EP Books - John J. Murray

JOHN JAMES MURRAY John James Murray was born in Dornoch, Sutherland in 1934. He was brought up in a Christian home and was educated at Dornoch Academy. One of the early influences on his life was the preaching of his namesake, Professor John Murray, whose home was at Bonar Bridge, some 14 miles away. An early lover of good books he acknowledges the influence that they had on his conversion and subsequent Christian growth. Welcoming the revival of interest in the Reformed and Puritan writings in the 1950s he began in 1959 to edit and publish a magazine called Eternal Truth. It was this magazine that brought him to the attention of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and then of the Rev Iain Murray, who in 1960 invited him to join the recently-formed Banner of Truth Trust in London He served as assistant editor in the Trust and was at the centre of the growing influence of Reformed literature worldwide in the 1960s. He became secretary to the Banner of Truth Ministers Conference begun in 1962. During his 13 years in London he was an elder in the Free Church of Scotland congregation. He served on the Committee of the Evangelical Library under the chairmanship of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In 1962 he became honorary UK Secretary of the Reformation Translation Fellowship, which had been set up in 1949 for the translating and publishing of Reformed literature in Chinese. In 1972 the Banner of Truth Trust moved its headquarters to Edinburgh and the following year Mr Murray began studies for the Free Church of Scotland ministry. From 1977 to 1981 he was editor of The Bulwark, the magazine of the Scottish Reformation Society. He was ordained in 1978 and inducted to the Free Church congregation in Oban, Argyll where he ministered for 11 years. In 1989 he was called to the St Columba's congregation in Edinburgh where he served for 13 years, the last two as minister of the Free Church (continuing). On retirement in 2002 he moved to Glasgow where he has continued active in the service of the Church and has had the pastoral care of four congregations in succession. He was Moderator of the General Assembly in 2003. He is married to Cynthia and they have two surviving children, Anna and Andrew.The loss of a daughter in 1980 was a providence that Mr Murray has reflected on in the booklet, Behind a Frowning Providence, [Banner, 32pp, £1.25], which has proved a comfort to many in a time of trial. He has produced a tribute to his colleague in the Banner of Truth Trust, John Marshall, who died in 2003, John E Marshall: Life and Writings [Banner, 296pp,£14.50]. His desire to record the events that led to the recovery of the Reformed truths in the 1950s resulted in the publication of Catch the Vision [EP, 192pp, £7.95]

Enlarge Image