This summer marked the end of an era in American Christianity. Within weeks of each other, pastor John MacArthur and psychologist James Dobson, two of the most influential evangelical leaders of the past half-century, passed away. MacArthur died on July 14 at the age of 86, followed by his friend Dobson on August 21 at 89. Their distinct but complementary approaches to faith and culture reshaped churches, families, and politics in profound ways.
Both men launched their ministries into the national spotlight in 1977, debuting radio programs at a time when evangelical broadcasting was entering a golden age. MacArthur’s verse-by-verse exposition of Scripture with &#8220;Grace to You&#8221; and Dobson’s biblical counsel on marriage and parenting with &#8220;Focus on the Family&#8221; would eventually reach tens of millions of households across the globe.
Troy Miller, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, told The Daily Wire that both men not only mastered radio but also foresaw the digital transition. “They were pioneers in adopting MP3s, moving into podcasts, and building digital platforms,” Miller said. “Grace to You and Focus on the Family became models for how to keep Christian teaching at the center of new technologies. And part of the legacy that these two men are going to leave was their insistence on being quality communicators, whatever the medium. Both of them worked very hard at their communication skills, whether it be preaching, speaking at conferences, or on the radio. They set the bar.”
<h3>Two Vocations, One Foundation</h3>
Although their ministries often intersected, MacArthur and Dobson took distinct paths to engaging culture. While the two men held the same positions on life, marriage, and sexuality, MacArthur avoided joining political coalitions, famously declining to sign the Manhattan Declaration, a 2009 statement that affirmed the sanctity of life and traditional marriage, because of his doctrinal differences with some of the statement’s authors.
Dobson, in contrast, leaned into politics. Not only was he one of the Manhattan Declaration’s most prominent signatories, in 1995, he also founded the Family Research Council, a Washington-based policy group that quickly became a central voice in the religious right.
Miller said the difference came down to vocation, not conviction. “John MacArthur understood he was a pastor,” he said. “That was his primary calling in life. And as a shepherd, his deepest desire was for people to understand the Word of God better. His expository preaching and teaching, his commentaries, his books were all meant to bring people closer to God. Dr. Dobson understood he was a psychologist. So he was concerned about culture and where culture was headed as a psychologist. They took these two different approaches, but behind both of them was a biblical foundation.”
Grace to You executive director Phil Johnson, who worked closely with MacArthur for more than 40 years, echoed that assessment. “John was always clear that he wasn’t opposed to political involvement by Christians and that there are Christians who are called to all sorts of vocations, including politics.” 
Dobson used his political vocation to tremendous effect.
Political science professor Hunter Baker, who first met Dobson while working as a religious liberty lobbyist, pointed out that by the late 1990s, the radio host had begun to eclipse the influence of the Moral Majority’s Jerry Falwell and the Christian Coalition’s Pat Robertson, in part, due to his academic credentials.
“Robertson and Falwell were essentially televangelists, and they had their influence. But then comes James Dobson. And a lot of people don&#8217;t remember this, but Dobson had an appointment at the USC Medical School as a child psychologist. He was there for 14 years in a very prestigious sort of position.” That credibility allowed Dobson to gain a hearing with audiences that would be less likely to tune into Robertson’s 700 Club or Falwell’s Old-Time Gospel Hour.
After he grew Focus on the Family into a cultural juggernaut, his mobilization of his Christian listeners helped secure the Republican Party’s transformation into a staunchly pro-life party.
“People want to think the Republican Party has always been this great pro-life party,” Baker said, “but Ronald Reagan was really the first one to decisively move in that direction. Yet his advisors were constantly wanting him to take pro-life rhetoric out of his speeches. And so that&#8217;s the Republican Party that Dobson was dealing with in the 90s. And in the late 1990s, Dobson, in his frustration, said, ‘I&#8217;m going to leave this party and I&#8217;m going to take as many people with me as I can.’ That was a threat that could not be ignored.”
