“The Old Evangelicalism: Old Truths for a New Awakening.”

Iain H. Murray is one of my favorite modern-day writers. He has written some amazing Christian biographies on Lloyd-Jones, Spurgeon, Edwards, and Pink (to name just a few). I try and purchase everything this Christian author writes. His book “Evangelicalism Divided” is one of my all-time favorites. It should not surprise you then to hear this article is dedicated to Murray’s newest book “The Old Evangelicalism: Old Truths for a New Awakening.”

In the preface Murray writes, “I have entitled the book ‘The Old Evangelicalism,’ not because that is explicitly the theme, but because the material consistently shows that, on a number of fundamental truths, the evangelicalism of the last hundred years contrasts unfavorably with what went before.”

We live in a society that wants to constantly disconnect the present from the past. This worldly mindset has sadly snuck into the Church as well. Many professing Christian leaders are destroying the time-honored traditions of the past (such as true biblical preaching). Many Pastors have made the connection between this type of thinking and the Seeker Friendly/Emerging Church movement. (Pastor MacArthur explained this clearly during Shepherd's Conference 05). If not kept in check this philosophy often begins to tinker with biblical theology and sound doctrine as well. (Not to mention hermeneutics, see the new "Redemptive Hermeneutic" advocated by men like Rob Bell of Mars Hill).

In light of passages like Jude 3 (which I will be preaching on November 27th) this is tragic. Believer’s have been called to defend and preserve a body of fundamental doctrines (the gospel), which Jude calls, “The faith, which was once for all delivered (or passed down) to the saints.” This is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture.

A.W. Tozer put it this way, “Nothing is new that matters and nothing that matters can be modernized. The old way is the true way and there is no new way.” This is precisely why Charles Spurgeon told his seminary students, “To be effective preachers you must be sound theologians.” Sound theology is not just important to preachers. To live an effective God-honoring life we must know the Truth. To function as a Christ-exalting church we must know the Word and apply it appropriately. Maintaining a healthy marriage that implements the roles and goals of the Bible requires sound theology. The list above could go on and on.

I close with a Spurgeon quote that Murray includes to further illustrate the importance of historic theology in light of this New Evangelicalism: “It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he had revealed to others….A respectable acquaintance with the opinions of the giants of the past, might save many an erratic thinker from wild interpretations and outrageous inferences.”

May all of us seek to rediscover this “old evangelicalism,” so we too can help usher in a “new awakening.”


“Soli Deo Gloria”

Caleb Kolstad