Spurgeon Vs. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching (Iain Murray)

Spurgeon Vs. Hyper-Calvinism

The Battle for Gospel Preaching

In this book, Iain Murray gives us the historical account of the labors of Charles Haddon Spurgeon against extreme Calvinists who saw no need to preach the gospel to all men, since only the elect would be saved, and that by God’s sovereign choice. While Spurgeon agreed that God predestined men to salvation, he also believed that the gospel was to be preached to all men, allowing the Holy Spirit to draw men to Christ. Spurgeon knew it was through the medium of preaching that men are saved (1 Cor. 1:18-25). Murray is a scholar who does his research well in Spurgeon Vs. Hyper-Calvinism, as always.

Charles Spurgeon, the primary subject of this volume, is best remembered today for the widespread and remarkable ministry he exercised in London during the 19th century. His influence is difficult to calculate and is not paralleled by any modern preacher. Thousands listened to his preaching every week, while hundreds of thousands worldwide later read his published sermons.

A man of great natural gifts, charm and wit, Spurgeon’s chief passion behind everything he did was, to preach Christ to all men as their only Savior. But as early as 1855, this brought him into a serious and prolonged doctrinal controversy with Hyper-Calvinists. By tracing this conflict, exploring the issues involved in it, and showing what was at stake in them, Iain Murray underlines the contemporary relevance of this subject and how important it is for all Christians to share Spurgeon’s convictions.

About the Author

Iain Hamish Murray, born in Lancashire, England, in 1931.  he was educated at Wallasey Grammar School and King William’s College in the Isle of Man (1945-49). Murray was converted in 1949 through the ministry at Hildenborough Hall, at a Christian conference centre in Kent. It was at Hildenborough later that same year that he first met Jean Ann Walters, who became his wife. They married in Edgeware on April 23, 1955).

After service with the Cameronians in Singapore and Malaya, he read Philosophy and History at the University of Durham with a view to the ministry of the English Presbyterian Church (his parents’ denomination). It was at Durham that he began to read the Puritans, whose writings were to become a lifelong passion. After a year of private study, he assisted Sidney Norton at St John’s Free Church, Oxford, in 1955–56. It was here that The Banner of Truth magazine was launched, with Murray as its first editor.

Assistant to Dr. Lloyd-Jones

From 1956-59 he was assistant to Dr. Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel.  There, with the late Jack Cullum, he 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.

Spurgeon Vs. Hyper-Calvinism.

Table of Contents

1. A Life Testimony to the Word of God
2. An Impression of Spurgeon in Early Years
3. The Combatants and the Cause of the Controversy
4. The Case Against Spurgeon
5. Spurgeon’s Fourfold Appeal to Scripture
6. The Aftermath
7. Lessons from the Conflict
8. Two Illustrations – John Gill and William Huntington
9. The Warrant of Faith – John Brown
10. Free-Agency and God’s Desire for the Salvation of All – T. J. Crawford
11. A Crucial Text – C. H. Spurgeon on 1 Timothy 2:3-4
12. The Injury Done by Hyper-Calvinism and Antinomianism – Words of Witness from Spurgeon

A Diagram of English Baptist History by Robert W. Oliver