Calvin on Scripture and Divine Sovereignty

By John Murray

Baker Book House, 1960; reprint, Solid Ground Christian Books, 2009. 84 pages. Available from Reformed Fellowship, Inc.

Reviewed by Mr. Myron Rau

This little book contains three of the four lectures given by Professor John Murray in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in May 1959, under the auspices of Reformed Fellowship, Inc. This was done in connection with the commemoration of the 450th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin and the 400th anniversary of the publication of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion  final edition.

There were those who advocated that John Calvin did not hold to the inerrancy of Scripture. Murray refutes those notions in these short but comprehensive lectures: “Calvin’s Doctrine of Scripture,” “Calvin and the Authority of Scripture,” and “Calvin on the Sovereignty of God.”

John Murray was a renowned professor at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for many years. According to the foreword of this book by Reformed Fellowship, Murray was regarded by many as the foremost among living Reformed theologians and was well acquainted with Calvin’s works. It goes on to say that the lectures drew large audiences of ministers, professors, students, and interested laymen.

For a layman like myself, this book is not light reading. Murray demonstrates from Calvin’s Institutes and his other writings that he indeed held to the inerrancy of the Scriptures. Throughout it demonstrates Murray’s unique ways with words. Much of the writing is interrupted with Latin phrases and quotes. Each chapter being less than twenty pages makes it easy to read the entire chapter at once.

The book was originally published by Baker Book House before Reformed Fellowship published books. In 2009, Solid Ground Christian Books produced a new edition of this volume which includes, for the first time, a subject and Scripture index. This was done on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the delivery of this series of lectures as well as the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. Solid Ground Christian Books believes that there are many treasured works from the past, and they are always searching for such works to make them available again. Reformed Fellowship is making this historic book available in their book store at https://www.reformedfellowship. net/bookstore-3.

Mr. Myron Rau is president of the Reformed Fellowship board.