<div id="attachment_969125" style="width: 898px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-969125" class="size-large wp-image-969125" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-74058688-888x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON - MAY 03: Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family (L), shakes hands with U.S. President George W. Bush (R) as Dobson's wife, Shirley Dobson, looks on during the National Day of Prayer ceremony at the White House May 3, 2007 in Washington, DC. The program included prayers and meditations from Christian and Jewish leaders and a performance by the US Army Chorus. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" width="888" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-74058688-888x576.jpg 888w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-74058688-300x195.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-74058688-768x498.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-74058688.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 888px) 100vw, 888px" />Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div>
After Dobson took his stand, Baker said, the GOP was forced to commit to the sanctity of life as a key issue. “I would argue that was really decisive. In 2008, even though he was the tremendously popular former mayor of New York City and viewed as a hero of 9/11, Rudy Giuliani got nowhere in that Republican primary process. Why? Because he would not become pro-life in order to run. Then, in 2012, Mitt Romney, who had previously been pro-choice, ran as a pro-life Republican. And I really put all of that at the feet of James Dobson more than anybody else.”
In 2016, Dobson would endorse Donald Trump at a time when few Christian leaders were willing to, helping to shore up Trump’s evangelical support that was vital to winning the election.
<h3>Standing Firm in Cultural Storms</h3>
Though MacArthur resisted joining formal political movements, when politics encroached on the church, he, too, did not hesitate to take a stand.
In 2018, when social justice and critical theory were infiltrating churches and ministries, MacArthur, just as he’d done when he publicly opposed segregation in the 1960s, spoke out. At the time, many nationally known pastors were <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/black-lives-matter-southern-baptist">promoting</a> Black Lives Matter and its <a href="https://x.com/JonathanLeeman/status/1269646035095375874">mission</a>. MacArthur, in contrast, <a href="https://statementonsocialjustice.com/">joined a statement</a> against the Marxist ideology the movement is based on, explicitly rejecting “any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression.”
<div id="attachment_138416" style="width: 650px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-138416" class="size-full wp-image-138416" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/IMG_1038.jpg" alt="John MacArthur" width="640" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/IMG_1038.jpg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/08/IMG_1038-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />Courtesy John MacArthur</div>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he <a href="https://www.gracechurch.org/news/posts/2254">openly defied</a> California’s restrictions on in-person worship, telling his congregation, “Whatever this virus is, it does not overpower First Amendment rights.” One of his final public acts came in 2022 when he sent a <a href="https://www.gty.org/blogs/B220928/an-open-letter-to-governor-newsom">scathing letter</a> to Governor Gavin Newsom addressing his use of Scripture to promote abortion:
<blockquote>[Y]ou revealed to the entire nation how thoroughly rebellious against God you are when you sponsored billboards across America promoting the slaughter of children, whom He creates in the womb (Psalm 139:13–16; Isaiah 45:9–12). You further compounded the wickedness of that murderous campaign with a reprehensible act of gross blasphemy, quoting the very words of Jesus from Mark 12:31 as if you could somehow twist His meaning and arrogate His name in favor of butchering unborn infants. You used the name and the words of Christ to promote the credo of Molech (Leviticus 20:1–5). It would be hard to imagine a greater sacrilege… My concern, Governor Newsom, is that your own soul lies in grave, eternal peril.</blockquote>
Johnson said both stances were consistent with MacArthur’s lifelong approach. “He believed the church must keep its focus on the gospel. And the letter to Newsom is a classic example of that because though he&#8217;s addressing a political leader, like John the Baptist did, with a very strong &#8230; gospel appeal.”
<h3>Generational Impact</h3>
Perhaps the clearest measure of MacArthur and Dobson’s legacies lies in the generations they shaped.
