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The Nature of Man - Antiquity of Man Part 2
John Murray
John Murray (1898–1975). Born on October 14, 1898, in Badbea, Scotland, John Murray was a Presbyterian theologian and preacher renowned for his Reformed theology. Raised in a devout Free Presbyterian home, he served in World War I with the Black Watch, losing an eye at Arras in 1917. He studied at the University of Glasgow (MA, 1923) and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThB, ThM, 1927), later earning a ThM from New College, Edinburgh. Ordained in 1927, he briefly ministered in Scotland before joining Princeton’s faculty in 1929, then Westminster Theological Seminary in 1930, where he taught systematic theology until 1966. His preaching, marked by precision and reverence, was secondary to his scholarship, though he pastored congregations like First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Murray authored Redemption Accomplished and Applied and The Imputation of Adam’s Sin, shaping Reformed thought with clarity on justification and covenant theology. Married to Valerie Knowlton in 1937, he had no children and retired to Scotland, dying on May 8, 1975, in Dornoch. He said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.”
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher discusses the importance of understanding the nature of man as both material and spiritual. He emphasizes that God used dust from the ground to form man, highlighting the material aspect of our constitution. The preacher also mentions a quote from Dogeberg that may contradict this view, but encourages the audience not to be swayed by it. Additionally, the sermon touches on the significance of the genealogies and the longevity of the patriarchs in providing insights into the early days of human history.
Sermon Transcription
Let us pray. O Lord, our God, Thy testimonies are altogether righteousness and faithfulness. And we glorify Thy great and holy name, for all that Thou art, for all that Thou hast manifested Thyself to be in the marvels of Thy love and of Thy grace. And we pray that we may, by Thy word and by the illumination of Thy Holy Spirit, explore the ocean. Now I would like to make a few more genealogies about the chronological data, is to provide us with information regarding the longevity of the patriarchs, the longevity of the patriarchs as a significant feature of life in these early days of human history. Then second, this longevity served various purposes. This longevity served various purposes in that period of the world's history. One of the most important would be that it contributed to the increase of the race in fulfillment of the mandate, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it. But obviously there was a much longer period of fertility and virility. Again, another purpose that can very readily be discerned is that longevity was a means of securing the authenticity of tradition. Authenticity of tradition and the record of this longevity is the guarantee to us that the events of early human history the conclusion of the antiquity of man by Professor John Murray was lost on the master tape. This is the end of the conclusion. ...similar condensation in Genesis 5 and Genesis 11. That's all I want. Data which can be the material cause. There is a material aspect to man's constitution from the very outset. And as I show the most scriptural that man is body. ...in the scriptural material aspect, man is body. And the reason for putting it this way is that body enters integrity, I should say, belongs to time and primary form. That the biblical record is not that man's soul was created. And then he did what God formed the man just before the body was born. ...is not an accident. ...current in Greek philosophy. ...into Christian. That the body is the person-house of the soul. Totally anti-biblical. Totally anti-biblical. And that disparaging speculations have no affiliation with biblical conception. ...Totelian view of man's nature. ...not commending in every respect. ...be barrage. Man in nature and in grace. Pages 26 through 33. ...is correlative with the other biblical. ...that the separation of body and spirit is evil. Abnormal. Now I want to make it very clear. ...the avenue of... ...man is natively mortal. ...inherently necessary. ...fatherly. ...classic exponent. ...man because of the material aspect of... ...mortal. ...inherently. ...in the constitution. ...can maintain... ...his being. ...potability. ...the priest and sage are diverse in... ...they're diverse in metaphysical... ...this perfect harmony. ...perfect harmony. ...exercised. ...illustrate something that's... ...not quite compatible with... ...this is the quotation. ...the human body... ...is man, that's fine. ...the human body is man himself. ...perfectly correct so far. ...the human body is man himself. ...whole of his temporal appearance. ...whole appearance. ...and