A Review Article by Roy Middleton
This volume is Iain Murray’s latest publication and contains a selection of his more recent addresses. The five lectures in the book deal with topics that are highly relevant to Evangelicalism in the twenty-first century.
The first is a lecture that he gave at the Keswick Convention in 2010, entitled “Evangelical Holiness and Spirituality”. Whatever we may think of the defective holiness teaching associated with the Keswick Convention, Mr Murray rightly points out that those involved with the setting up of the Convention were concerned about holy living. This is in marked contrast with much of modern-day Evangelicalism and the so-called New Calvinists,2
1The book under review is Evangelical Holiness, and Other Addresses, by Iain H Murray, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, paperback, 175 pages, £6.00.
2Readers, however, should compare Mr Murray’s surprising defence of this movement in the June 2014 issue of the Banner of Truth Magazine (subsequently reprinted in the July issue of Evangelical Times) with the excellent and devastating critique by E S Williams both in his book, The New Calvinists: Changing the Gospel (Wakeman Press, 2014) and then his review in the Bible League Quarterly (July-September 2014, pp 88-106) of the
many of whom follow a lifestyle that the early Keswick teachers would have regarded as utterly worldly. He also helpfully critiques the fashionable word spirituality that has replaced the more biblical terms of sanctification, holiness and godliness. The term as used by modern writers is on many occasions far removed from the meaning of sanctification as it is defined in the Westminster Standards. Indeed, as Mr Murray points out, it can be used for finding self-fulfilment in mysticism, asceticism or transcendental meditation.
The central thrust of the Keswick lecture is to detail three distinguishing evangelical truths. The first truth he highlights is that of original sin which, Mr Murray observes, is not taught in books on spirituality. Secondly, he focuses on submission to Scripture. In this section he critiques the teaching in Hannah Whitall Smith’s highly popular book, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, for teaching a religion anchored in experience and not in Scripture. He also points out that Smith and her husband (Robert Pearsall Smith) were closely connected with the origin of the Keswick movement. Thirdly, he stresses the vital truth that holiness is a result of the new birth. The lecture then deals with how holiness is manifested in our lives – in devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, love, humility and communion with God. He concludes by referring to some of the dangers associated with holiness teaching, one of which is to accommodate our standards of Christian living to the contemporary culture.
It will be seen that this lecture makes some vitally important points that are relevant to the present condition of Evangelicalism and also of the Reformed community. The wisdom of Mr Murray giving a lecture at Keswick must, however, be questioned. By doing so he has identified himself with an organisation that is far removed from the original witness of the Banner of Truth. As a young Christian, in the early 1960s, before he became a Calvinist, the reviewer attended Keswick. Banner of Truth books bought at the Keswick bookstalls were one of the means that led him to forsake the Convention and its teaching.
The second lecture is titled “The Attack on the Bible”. This is an excellent address outlining historically the modernist attack on Scripture in the United Kingdom from the 1860s onwards. Although Mr Murray does not deal with the topic, it was in the midst of this departure, which he so graphically explains, that the fathers of the Free Presbyterian Church were compelled to leave the Free Church, which had capitulated to the views he critiques. He points out that, when the Free Church General Assembly was dealing with the
book edited by Iain D Campbell and William M Schweitzer, Engaging with Keller (Evangelical Press, 2013). Williams correctly regards the latter book as an inadequate critique of Timothy Keller’s New Calvinist theology.
Robertson Smith case, the group defending Smith met in Alexander Whyte’s manse. Whyte was regarded as a leading Evangelical in the Free Church and was a successor to Robert Candlish at Free St George’s in Edinburgh.
The third lecture deals with the subject of Apostasy. Mr Murray stresses the prominence given in Scripture to the danger of apostasy and states that in twenty-first century Britain we are living in an age of apostasy. Among the characteristics of such an age he first mentions self-satisfaction and self-confidence. He writes, “When Dr Lloyd-Jones was asked, ‘Do you think revival near?’ He replied, ‘No, I do not. We are far too healthy.’ When churches ignore the danger of apostasy it is often a sign that the condition has already begun” (p 85). Another characteristic of an age of apostasy that Mr Murray mentions is widespread worldliness in the Church. One example he gives of this is film reviews in Evangelical papers, which, he observes, “assume Christians enjoy a diet of contemporary entertainment . . . Do films that treat it as normal that men and women have ‘eyes full of adultery’ fall within the apostolic command of Philippians 4:8?” (p 86). Though Mr Murray does not name them, two such Evangelical publications that contain regular reviews of films are The Record, the monthly magazine of the Free Church of Scotland, and Evangelicals Now.