MacArthur’s influence can be seen in pulpits across the country. Thousands of pastors trained at the school he founded, The Master’s Seminary, or influenced by his preaching, now carry forward his model of expository preaching. Johnson shared that in his hometown of Tulsa, he once struggled to identify churches that offered sound, biblical preaching. Today, he said, he can point to many who trace their roots to MacArthur’s ministry. “All of them are connected somehow to John MacArthur. And that&#8217;s just one city. I think the whole country has benefited from the men who&#8217;ve been sent out from Master’s Seminary and men who&#8217;ve been influenced by people who&#8217;ve been influenced by John MacArthur.”
Thirty-two-year-old Nashville pastor, Jonny Ardavanis, is one such man. He recalled MacArthur’s advice when asked how to “pick your battles.” MacArthur’s answer was simple: “I pick every battle where gospel clarity and biblical authority are at stake.” Ardavanis said that principle continues to guide his ministry, and he believes the many comparisons to Charles Spurgeon that poured out on social media at news of MacArthur’s death were apt.
“Spurgeon is known as the prince of preachers, and John MacArthur is known for championing the authority and the sufficiency and the inerrancy of God&#8217;s word. That&#8217;s one of the things that John MacArthur really pushed on to the next generation of preachers—open up the Word of God and let it speak. It&#8217;s living and active…Both fought off the liberal drift of their day. Spurgeon was known for the downgrade controversy, where, at the time, the union was drifting in regards to the inerrancy and authority of God&#8217;s word. He stood staunch against that. MacArthur was known for the lordship debate, saying ‘Hey, you can&#8217;t call Jesus your savior without calling him your Lord,’ meaning that it was a rejection of cheap grace. And so both were known for preaching, but for standing firm on issues of doctrinal clarity.”
For Dobson, too, controversy was the cost of conviction, with critics frequently accusing him of turning from family counseling to the culture war. But Baker rejects that assessment. “People say Dobson spoiled his legacy by getting political,” he said, “but what if the issue had been slavery or segregation? We wouldn’t fault someone for standing up against those. Dobson saw abortion in that same category—a fundamental issue of justice.”
As Phil Johnson put it, “[MacArthur and Dobson] were both trying to stand astride the progress of history and say, ‘Wait a minute.’ They saw that a lot of what passed for progress was actually destructive, and they weren’t afraid to fight it.”
<div id="attachment_969131" style="width: 833px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-969131" class="size-large wp-image-969131" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-56542928-823x576.jpg" alt="PHILADELPHIA - JANUARY 8: Dr. James C. Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, gestures while speaking at the Justice Sunday III rally on January 8, 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by the Family Research Council, the rally was held one day before the start of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. (Photo by Jeff Fusco/Getty Images)" width="823" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-56542928-823x576.jpg 823w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-56542928-300x210.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-56542928-768x538.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-56542928.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px" />Jeff Fusco/Getty Images</div>
<h3>A Shared Legacy</h3>
Since their deaths, many of MacArthur and Dobson’s listeners have expressed a measure of fear over what will happen to American Christianity now that the men they viewed as lions of the faith have gone. But Johnson feels that’s a failure to remember what both men taught.
“I understand,” he said, “because it seems like a string of men who we respect and trust, whose voices we want to hear have died. Yet I comfort myself with Christ&#8217;s words that he&#8217;s going to build his church and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it. So he&#8217;ll raise up new voices and new people with new courage, people who actually are standing on the shoulders of these men. We lament the loss of their voices, but we also understand that all of them believed in the sovereignty of God, that they didn&#8217;t die by mistake, and that their time is in God&#8217;s hands and their shoes will be filled by someone who maybe we don&#8217;t even know yet that the Lord will raise up.”
Their voices may now be silent, but the pastors filling pulpits trained under MacArthur and the activists inspired by Dobson testify that their influence endures.

