MacArthur on Self-Love
MacArthur writes,
Self-love always has been
associated with worldliness, but heretofore it was never taught as a doctrinal
tenet in the church, even in its most corrupt periods. It was universally acknowledged to be the sin
it is. Even most neoorthodox theologians
have recognized self-love, or pride, as the root sin of all others. But psychologists Carl Rogers, Erich Fromm,
and many others strongly denounced that God-centered view and boldly claimed
that lack of self-love and
self-esteem is the root problem of man. That false and damnable twist has permeated
the church to an alarming degree.[1]
He continues, “The eighteenth-century preacher Samuel
Johnson said, ‘He that overvalues himself will undervalue others. And he that undervalues others will oppose
them.’ Self-love alienates men from God
and from each other. Self-love is the
supreme enemy of godliness and of genuine friendship and fellowship.”[2]