A further mark of apostasy that he details is when interest in the churches begins to centre on the visual and the sensual. In dealing with this he critiques at length (pp 89-94) the use of musical instruments in the worship of God. He cites, rather interestingly, the hymn-writer Horatius Bonar as stating that music was a factor in the decadence leading to the fall of the Roman Empire. Now whilst hymn-singing and music need not necessarily go together, it is a fact of history that where hymn-singing has been introduced, musical instruments have usually followed within a relatively short period.3 The lecture concludes very helpfully by commenting on our duties in a time of apostasy.
The fourth address in the book is on “The Benefits and Dangers of Controversy”. Mr Murray begins this lecture by highlighting three controversies that he regards as “marked turning points in history”: the sixteenth-century Reformation, the Evangelical revival of the eighteenth century and the modern controversy regarding Scripture. He then deals briefly with the benefits of controversy (not quite three pages). The benefits on which he focuses are:
3 Horatius Bonar was one of the men who took the lead in bringing hymns into the old Free Church. George Smeaton, who was one of his elders, resigned in consequence of hymns being introduced into Grange Free Church. Many were saddened and disappointed when Mr Murray published a booklet in 2001 advocating the use of uninspired hymns in the worship of God. The biblical basis of the reason for musical instruments being forbidden in the worship of God is the Regulative Principle. That same principle also forbids the use of uninspired hymns in the worship of God.
first, controversy leads to closer and clearer definitions of the truth, and second, on some occasions it has brought divisions that have been a blessing to the world.
This is followed by a much longer section (nearly 12 pages) on the dangers of controversy and the lecture ends with a series of conclusions. The dangers referred to are real and backed up in many cases by historical examples; both private Christians and office bearers in the Church would benefit greatly by taking heed to these relevant observations. However, the lecture is rather unbalanced and stresses far more the dangers of controversy than its benefits. It seems hardly right to cite Robert Candlish on the dangers of partisanship when it was his ecclesiastical policy which played such a large part in creating partisanship in post-Disruption Scotland. Neither is it pejorative to call men Arminians, if it is true. Wesley was only too pleased to call his monthly periodical The Arminian Magazine. And were someone to say that Free Presbyterians are Calvinists, we would not regard this as a pejorative designation but as a statement of fact.
The final lecture reprints Mr Murray’s booklet4 published by the Banner of Truth in 2010, on the permanent obligation of the Sabbath for all mankind. This is a much-needed and excellent lecture on the need to keep the Sabbath and the link that Sabbath-keeping has to vital godliness. It is helpful that he has shown Calvin’s change of view on the Sabbath – from doubting its permanent obligation to positively asserting it. He concludes the lecture with the words of B B Warfield: “There can be, after the gospel, no blessing so high as that of the Sabbath, no privilege so great as that which it affords, no dignity so noble as that to which it introduces us” (p 169).
This book is a call back to the old paths in the face of change and compromise in both modern Evangelicalism and in the Reformed Church. With this in view, our one substantive criticism is Mr Murray’s use of modern versions of the Bible. From hearing a recent address of his on the internet it is clear that in prayer, unlike many of his contemporaries, he addresses the Lord using the pronouns “Thee” and “Thou”. That practice was used by the Puritans and by the leaders of the eighteenth century revival, by Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones. It was their practice for good theological reasons. Addressing the Most High in this manner will not be long continued where modern versions are used. Regrettably, in at least one current reprint of previously-published titles, the Banner of Truth have changed the version of Scripture from the Authorised Version to the English Standard Version (ESV).5
4Iain H Murray, Rest in God & A Calamity in Contemporary Christianity.
5The ESV is a relatively minor revision of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). The publishers (Crossway / Collins) acknowledge the ESV to be 91% the RSV. When it was
Having made this criticism, the reviewer readily acknowledges his debt to Iain Murray’s writings for more than half a century and recommends this book to our readers as containing valuable and much-needed material.
Roy Middleton