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Lions Of The Faith: The Legacies Of John MacArthur And James Dobson

The Legacies Of John MacArthur And James Dobson: Giants Of The Faith

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Dr. James Dobson, the influential Christian psychologist and Focus on the Family founder, died Thursday at age 89. The Dr. James Dobson Family Institute announced that Dobson had passed away in Colorado Springs following a brief illness.
A seminal proponent of family values in the 1980s and 90s who served as advisor to five Presidents, Dobson helped mobilize a conservative movement on issues like abortion, pornography, and gay marriage.
Born on April 21, 1936, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dobson was the son of Myrtle Georgia and James Clayton Dobson Sr., both of whom were prominent figures in the Nazarene Church. Raised in a devout Christian household, he developed an early passion for understanding human behavior and faith. Dobson earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) in 1958 and later a PhD in Child Development from the University of Southern California in 1967, laying the foundation for his influential career.
Dobson’s national breakthrough came in 1970 with his best-selling book, Dare to Discipline, which offered biblical parenting advice in an era when many secular psychologists were championing a more permissive approach. The more than 70 books he would go on to author and co-author, including The Strong-Willed Child (1978), Love for a Lifetime (1987), and Bringing Up Boys (2001), cemented his reputation as America’s premier Christian family expert, selling millions of copies worldwide.
But Dobson’s influence mainly emerged with the founding of Focus on the Family in 1977. What started as a small radio ministry featuring biblical advice on parenting and marriage grew into a global organization, airing on more than 4,000 stations in North America alone. The ministry would later expand to include film series and a popular children’s radio theater program, Adventures in Odyssey.
In the 1980s, Dobson’s advocacy for traditional family values also led him to become a leader in the conservative movement alongside Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority and Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition. In 1981, he founded the Family Research Council to promote public policies aligned with Christian morality. His firm stance on issues like parental discipline and opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage sparked debates. Yet, despite fierce criticism in the secular media, his commitment to his convictions remained unwavering. He would eventually go on to serve on President Donald Trump’s advisory board for evangelical affairs.
Tributes poured in for Dobson on the announcement of his death, with Samaritan’s Purse President, Franklin Graham, calling him a “staunch defender of the family” who stood for “morality and Biblical values as much as any person in our country’s history.” Bestselling Christian author and radio personality Eric Metaxas called him “a hero” and said Dobson was not afraid to bring his faith into the public sphere for God’s purposes.”
Dobson is survived by his wife of 65 years, Shirley Deere Dobson, and their two children, Danae and Ryan.

James Dobson Portrait Session

Focus On The Family Founder James Dobson Is Dead At 89

Conservatism

Family Values

The U.S. birth rate saw a slight <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fewer-babies-born-2022-teen-birth-rate-cdc-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decline</a> from 2021 to 2022 after a small uptick in births during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provisional report published Thursday. 
According to the Vital Statistics Rapid Release Program’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr028.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> of 99% of all birth certificates in 2022, there was a less than 1% decline in total births from 2021 to 2022, decreasing from 3,664,292 babies in 2021 to 3,661,220 in 2022. The data also noted that 2021 was the first year since 2014 that the U.S. birth rate had increased, while U.S. births dropped relatively significantly due to the pandemic, from 3,747,540 births in 2019 to 3,613,647 births in 2020.
The decline in birth rates is not an issue unique to the United States, as global fertility rates have declined by 50% in the past 70 years, with the U.S. at a 1.8 fertility rate — slightly <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/charted-the-global-decline-of-fertility-rates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">below</a> the global average of 2.4. The nation&#8217;s fertility rate is still significantly better than many other developed countries such as Japan and Italy, with fertility rates at less than 1.25. 
The CDC report charted a continued rise in births from women in their early 40s and late 30s as well as a continued decline in teen births, which have declined a staggering 80% since 1991. Births among women aged 40-44 have not decreased since 1981, with 2020 being an exception due to COVID restrictions. This is a reflection of many families delaying having children. 
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2022 also marks the first year of the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Many experts initially predicted a spike in births, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-births-2022-pandemic-61da497183e03b80f236fa50720b26be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimating</a> that nearly 50% of pregnancies are unintentional, although this does not seem to be reflected in the CDC data, with further answers possible when the full report is released in several months.
Many conservatives contend that the decline in births is in part caused by the Western world losing touch with religious and cultural values, calling for a return to more traditional family structures.

