to the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 – in other words, a one-off, unique event.
There are some striking similarities between Acts and Joshua (compare for instance the fate of Achan in Joshua 7 with Ananias & Sapphira in Acts 5); and just as the sun standing still in the sky was a unique moment in history in the Old Testament (Joshua 10v12-14), as Israel occupied the Promised Land, so there are similar moments in the Book of Acts as the new Israel of God pushes back the frontiers of the new Kingdom of God.
So amid our appreciation of the ministry of MLJ, perhaps we should also heed Rebecca Chapman’s words in her article on “Cults and critical thinking” in the same en edition: “However godly our pastors, it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man – and to teach our young people that it’s okay to question and critically reflect.”
Yours sincerely,
Lee N. Emerson
Exmouth
