Book complete? Yes.
40. Evangelicalism Divided by Iain Murray. Surely one of the best books I’ve read this year. I wish you all could read it, even if one isn’t as interested in church history as I am! This book’s subtitle is “A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000” and that is indeed a good description of this book. This book can at times be a bit dense, and if you aren’t a huge fan of reading church history, reading this may be a struggle at times. But I am most grateful I read this book.
Murray is one of my very favourite authors and this book definitely doesn’t change that. How can I describe this book? Well, Murray is writing about a change in the wider evangelical church in the past fifty/sixty years. I am struggling to adequately describe this book mostly because again – I want to tell you to read it, not my words! But surely there has been a change in Christian thought in the past few hundred years. First with the advent of modernism and higher criticism, beginning with German intellectualism in the 19th century and the application of modernist thought to the study of theology and the Christian life. Surely that last sentence made things clearer, right? Well, evangelicalism could be said to be a response to the liberalism in the mainline Protestant denominations, also known as “fundamentalism” in the United States. One of the central tenets of the evangelical movement was the assertion that the Word of God is truly inerrant, containing all that is necessary to come to faith in Christ. But as Murray states…in the past half century, things have changed. Prominent evangelical leaders made the decision that they could do more good by working with various Christian churches and organizations, even if there were some disagreements in certain areas of doctrinal thought. The motives of these leaders were often pure, but discernment and wisdom were sorely lacking. So while ecumenicism can seem to be a good thing in certain circles…when it comes to the defense of the true faith that we have been given in the Word of God, the quicksand of compromise quickly imperils the witness of the church. And so even a great teacher like J.I. Packer(whose book Knowing God I plan on reading next!) can think it is a good idea to dialogue and work closely with the Roman Catholic Church(ECT in the mid-90s…something I was excited to read about, because this was something I actually remember being a big deal, Mom and Dad talking about it, the critical comments of MacArthur about it, etc! History that I’ve lived through, I’m now reading about. A bit strange). So a rapprochement with the “wider church” may seem to be a glorious, praiseworthy objective! Yet, in actuality, we are flirting with false teachers who serve the father of lies. Oh woe is us for our arrogance. So in one way, this book is a sad read. It is about the slow slide of the evangelical movement into liberalism and plastic orthodoxy, the specter of apostasy hovering close. But also…this is history and this is important to read because as sad as some of the events chronicled are, knowing that God is sovereign and that He yet works even amidst the chaos is a glorious thought indeed. Murray writes with force, vigor and clear-sighted passion. He understands that Christian unity is essential, but also that unity not based on the foundation of the true gospel is worse than useless. It imperils our witness to the world, weakens our faith, and retards our growth as sons and daughters of God. One of the most important questions that needs to be asked and understood by the leaders of our churches is this: What is a Christian? The answer to that question is what should drive and determine church policy. The lures of pragmatism and church growth theory are flickering candles compared to the bonfire of the true preaching of the gospel as given to us by the inspired and inerrant Word of God.
So I really did write a bit more than I meant to, and obviously my writing is much less clear and stimulating than Murray’s! But one more quick thought before I close. Where shall we go from here? Understanding the drift of the evangelical church, what should be our response? What should we pray for? We pray that God works and brings revival. We cry out for God to send His Spirit to work in us. We pray for the preaching of the true gospel amidst the churches of this land. We pray that the leaders of our churches proclaim with power and might, empowered from on high by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word, in season and out of season. We pray that God has mercy upon us and forgives us our weakness and slackness in obeying and following Him in all things. We pray that God fills us with His love and charity as we yet hold firm to the truth in His Word. We pray that God keep us humble before Him, never thinking we know all things, but always having faith in the One who does know all things. And what is this faith in? Again, what is a Christian?
In the words of Murray, page 299:
There are two ways in which Scripture identifies a true disciple of Christ. The first is by the evidence of a person’s faith in Christ, and the second by the insistence that the accompaniment of true faith is always a new life. On the first evidence enough has already been said in these pages. Faith in Christ, according to the New Testament, is the same as receiving the truth; not, that is, all truth, but certainly the truth of salvation from the guilt and power of sin through Christ alone. The Christian knows that he is a sinner, that Christ is the divine Saviour, and that his salvation comes entirely from what Jesus has suffered for him and in his place. Every such person has ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:6). The content of that knowledge admits of unending progress, but where it does not exist at all there can be no salvation. All true Christian faith rests on the same foundation.
Praise God for the encouragement and wisdom granted me in reading this book. All glory to Him.