the human soul... ...in the pregnant religious sense... ...is man himself... ...in the radical unity of his spiritual existence... ...which transcends all temporal structures. ...the human soul in the pregnant religious sense... ...is man himself in the radical unity of his spiritual existence... ...which transcends all temporal structures. ...end of the quotation. ...that is from the translation... ...a new critique of theoretical thought... ...volume three, page eighty-nine. ...page eighty-nine. ...this is the English... ...transcends all temporal structures. ...those things apply... ...to be the biblical evidence. ...man is body... ...says in effect... ...man is body... ...it belongs to the... ...but this term... ...occurring in that temporal appearance... ...is too restrictive in its reference... ...and therefore impinges upon... ...the permanence of the integrity of human... ...the permanence of body... ...in the integrity... ...and it is not simply... ...in the structural whole of his temporal appearance... ...that the human body is man himself... ...of all... ...that the human body is man himself... ...permanent identity... ...his personality... ...now that... ...less you might be troubled by... ...ideas... ...one deals with that... ...that could be... ...that since man is dust... ...now that... ...I submit... ...the whole... ...interpretation of Genesis three... ...should be noted... ...that Genesis three ninety... ...occurs in the curse... ...that was pronounced upon man before his death... ...must never be removed... ...from that context... ...the curse pronounced upon man... ...and that means therefore that the reason... ...why he returns to dust... ...is not that he is made... ...but... ...because he has sinned... ...and the import of Genesis three nineteen... ...is to this effect... ...that the penalty... ...upon sin... ...the penalty executed upon sin... ...takes this way of... ...because... ...the penalty upon sin takes this way of executing itself... ...because... ...death... ...death must address itself... ...to man's personality... ...must address itself to man's personality... ...and it must therefore take account... ...of... ...the constitution... ...of his personality... ...his death enters into this constitution... ...it must address itself... ...to that aspect of it... ...and the appropriate way... ...of addressing itself to that aspect of his constitution... ...is return to dust... ...if man were not... ...not made of dust... ...he could not return to dust... ...this is exemplified in the case of... ...an embodied spirit... ...not made of dust... ...he could not return to dust... ...this is exemplified in the case of... ...an embodied spirit... ...the angels that kept not their first descent... ...they sinned... ...therefore the judgment of God upon their sin took effect... ...but it couldn't take effect in their case... ...that statement... ...that way of pronouncing the curse... ...couldn't have any relevance... ...because... ...they were not dust... ...originally... ...of constitution... ...for this is the importance of dust... ...in every neighborhood... ...because of that unique... ...constitution... ...the healing... ...of Constituent Divine Uniqueness... ...that he is made in the image of God... ...is so constituted by that uniqueness... ...to dust... ...the constitutive element... ...so... ...further... ...corroborating... ...of his conception... ...of man's nature... ...that he is God... ...it is well to be... ...that even in death... ...the body that is made in the tomb... ...and it is not simply... ...may I make a... ...have you been to funeral? ...that's not what's constituted... ...power... ...unto dust...
The Nature of Man - Antiquity of Man Part 2
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John Murray (1898–1975). Born on October 14, 1898, in Badbea, Scotland, John Murray was a Presbyterian theologian and preacher renowned for his Reformed theology. Raised in a devout Free Presbyterian home, he served in World War I with the Black Watch, losing an eye at Arras in 1917. He studied at the University of Glasgow (MA, 1923) and Princeton Theological Seminary (ThB, ThM, 1927), later earning a ThM from New College, Edinburgh. Ordained in 1927, he briefly ministered in Scotland before joining Princeton’s faculty in 1929, then Westminster Theological Seminary in 1930, where he taught systematic theology until 1966. His preaching, marked by precision and reverence, was secondary to his scholarship, though he pastored congregations like First Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Murray authored Redemption Accomplished and Applied and The Imputation of Adam’s Sin, shaping Reformed thought with clarity on justification and covenant theology. Married to Valerie Knowlton in 1937, he had no children and retired to Scotland, dying on May 8, 1975, in Dornoch. He said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.”