Foot of newborn baby

U.S. Birth Rate In Decline Again As Post-COVID Rebound Subsides

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Health

U.S.

A Richmond, Virginia, restaurant canceled a dinner reservation made by a Christian organization, claiming they did so because LGBTQ members of their staff would feel “uncomfortable or unsafe.”
The Family Foundation, which is associated with Focus on the Family and <a href="https://www.familyfoundation.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promotes</a> traditional marriage and the right to life, made dinner reservations at Metzger Bar and Butchery last Wednesday night. Roughly 90 minutes before the 7 p.m. reservation for a dessert event with 15 to 20 people, the foundation’s vice president of operations received a call from the restaurant notifying them their reservation had been canceled.
“One of the restaurant’s owners called our team to cancel the event,” Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb wrote in a <a href="https://www.familyfoundation.org/blog/xnmpbmbpylz2dc9iuhjg5gouvuhunn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blog post</a>, as Virginia Business <a href="https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/richmond-restaurant-refuses-service-to-family-foundation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. “As our VP of operations explained that guests were arriving at their restaurant shortly, she asked for an explanation. Sure enough, an employee looked up our organization, and their waitstaff refused to serve us.”
Cobb told Virginia Business that her colleague, Erica Hanko, reserved the private room at least a week prior to the event.
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<div class="c-message_attachment__body">On Thursday night, the restaurant posted a statement on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/ClpFttLObmf/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> saying:</div>
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<blockquote>
Metzger Bar and Butchery has always prided itself on being an inclusive environment for people to dine in. In eight years of service, we have very rarely refused service to anyone who wished to dine with us. Recently we refused service to a group that had booked an event with us after the owners of Metzger found out it was a group of donors to a political organization that seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ+ persons of their basic human rights in Virginia.
We have always refused service to anyone for making our staff uncomfortable or unsafe, and this was the driving force behind our decision. Many of our staff are women and/or members of the LGBTQ+ community. All of our staff are people with rights who deserve dignity and a safe work environment. We respect our staff’s established rights as humans and strive to create a work environment where they can do their jobs with dignity, comfort and safety.
</blockquote>
“Even food service has now been polarized. It’s just disappointing that we can’t have a meal together,” Cobb commented.
On Friday, Metzger posted a photo of a drink it called “Cracks in the Foundation” while announcing all proceeds of the cocktail’s sales Friday would be donated to the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Virginia.”
Cobb stated in her blog post:
<blockquote>
Welcome to the 21st century, where people who likely consider themselves “progressives” attempt to recreate an environment from the 1950s and early 60s, when people were denied food service due to their race. Thankfully, in 1960, 34 brave Virginia Union University students held a peaceful lunch counter sit-in at Thalhimers Department store in Richmond to demand service at a whites-only counter. They were convicted of trespassing but, after a tremendous legal battle, were vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court.
</blockquote>
“Welcome to the double standard of the left, where some believe Jack Phillips must be forced to create a wedding cake as part of the celebration of a same-sex ceremony but any business should be able to deny basic goods and services to those who hold biblical values around marriage,” she added, in a reference to the Masterpiece Cakeshop court case.
One member of the sit-in, Elizabeth Johnson Rice, now 82, told Virginia Business that The Family Foundation was “not being treated fairly” by Metzger Bar and Butchery, adding, “Their reservation should be honored in 2022.”

event cancelled in neon style

Christian Group’s Dinner Reservation Canceled Because Restaurant’s LGBTQ Staff Felt ‘Uncomfortable … Unsafe’

Christian Group Gets Dinner Reservation Canceled Because Restaurant’s LGBTQ Staff Felt ‘Uncomfortable ... Unsafe’

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Focus on the Family

Lions Of The Faith: The Legacies Of John MacArthur And James Dobson

Focus On The Family Founder James Dobson Is Dead At 89

U.S. Birth Rate In Decline Again As Post-COVID Rebound Subsides

Christian Group’s Dinner Reservation Canceled Because Restaurant’s LGBTQ Staff Felt ‘Uncomfortable … Unsafe’