Calvin on Scripture and Divine Sovereignty

JOHN MURRAY

Baker Book House

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Copyright 1960 by

Baker Book House

Paperback edition issued

April 1978

ISBN: 0-8010-6060-5

Preface

The three lectures, here reproduced in slightly revised form, were given under the auspices of the Reformed Fellowship, Inc. in Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 21, 22, 26, 1959 in connection with the commemoration of the four hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of John Calvin and the four hundredth anniversary of the publication of the definitive edition of The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

I wish to express my deep gratitude to the Reformed Fellowship, Inc. for the invitation to deliver these lectures and for all the courtesies extended to me during my stay in Grand Rapids while these lectures were being delivered.

I make grateful acknowledgment to the Columbia University Press, New York, for permission to quote from Edward A. Dowey, Jr.: The Knowledge of God in Calvin’s Theology (1952) and to the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, to quote from ed. John F. Walvoord: Inspiration and Interpretation (1957).

To the Reformed Fellowship, Inc. I extend my warm thanks for undertaking to publish these lectures in book form.

JOHN MURRAY

Philadelphia

June 12, 1959

Foreword

The three chapters of this book have their origin in a series of lectures on certain aspects of Calvin’s theology, delivered by John Murray, professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. These lectures were given in the Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, before large audiences of ministers, professors, students, and interested laymen. The occasion was the 450th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin and the 400th anniversary of the appearance of the final edition of Calvin’s immortal work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Three of the four lectures mentioned above are included in this volume. They deal respectively with the teaching of Calvin on the Inspiration of the Scriptures, the Authority of the Scriptures, and the Sovereignty of God.

The commemorative character of the occasion for these lectures, the prevailing keen interest in the subject of the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, and the fact that Professor Murray is regarded by many as the foremost among living Reformed theologians in America, as well as his thorough acquaintance with Calvin’s works, combine to lend special significance to the publication of this material.

The lectures which this book embodies were delivered and are published under the auspices of the Reformed Fellowship, Inc., publishers of the magazine, Torch and Trumpet.

REFORMED FELLOWSHIP, INC.

Grand Rapids, Michigan