James Martin Gray

James Martin Gray (May 11, 1851 – September 21, 1935) was a pastor in the Reformed Episcopal Church, a Bible scholar, editor, and hymn writer, and the president of Moody Bible Institute, 1904-34.

Gray was born in New York City as one of the younger of eight children. His father, Hugh Gray, died shortly after his birth. James Gray was raised in the Episcopal church, and probably after attending college in New York, [It is possible, though unlikely, that Gray never attended college. An early biographer says that Gray "was born in the city of New York in 1851; and as a youth enjoyed its exceptional educational advantages." J.M.H., "Rev. James M. Gray, D.D.," "Our Field and Work", 1 (June 1898), 105.] he began training for a career as a priest in the Episcopal Church. While preparing himself for the ministry, Gray experienced an evangelical conversion (mostly likely in 1873) after reading homilies on the book of Proverbs by William Arnot. [John David Hannah, "James Martin Gray, 1851-1935: His Life and Work," Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary (1974), 68.] In 1870, he married Amanda Thorne, who died in 1875 while giving birth to their fifth child, who also died. [ [http://mmm.moody.edu/GenMoody/default.asp?SectionID=13F805882ACF4020AE62F6133C4848D8 MBI biography] ]

Gray prepared for the ministry in New York, where the Episcopal Church was especially troubled by the conflict between evangelicals and the Tractarians, who hoped to encourage increased ritualism. In 1873, Bishop George D. Cummins resigned from the Episcopal Church and helped found the Reformed Episcopal denomination. Gray sided with the seceders. [Hannah, 72-75.]

Gray was ordained in 1877, and assumed the pastorate of the Church of the Redemption in Brooklyn, New York for one year. He spent another year at the Church of the Cornerstone in Newburgh. In 1879, he was called to assist an elderly pastor at the small Reformed Episcopal Church in Boston, which prospered after his arrival and grew from a handful of worshipers to a congregation of more than 230. The Boston church also managed to establish three separate church during Gray's pastorate, all of which failed shortly after his departure. [Hannah, 77-91.]

While in Boston, he also became involved with Adoniram Judson Gordon in the founding of the Boston Bible and Missionary Training School, later Gordon Divinity School and was a professor from 1889 to 1904. There he married Susan G. Gray, who also served on the faculty. [Hannah, 92-97.] During this period, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, conferred on Gray an honorary doctor of divinity degree. [Runyan, 41. In 1929, Gray was awarded another honorary degree, by the short-lived Des Moines University.]

Throughout the 1890s, Gray worked alongside D. L. Moody in the latter's evangelistic campaigns in New York, Boston and Chicago, and Gray became connected Moody Bible Institute serving in a variety of positions from summer guest lecturer (beginning in 1892) to dean, executive secretary, and finally, president (the third, after D. L. Moody and R. A. Torrey) from 1904 to 1934. He edited "Moody Monthly" and preached at Moody's Chicago Avenue Church (later known as the Moody Church).

On November 1, 1934, he resigned as President of MBI at the age of 83, but continued to serve as President-Emeritus. He died of a heart attack on September 21, 1935. The Torrey-Gray Auditorium at the Moody Bible Institute is named in honor of Gray and his predecessor, R. A. Torrey.

Theologically, Gray was an early fundamentalist who upheld the inspiration of the Bible and opposed the contemporary trend toward a social gospel. Gray was also a dispensationalist who believed in the premillennial, pre-tribulational return of Jesus Christ at the Rapture. [Hannah, 2.]

Gray was one of the seven editors of the first Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. Gray wrote 25 books and pamphlets, some of which continue in print. He also wrote a number of hymns, perhaps the best known of which is "Only a Sinner, Saved by Grace". [ [http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/sinner.html Only a Sinner ] at my.homewithgod.com]

Bibliography

*"The History of the Holy Dead". New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1896.
*"Bulwarks of the Faith". Elgin, IL: Brethren Publishing House, 1899.
*"Synthetic Bible Studies". New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1906.
*"The Antidote to Christian Science: How to Deal with It from the Bible and Christian Point of View". New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1907.
*"Scofield Reference Bible", editor, 1909
*"Satan and the Saint: The Present Darkness and the Coming Light". Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, c1909.
*"Great Epochs of Sacred History and the Shadows They Cast'. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1910.
*"Progress in the Life to Come". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1910.
*"Salvation from Start to Finish". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1911.
*"Bible Problems Explained". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1913.
*"Christian Worker's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1915.
*"Prophecy and the Lord's Return: A Collection of Popular Articles and Addresses". New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1917.
*"Picture of the Resurrection". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1917.
*"A Textbook on Prophecy". New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1918
*"Spiritism and the Fallen Angels in the Light of the Old and New Testaments". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1920.
*"Teaching and Preaching that Counts". New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1934.
*"The Holy Spirit in Doctrine and Life". New York: Fleming H. Revell, c1936.
*"How to Master the English Bible". Chicago: Moody Press, 1951.
*"Mountain Peaks of Prophecy". New York: Christian Herald Bible House, N.d.
*"The Story of My Conversion". Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, N.d.
*"The Concise Bible Commentary", Hendrickson Publishers (current edition) ISBN 1-56563-393-8

Notes

References

*Hannah, John. "James Martin Gray 1851-1935: His Life and Work." Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1974.
*Runyan, William. "Dr. Gray at Moody Bible Institute". New York: Oxford University Press, 1935.
* [http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=102 Short biographical sketch]
* [http://mmm.moody.edu/GenMoody/default.asp?SectionID=13F805882ACF4020AE62F6133C4848D8 Biography from Moody Bible Institute website]