Mac Deaver, middle son of Roy and Wilma Deaver, was born in Abilene, Texas on December 6, 1946. At the time of his birth, his father was preaching for the church in Haskell, Texas. However, after spending some time in Haskell and Vernon, most of Mac’s boyhood days were spent in the Fort Worth area.
He graduated from Fort Worth Christian Academy in 1965. He received the A.A. degree in Bible from Fort Worth Christian College, graduated from the Brown Trail Preacher Training School, received the B.A. degree in Bible from Oklahoma Christian College, received the M.A. degree in Philosophy of Religion and Christian Doctrine from Harding Graduate School of Religion, did graduate work at the University of Dallas, and received the Ph.D. degree in Christian Apologetics from Tennessee Bible College.
Mac has preached and taught the gospel of Christ for over fifty years. He has preached for congregations in Texas (Mansfield, Bailey, Clarksville, Wellington), including the Pearl Street church in Denton (which moved and became the Sherman Drive congregation). Currently, he preaches and serves as an elder in Sheffield, Texas.
Other places and schools where he has worked include Tennessee (Antioch and Northeast in Putnam County, Flynn’s Lick in Jackson County, Red Boiling Springs in Macon County); Alabama (associate work in Foley); Oklahoma (Putnam City just west of Oklahoma City). Mac taught in the Brown Trail Preacher Training School (Bedford, Texas) for seven years when his father, Roy Deaver, served as Director; Tennessee Bible College (Cookeville, Tennessee, on both the undergraduate and graduate level) for five years (serving on the faculty with Roy Deaver, Thomas Warren, Andrew Connally, and others); Southwest School of Bible Studies (Austin, Texas) for three years. He has been involved in numerous religious debates and written for several brotherhood publications. His manuscripts appear in various brotherhood lectureship books. He served as editor of Biblical Notes Quarterly before it migrated to its current online presence.
His published debates include the Deaver-Farrell Till Debate (on alleged moral atrocities in the Bible, 1991, San Marcos TX), the Deaver-Marion Fox Debate (on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 1994, Oklahoma City OK), the Deaver-Olan Hicks Debate (on divorce and remarriage, 1995, Greenbriar TN), the Deaver-Bill Lockwood Debate (on the work of the Holy Spirit, 1998, Springfield TN), the Deaver-Jerry Moffitt Debate (on the work of the Holy Spirit within the Christian, 2000, Denton TX).
Numerous of his public debates have not been published as books, including the Deaver-Charles Harris Debate (on the essentiality of water baptism, 1986, Oklahoma City OK), the Deaver-Jack Holt Debate (on church benevolence, 1987, San Antonio TX), the Deaver-Keith Sharp Debate (on church benevolence, 1991, Camden AR), the Deaver-David Padfield Debate (on church benevolence, 1994, Chicago IL), the Deaver-Dan Billingsly Debate (on marriage-divorce-remarriage, 1995, Arlington TX), the Deaver-Jeff Asher Debate (on church cooperation, 1996, Amarillo & Wellington TX), the Deaver-Dan Billingsly Debate (on whether Matthew/Mark/Luke/John are part of the New Testament, 2004, Bedford TX), the Deaver-David Hoffman Debate (on the essentiality of water baptism, 2006, Chicago IL), the Deaver-Dennis DeVries Debate (on faith only, 2008, Denton TX), the Deaver-Don Preston Debate (on the A.D. 70 theory, 2008, Carlsbad NM), the Deaver-Ben Vick Debate (on Holy Spirit baptism, 2011, Indianapolis IN), the Deaver-Wesley Simons Debate (on the new birth, 2018, YouTube), the Deaver-Joshua Rodriguez Debate (on how the Spirit influences the Christian, 2019, San Antonio TX), and the Deaver-Israel Rodriguez Debate (on Holy Spirit baptism, 2021, Denton TX).
His other books include Faith and Knowledge: A Refutation of Agnosticism (1991), Philippians and Christian Ethics (1995), The Holy Spirit: Center of Controversy, Basis of Unity (2007), Except One Be Born From Above (2013), I Will Pour Forth of My Spirit: A Brief Commentary on Acts (2015), The Hopelessness of Humanism (2016), and study guides on Genesis and Joshua.
Mac is married to the former June McElhanon, daughter of Marvin and Rachel McElhanon. Marvin McElhanon was one of the first elders of the Brown Trail church. Mac and June have three children, all married, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mac has raised horses for years and continues to do that. He is “most at home” in a country atmosphere and with good country people.
Biblical Notes 