Murray, John
A Scottish Christian Heritage (Murray)
Description
In his book, A Scottish Christian Heritage, Iain Murray describes how for 300 years the school of evangelical Christianity changed Scotland as a nation. Passing on the evangel of the Reformation, and growing stronger in persecution, it turned a people to the Bible, and finally gave many of its best sons and daughters to the ends of the earth. For fidelity, joyful perseverance in hardship, and improbably advance, the record remains a witness to the faith that overcomes the world.
The compelling interest of this account lies in the way it draws on contemporary records-many of these Christian leaders being authors as well as men of action. Murray’s narrative explores this rich heritage and underlines its remarkable relevance for our own day. While not a Scottish church history, this is a gripping introduction to the many glorious successes, and some of the painful failures of the church, from the days of John Knox to those of Horatius Bonar. Explaining this panoramic tapestry are the words of Knox’s own commentary, ‘God gave his Holy Spirit to simple men in great abundance’.
Table of Contents:
Part One: Biography
1. John Knox and ‘the Battle’
2. Robert Bruce: Standing Fast in Dark Days
3. Thomas Chalmers and the Revival of the Church
4. John Macdonald and the Awakening in the North
5. Horatius Bonar and the Love of God in Evangelism
Part Two: Missionary
6. The Missionary Spirit and the New Hebrides
7. Robert Moffat ‘Africanus’
8. The Churches and Christian Unity in Scottish Church History
9. Scottish Preaching
10. The Problem of the ‘Elders’
Part Three: Church Issues
11. The Tragedy of the Free Church of Scotland
Endorsement
"As various recent publications have indicated, Scotland exercised an influence on world history out of all proportion to its size. But the real reason for this has been obscured. It will be found here, however. And in the discovery of it the reader will be introduced to a wealth of little-known literature that is a vital part of the inheritance of the whole Christian Church." - Sinclair B. Ferguson.
Author
Iain Hamish Murray, born in Lancashire, England, in 1931, was educated at Wallasey Grammar School and King William’s College in the Isle of Man (1945-49). From 1956 he was for three years assistant to Dr Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel and there, with the late Jack Cullum, founded the Banner of Truth Trust in 1957. He left Westminster in 1961 for a nine-year pastorate at Grove Chapel, Camberwell. With the world-wide expansion of the Trust, Iain Murray became engaged full-time in its ministry from 1969 until 1981 when he responded to a call from St Giles Presbyterian Church, Sydney, Australia. Now based again in the UK, he and Jean live in Edinburgh.