Murray Had Style
Way back in 1994, I picked up John Murray’s little booklet The Covenant of Grace: A Biblico-Theological Study. One of the things that struck me then (and just struck me again as I was re-reading it) was that Murray had a good literary style. His writing is pleasant to read. He knew a thing or two about diction and euphony. Here’s a good example, where Murray is speaking about the rainbow in Genesis 9:
It is the constant reminder that God will not prove unfaithful to His promise. The main point to be stressed now, however, is that this continuance is dependent upon divine faithfulness alone; in anthropomorphic terms, upon the divine remembrance alone. And if we fail to interpret the sign aright, if we regard it simply as a natural phenomenon without any reference to its covenantal meaning, this does not negate or nullify the divine remembrance and perpetuity of God’s faithfulness.
Look at that: long sentences, short sentences, semi-colons, and even beginning a sentence with “And.” Murray is always a pleasure to read, even when you don’t necessarily agree with him. One can easily imagine these words being said aloud with a distinctive Scottish brogue.
It IS nice. It reminds me a bit of Reverend Sikkema in its richness.