The Old Evangelicalism: Old truths for a new awakening
Iain H Murray
Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 2005, 226pp.
Recent debates in my circles (about the nature of the Trinity, and about who is suitable to be ordained or to preside at the Lord’s Supper) show an uneasy footing with regard to theologians of the past. Sometimes we are keen to legitimate our standing in the apostolic tradition, and so we selectively cite those earlier divines who shared our opinions. Sometimes we confer on some past thinker a godlike authority, and then proceed to marry our thoughts precisely to theirs. Sometimes we are so convinced of an historically eccentric view, we ignore all our forebears, rebuffing them with a cry of “Sola scriptura!”
In these volatile relationships, we could do worse than to take Iain H Murray as our counsellor. He is co-founder of the Banner of Truth Trust, and has written abundantly on historical Evangelicalism. Murray’s commitment both to Scripture and to careful and extensive reading of a range of theologians affords him considerable insight as he brings the wisdom of the past to bear on Christianity today.
This is the primary aim of The Old Evangelicalism, a book adapted from addresses delivered over three decades to various groups of pastors and missionaries. Bearing in mind this original audience, some readers may find the book rather dry. It is, however, very varied: Murray’s pastoral focus (that is, his primary desire to let the Reformers and Puritans speak to our present errors or inadequate emphases) has resulted in eclectic contents. The book’s seven chapters cover conviction and the judgement of God; Spurgeon on regeneration and conversion; God’s righteousness in Christ; the nature and extent of Christ’s atoning death; lessons from John Wesley on evangelism, church governance, and sanctification; assurance; and interdenominational unity. The first five chapters, in particular, bear witness to Murray’s passion for evangelism: he longs for God to effect revival in the secularized West, and he knows that it cannot come without bold and faithful proclamation of the gospel.
However, the gently polemic nature of Murray’s writing may also be confusing for those of us not labouring in the errors he targets. For the sake of a wider audience, he could have begun each chapter with a brief outline of the theological and pastoral context into which he writes. As it stands, we are left to piece together the false views he combats. The most striking example for me was Murray’s call to preach penal substitutionary atonement (a reminder not much needed in my circles where, it seems, many of us have lost the art of preaching anything else).
But such is the breadth of Murray’s concerns in this work that no reader could fail to be now informed, now soulthrillingly uplifted, now forced to examine his or her prejudices. This is the power of history’s ‘long-view lens’: it alerts us to the fact that some errors have grave consequences that must be corrected with diligence and zeal, and also reminds us that the heat of some disputes between sincere Christians can create a haze that obscures everyone’s view. In particular, Murray’s humble approach to the life and thought of John Wesley (who has been widely dismissed with the tainted label of ‘Arminian’) gave me pause to examine and repent of some things I have thought and said about my ‘theological foes’. I was also arrested by a passage cited from John Owen, discussing late 17th-century Puritanism:
Some have been ready to condemn all that go not along with them in every principle, yea, opinion or practice. And every day slight occasions and provocations are made the ground and reason for severe censures; but nothing is more contrary to the meek and holy Spirit of Christ… (p. 140)
Murray himself is impossible to peg to any one tradition. His first two chapters rely on a Reformed view of the distinction between ‘the law’ and ‘the gospel’. This could be quite disconcerting for readers who have developed the reflex of asking of any Scriptural passage, “Where does this fit in salvation history? What was the original pastoral implication of this passage? How is this fulfilled in Christ?” (I found myself in the strange position of endorsing his conclusions—that we need to preach God’s judgement, and that we must seek true conversion in people’s lives, rather than mere ‘altar-call Christianity’—while questioning all the details of his arguments.) The chapter on interdenominational unity is frustratingly brief, and is not likely to satisfy anyone passionate about the theology of church. Meanwhile, his chapters on Wesley, the atonement and assurance tread a path that should make both Arminians and five-point Calvinists rather uneasy.
And this is, perhaps, what is most admirable in The Old Evangelicalism: Murray is able to lean on our predecessors’ wisdom while at the same time longing for biblical fidelity. At points, this certainly moved me to question my biblical interpretation, as well as to spend more time reading historical theology. In addition, I found myself more warmed to trust in and love the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remembering the unity that all history’s believers have in him should help us become more mature in our relationship with theologians of yore.
