The New Life aids Christians in their examination of the scripture and offers valuable information to believers who want to overcome sin and live the Christian life. While Murray's book is specifically designed for young converts, the text is useful to all Christians. Murray's chapters cover a variety of different topics that Christians, particularly those new to the faith, will find remarkably helpful. Murray discusses how Christians should approach the tasks of missionary work, prayer, confession, and baptism. The text also provides practical guidance regarding money, self-denial, discretion, and the temptations of worldly evil. New Life is a personal devotional, but it is also a resourceful tool for large congregations, small groups, and prayer meetings. The text is simply and easy to understand, and while each individual entry is rather short, Murray supplies substantial scriptural reference for further exploration.
Emmalon Davis
CCEL Staff Writer
About the Author
Andrew Murray (9 May 1828 - 18 January 1917) was a South African writer, teacher and Christian pastor. Murray considered missions to be "the chief end of the church".
Andrew Murray was the second child of Andrew Murray Sr. (1794-1866), a Dutch Reformed Church missionary sent from Scotland to South Africa. He was born in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. His mother, Maria Susanna Stegmann, was of French Huguenot and German Lutheran descent.
Murray was sent to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland for his initial education, together with his elder brother, John. Both remained there until they obtained their master's degrees in 1845. During this time they were influenced by Scottish revival meetings and the ministry of Robert Murray McCheyne, Horatius Bonar, and William Burns. From there, they both went to the University of Utrecht where they studied theology. The two brothers became members of Het R�veil, a religious revival movement opposed to the rationalism which was in vogue in the Netherlands at that time. Both brothers were ordained by the Hague Committee of the Dutch Reformed Church on 9 May 1848 and returned to the Cape.
Murray married Emma Rutherford in Cape Town, South Africa, on 2 July 1856. They had eight children together (four boys and four girls).
Murray pastored churches in Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town and Wellington, all in South Africa. He was a champion of the South African Revival of 1860.
In 1889, he was one of the founders of the South African General Mission (SAGM), along with Martha Osborn and Spencer Walton. After Martha Osborn married George Howe, they formed the South East Africa General Mission (SEAGM) in 1891. SAGM and SEAGM merged in 1894. Because its ministry had spread into other African countries, the mission's name was changed to Africa Evangelical Fellowship (AEF) in 1965. AEF joined with Serving In Mission (SIM) in 1998 and continues to this day.
Through his writings, Murray was also a key "Inner Life" or "Higher Life" or Keswick leader, and his theology of faith healing and belief in the continuation of the apostolic gifts made him a significant forerunner of the Pentecostal movement.
In 1894, Murray was visited by John McNeill and Rev. J Gelson Gregson, the ex-British Army Chaplain and Keswick convention speaker.
Murray died on 18 January 1917, at age 88. He was so influenced by Johann Christoph Blumhardt's M�ttlingen revival that he included a portion of Friedrich Z�ndel's biography at the end of With Christ in the School of Prayer. (wikipedia.org)
