Phil Johnson on the Importance of Sound Words

I was recently made aware that the video of Phil Johnson's message "Sound Doctrine; Sound Words" has been made available on YouTube. I am very much in agreement with most of what Phil has to say, even if some of it is critical of Mark Driscoll. He only mentions Mark by name a couple of times. However, he also refers to Seattle at least a couple of times, and he remarks that the Apostle Paul could never have been known as "the cussing Apostle." These appear to be allusions either to Mark or his ministry in Seattle.

If you would like to learn more about the history of Phil Johnson and Mark Driscoll on the issue of what makes for appropriate language in the pulpit, I think that Jonathan Christman has done a good job of kindly and fairly tracking it at his blog. (Thanks to Bob Gonzales for letting us know about these articles on the Reformed Baptist Discussion List.) The reason I am glad that Jonathan is tracking this from both points of view is that I think it has become a very important matter to the Church in America. I just happen to lean strongly toward Phil Johnson's end of the spectrum, and I think after you all view this video you will see why.



I agree with Mark that sometimes strong language and sarcasm are appropriate, especially when dealing with false teachers, but I couldn't agree more with Phil that language that is considered vulgar or is filled with sexual innuendo is out of place for the Christian, especially for the pastor-teacher from the pulpit.