Arnold Murray

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Arnold Murray (born 1929 in Oklahoma) is a Christian Bible teacher, notable for his unique "chapter by chapter, verse by verse" approach to teaching. He is the pastor of Shepherd's Chapel in Gravette, Arkansas.

His broadcasts are carried by satellite to numerous television stations in the USA and Canada, often in late night or early morning hours. Broadcasts originate from a very spartan studio: an unadorned blue curtain behind Murray as he preaches while seated at his desk, which is topped only with 2 figurines of a bald eagle and occasionally a small bouquet of flowers. A fringed American flag stands behind his chair. His daily program consists of thirty minutes of Bible study, and thirty additional minutes of questions via mail. Murray has been broadcasting by satellite since 1985.

Contents

[edit] History

Whoever wrote this is a genuine %#$*W.

[I just edited out an expletive in the first sentence. The first sentence 'Whoever wrote this is a genuine...' was posted by some anonymous user. I've come to expect more from this site. Dispute facts, discuss opinions - but let us leave name calling out of it all. I've left all other content intact as found. Jerry Lombardo]

Born in Oklahoma in 1929, Arnold Murray is a former Marine who fought at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean war. He began his ministry in California after ordination by "Soldiers of the Cross," headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. He has two sons, Dennis and David who both participate in the ministry with their father. His wife, Anna, is deceased.

Shepherd's Chapel is registered as a non-profit under the "Soldiers of the Cross" name, in Arkansas. Verified at Arkansas Secretary of State Site: http://www.sosweb.state.ar.us/corps/search_all.php (Select "All Types"; Name: "Soldiers of the Cross"; RA: "Arnold B. Murray"; RA City: "Gravette"; RA State: "Arkansas" and search).

In 1978 Murray copyrighted his interpretation of the King James Bible, called the "Shepherd's Bible" (Registration # TX-42-142). This was in the form of booklets, quoting scripture along with his explanation following it, similar to the way he teaches now, only in written form. Murray has not authored any books since and does not give testimonies about what God has done in his life. Despite numerous attempts by various ministries asking Murray for biographical information, Murray keeps his life private.

Mr. Murray claims to hold a doctorate, but refuses to identify the college which issued this doctorate, or the institution where he received his undergraduate degree. He states that he believes that degrees do not advance ones status or favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Murray does not solicit donation except for stating "If we've helped you, help us keep coming to you" at the end of each program. He does not draw a salary and has not during his fifty year career as a preacher. [citation needed] He is not a member of the ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountablity). Shepherd's Chapel has a Board of Directors.

Recently, Murray's son Dennis Murray has taken over some of the reins of Shepherd's Chapel, since his father is advancing in age. It is Dennis Murray's voice that welcomes viewers during the opening of each program.

[edit] Preaching style

Murray teaches using a chapter by chapter, verse by verse approach, utilizing the King James Version and The Strong's Concordance almost exclusively. Murray makes a point of not naming the preachers and denominations he disagrees with, saying "let's just stick to studying God's word." Murray declines to answer questions about particular denominations within Christianity, and other religions. In doing so, he never risks offending his audience by naming names of denominations, preachers or organizations. He does mention "revolving reverends" and "one-verse Charlies," but never names them.

[edit] Controversy

Murray has come under some scrutiny for his political and spiritual views, which he terms right-wing. He claims to disagree with racist views, and teaches that all races are equal and equally loved by God. He often uses the term "tribes". For example, when he refers to the "tribe of Cain", his wording is ambiguous as to whether it means "all murderers belong to Cain's tribe", or "descendants of Cain (Cain's tribe) are predispositioned to murder." He is a proponent of British Israelism, among other unorthodox views.

[edit] Handgun incident

He gained a certain level of notoriety for retrieving a 9mm handgun out of his briefcase in response to a Christian who shouted "blasphemy" at him while recording a program, and tried to rush towards the desk that Murray sits behind during the taping of his program. Murray's response was to tell the security personnel who were already detaining the man to "take this nine millimeter to that boy!".

