He changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. –1 Samuel 21:13 (KJV)

Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication. –2 Kings 9:11 (KJV)

I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. –Galatians 1:11-12 (KJV)

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WHAT IF SOMEONE HAD A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
IN DR. MACARTHUR’S CHURCH?

There’s plenty of secular psychiatrists out there who believe in the existence of stress overload type schizophrenia. This is a perpetual trance state where a person is continually sleepwalking; and is unable to “wake up” until their medication kicks in. Delusions and hallucinations are the obvious side effects of this state. Philosophical views often color what’s really happening to the person. Views that are similar when dreams are examined in healthy people. 1. You either have the type of person who thinks all dreams are brain generated and that there is no spirit world (metaphysical materialists, naturalistic reductionists). 2. Or you have people who do believe in the existence of some type of spirit world, and who may be Christian, or may have other spiritual beliefs that are non-Christian but still believe in the supernatural side of human existence. 

In the Christian world, you have deists and charismatics. The deists are those who completely reject all types of spiritual experiences in the life of the individual. Either this takes the form of liberal Christianity, where hard scientism, and natural explanations are the normal intellectual response when confronted with such things as prophetic dreams, visions, and miracles. Or you have the deism of Calvinists which takes the form of “cessationism,” a doctrinal denial of miraculous gifts for modern Christians. Regrettably, something like 75% of Christians fall into this deism category. Something like only 25% of Christians believe in a literal Hell, and a literal spirit world, according to a recent LifeWay survey conducted in 2020 on the State of American Theology. John MacArthur is the leading teacher of cessationism in the Church. His books The Charismatics (1978), Charismatic Chaos (1993), his Strange Fire book (2013) and the conference that went with it, have been the strongest expressions of Calvinistic deism in the recent past, all in the name of upholding sound doctrine, and exposing the errors of fanatics.

What does this mean for people who “follow” Dr. MacArthur as a teacher of sound doctrine? What it means is this: 1. If you have dreams, visions, and voices, then ignore them. Its probably just the devil. 2. If you have uncontrollable visions and voices that are negative, then you are demon possessed; and need prayer. 3. Problem is, Dr. MacArthur doesn’t believe miracles are for today (or does he?). On the one hand, he denies that miracles are for today, because the Bible is “sufficient,” and miracles were only for the twelve apostles. But its fine to pray for healing (not that we think anything will happen). 4. So if you’re demon possessed, I’m sorry bub: you’re screwed. Because Dr. MacArthur thinks that not only schizophrenia, but all mental illnesses are a myth from the scientific community. So the medicines they offer are useless and even harmful. 5. Miracles don’t help the demon possessed. Medicine doesn’t help the demon possessed. Nothing helps the demon possessed. Like I said, you’re totally screwed if that happens to you in Dr. MacArthur’s church. He has nothing he can do for a schizophrenic but maybe read the Bible to him.

The smarter answer for a schizophrenic person would be to take him to a psychiatrist right away, get him hospitalized, medicated, and visit him every other day to encourage him to take his medicine and get out of the mental hospital. Once out of the hospital, you can pray deliverance prayers for the person out of the Roman Ritual, the Anglican Rituals of Exorcism, or John Eckhardt’s Prayers That Rout Demons and Break Curses. It is likely the person is having nightmares, hearing demonic voices, and seeing demonic visions; you should turn on quiet worship music in a repeating loop in his bedroom, read the Bible to him, and pray for the removal of demonic spirits by the laying on of hands, as gently as possible, in Jesus’ name. If he speaks in a first person demonic voice, or if objects move in the bedroom by themselves, then contact a Catholic priest and ask if he could bring a prayer team over. But that probably won’t need to happen. Mark 16:17: “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons.” Its times like these that you wish you’d became a Pentecostal years ago.

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John MacArthur, “Dispelling Myths About ‘Mental Illness’.”

The Snake Pit. 20th Century Fox, 1948.

Fear Strikes Out. Paramount, 1957.

Splendor in the Grass. Warner Bros, 1961.

Salvation and Stuff, “What You Should Know About Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”

Crossway, “Why Moralistic Therapeutic Deism Is a Dead End.”

Wikipedia, “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”