You may well legitimately ask the question, why review a book by someone who is a strong advocate of Reformed doctrine, a disciple of John Calvin and the Puritans, and one who would see J. N. Darby and the rise of Dispensational Premillenialism as an unmitigated disaster. The reason is simple. He is a superb historian and an excellent writer.
Although this book primarily deals with the Evangelical scene in England during the last half of the 20th century, it is very instructive to those of us in North America because it deals with key principles we need to grasp.
As another reviewer put it: “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?” and indeed the most fundamental and divisive question of all: What is a Christian?
Murray shows us how seemingly small shifts in thinking can result in huge consequences with the passage of time. Following the optimism surrounding the 1954 Billy Graham crusades in Harringay, England, it seemed that the Evangelicals’ hour had come. No longer were they a despised majority; people were beginning to take notice of them.
The Billy Graham organization began a policy of deliberately courting the involvement of those in more liberal churches, with the hope that new converts would join these churches and change them from within. Thus began a pattern of compromise.
Behind all of this was a longing within Evangelicalism to be accepted within the mainstream. This longing, though real, is unscriptural and harmful.
The true Church will always be outside the camp and bearing His reproach if it is faithful to the truth of Scripture. Yet deep within lies this desire for acceptance by the world at large, whether it be the academic world or the religious world.
Ultimately, a decision was made at the Keele Conference of Evangelical Anglicans in 1967 to seek a more inclusive role within the Church of England with the result that instead of rejecting Anglican Bishops who denied the fundamentals of the faith, they were accepted as fellow Christians.
Effectively this redefined what it meant to be a true Christian. What mattered was not what they believed about the gospel and personal conversion to Christ, as had been previously held, but rather whether they had been baptized and claimed church membership. Thus many who formerly were regarded as nominal Christians at best were now to be treated as genuine, sincere Christians. This fundamental shift in thinking eventually led to the “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” document being signed in 1995. The agreement applies the same reasoning to Catholics as the earlier one did to liberal Protestants.
What are the lessons for our local churches today? Murray clearly demonstrates that compromise is always disastrous to the Church of God and results in weakness, not strength. It seems that many local churches that have had a history of separation now long for acceptance in the wider Evangelical community. But in order to be accepted, some key tenets are being compromised so as not to give offense to evangelicals who might not agree.
What will the end result of these subtle shifts be 30 years from now if the Lord has not returned? As one who was born in England and born again there, I can assure readers that we do not want to go the way of either English Evangelicalism or even many so-called “Brethren” assemblies in England.
Compromise always leads to weakness, even when there are seemingly immediate short-term benefits. Read this book and take the long view.