[edit] Teachings

[edit] God

  • In mentioning God the Father, Murray often refers to him as both "The Father," and "Our Father." He refers to Jesus as "Jesus" and "Yeshua". He refers to the Holy Ghost as the Holy Spirit. He does teach the Trinity, but in a manner that some may refer to as modalism.

[edit] Human Origins

  • Murray teaches that all the races were created on the sixth day of creation based on the scripture of Gen 1:26 and Adam and Eve were created after the seventh day. Traditional Christianity teaches that all people were descended from one man and one woman who were created on the sixth day. Murray also teaches a difference between Adam and the ha'Adam to document the above.
  • Murray teaches that God first created man in a spiritual body, there was a rebellion led by Satan, then God placed those souls into flesh bodies, born innocent on Earth and to die once in the flesh, finally returning to God in spirit for judgement. He also says that the "elect" are those who sided with God during the rebellion of Satan.
  • Murray teaches the doctrine of the "serpent seed" (God, speaking to Satan, Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." ), which is the belief that Satan beguiled Eve, and that Cain was the offspring of the union. He sites as documentation the mistranslated word "again" which Strong's Concordance #3254 documents should rightly be translated "continued" meaning Cain and Abel were fraternal twins. He further states that the first time the twins both gave their first fruits to God at the same time, traditionally would be at the day they came of age, on the same day. Further, he uses the Strong's Concrdance to document that the descendants of Cain are called Kenites [Strong's Concordance verifies the definition of Kenites to mean "Sons of Cain". He claims that these people are referred to in Matthew 13 as the "tares".

[edit] Eschatology

Murray teaches there are two tribulations. The sixth trump tribulation Rapture is the Anti-christ, effectively pretending to be Christ, and deceiving many, convincing them to "fly away" with him before the seventh trump. He teaches that the seventh trump tribulation is God's wrath. According to Murray, those who think the first ones taken from the field in the first tribulation Rapture are those deceived and are mistakenly worshiping the anti-christ, thinking he is Jesus which therefore would describe them as those having "the mark of the beast" mentioned in Revelation 13.

To support his teaching, Murray cites:

Mat 24:40 "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."
Eze 13:18 "And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?"
Eze 13:19 "And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?"
Eze 13:20 " Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly."
  • Using Strong's Concordance, he distinguishes between the terms Sheol, keber, Gehenna, Hades, Tartarus, and the lake of fire, while some Christians do not distinguish between the terms, or infer them to mean the same thing (viz., Hell). He teaches that the Lake of Fire is an annihilation of the soul; that souls judged wicked cease to exist (blotted out) at the end of the millennium testing. (He bases this on Ezekiel 28 and other passages.)

[edit] Other Teachings

  • Teaches that there is a separation of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 (See Gap creationism). He cites the alleged mistranslation of the word היה in Gen 1:2, which incorrectly translated as "was", should have been translated (according to Strong's Concordance) correctly as "became", thus reading : "Gen 1:2 And the earth became without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" He states that this teaching is also supported by other scriptures in the Bible.
  • Teaches that there were 8 Adamic souls on Noah's Ark, and 2 (male/female) of every flesh including human flesh. Traditional Christianity only considers that there were 8: Noah, his wife, Noah's 3 sons (Shem, Ham and Japheth) and their wives. Murray teaches that that possibly 2 of the other souls on the ark would include Kenites.
  • He believes and has stated as fact an urban legend that NASA scientists have discovered a "missing" day in time that corresponds to the Bible's account of the sun's standing still in the sky (Joshua 10:13). Murray was observed doing this on May 5, 2005. [1]
  • He teaches that the Bible supports the Death Penalty for those accused of murder and rape.
  • He teaches that the Rapture of the righteous before Satan's tribulation at the sixth trump is a false doctrine, and that those who believe it will be deceived by Satan during that tribulation.
  • Teaches the doctrine of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.
  • Murray rejects the use of the term "reverend" for himself, claiming that only God is entitled to this term.
  • Teaches that the single instance where "Easter" appears in the bible is obviously mistranslated, saying that the the original word is "pascal" and should have been translated correctly as "Passover". He also states that the word "Easter" refers to the goddess "Ishtar", and is a fertility rite ceremony. He declares Webster's Dictionary documents this.

[edit] External links

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