Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000 (Murray)

Description

Why has Christian unity proved to be such a divisive topic? In the 1950s two movements- evangelicalism and ecumenism- offered differing paths to unity in the church. But as the decades have passed the influence of ecumenism has exposed a fault line in evangelicalism. Questions of critical importance have been brought to the surface: Is the gospel broader than evangelicals have historically insisted? Can there be unity with non-evangelicals in evangelism and church leadership? Does the gospel have priority over denominational loyalty?

These gained high profile in the crusades led by Dr. Billy Graham on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the subsequent interaction among evangelicals in North America and Europe. At first a new policy of ‘co-operation without compromise’ promised an ‘evangelical renaissance’. Those who feared an inevitable devaluation of the gospel were viewed as destined for the kind of isolation to which fundamentalism had been consigned earlier in the century.

Evangelicalism Divided traces the fascinating saga of the personalities, institutions and publications involved in this fifty-year period. Iain Murray’s account is not simply a black and white narrative. But using the mass of sources now available he shows how the new policy involved concessions which seriously weakened biblical Christianity. The first and greatest need, he argues, is to answer the most fundamental and divisive question of all: What is a Christian?

Contents

1. Setting the Scene
2. Billy Graham: Catalyst for Change
3. High Aims, Wrong Priorities
4. The New Anglican Evangelicalism Versus the Old
5. How the Evangelical Dyke Was Broken in England
6. Retrospect: A Different Approach
7. ‘Intellectual Respectability’ and Scripture
8. Rome and New Division
9. The Silent Participant
10. ‘Church’ and the Unresolved Problem
11. Form the Quarries to the Temple

Appendices

1. The Scriptures – Jospeh Hart
2. The Testimony of John Berridge – Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge
3. Satan and the Gospel – Horatius Bonar
4. The Offence of the Cross Ceasing – Thomas Scott
5. Puritans on Church Unity

Endorsements 

‘Murray’s critique is as kind as it is revealing and devastating. The icons of modern evangelism are shown as falling into egregious strategic errors which have weakened the evangelical faith at its very core. The bridges built to reach the mainstream became a two-way street by which those who sought to influence the liberals were themselves influenced.’
— R.C. SPROUL

‘Iain Murray’s startling analysis of the rift of modern evangelicalism is both informative and insightful. I share his concerns. I also appreciate his courage and his clarity. This is a much-needed word of exhortation to the church of our generation. It’s one of the best and most eye-opening books I have read in years.’
— JOHN MACARTHUR

About the 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.