Justin Taylor cites from Phil Johnson on the gospel-lite writing of Erwin Raphael McManus:
. . . my fundamental quarrel with McManus is not about whether he repudiates this or that label. It’s not even about the menagerie of high-flown titles he does load his resumé with. It’s this: clear gospel truth is almost impossible to find in the material he publishes and posts for public consumption. And in that regard, I don’t see a whole lot of difference between Erwin McManus and Joel Osteen. He’s Osteen with blue jeans and an occasional soul patch rather than a shiny suit and a perpetual grin.
Am I being too hard on McManus? I expect we’ll get lots of commenters (including the usual suspects and some first-time drive-bys) who will insist that I am. McManus seems to have lots of passionate devotees online. To them I say: Welcome to our blog. Convince me. It should be easy to do if I’m wrong. Simply show me a few places where McManus makes the gospel plain and clear for his audience, with straightforward, biblical explanations of sin, atonement, and justification for sinners—including a distinct and compelling summons for sinners to repent.