In Memoriam: Leon Morris (1914-2006)

I was saddened to hear last week of the death of reknowned Australian Reformed Anglican scholar, Leon Morris. In recent years, Morris' works have been the source of tremendous spiritual encouragement and education for me. It was four years ago that I first read his The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, his PhD dissertation for Cambridge that is still today one of the most compelling defenses and expositions of the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Covering the biblical themes of Redemption, Covenant, "The Blood", "The Lamb of God", Propitiation, Reconciliation and Justification, it is a tour de force of biblical theology.

What has attracted me to Morris' work has been the centrality of Christ's work of atonement in the Gospel. There is little room for the works of man in our salvation, as this quote (one of my favorites) found in the closing pages of The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross argues:

The people of God on the scriptural view are those who have entered into covenant with Him, and this might well be viewed as an activity of man as well as of God. But the initiative is always thought of as resting with God, and man's part is no more than the accepting of a covenant whose terms have been laid down by God. Thus the very idea of covenant, as the Bible understands it, puts the stress on the divine activity, and this is reinforced by the fact that the covenant in the New Testament is established only because the Son of God died for man and thus put away his sin. There is very little place for human activity in this way of viewing Calvary, and once again we see that atonement is essentially something wrought for, rather than in, man. (p. 300)

The theme of the centrality of the Cross as the heart of the Gospel was a theme I encountered when I read his Galatians: Paul's Charter of Christian Freedom:

That the cross is absolutely central means that the keeping of the law cannot be imposed on Gentile believers. The teachers Paul was opposing apparently did not grasp this. They were insisting that all converts must keep the whole law. The law was part of revealed Scripture and they saw it as binding on all. The law was at the heart of God's purpose, they thought, and this for Gentile believers as for Jews. Paul does not denigrate the law. It was divinely given and it was regarded as a great treasure by the Israelites in general, and Paul in particular. Paul sees it as very important. But it is not the way of salvation. To see the law as divinely given and as an incomparable guide to the way we should live out our salvation is one thing, but it is quite another to affirm that anyone's salvation hangs on the way he or she keeps the law. (p. 27)

These two books are excellent antidotes to those who today want to smuggle man's work and obedience into our salvation under the guise of "covenantal obedience" and other sundry postmodern theological inventions.

It was more than a year ago that Morris' The Cross in the New Testament took a place in my reading stack. Honestly, I have still not finished it, more out of laziness than anything else. But the third that I have read (covering Matthew, Mark and Luke) are a testament to solid biblical scholarship. His footnotes alone are worth the read, for they demonstrate his masterful handling of the vast body of theological literature on the topic. And still, the dominant theme of Christ's work and his identification with sinners is central:

The revolutionary thing in the practice of Jesus was his readiness to identify Himself with ordinary men. He did not take up a position anythig like that of the general run of religious leaders. He did not blame or despise men for failing to keep the traditions. He did not regard Himself as too holy to come into contact with them. He did not thank God that he was not like other men. Instead He sought them out. He talked with them. He dined with them. He made Himself one with them... He made Himself one with sinner because His mission concerned sinners, because He came to do for them that which was vitally necessary, but which they could not do for themselves. (pp. 90-92)

About the same time as I started reading The Cross in the New Testament, I also picked up his New Testament Theology. For good reason, this is a standard theological textbook in many evangelical seminaries. This is an excellent study of theology proper - the study of the person of God. And as Morris progresses through the New Testament, he shows how each biblical writer adds to our understand of who God is.

Morris, of course, is best known for his magnum opus, his NICNT commentary on the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John was a frequent stomping ground for Morris, and his lectures on John (some of which are available for free from SermonAudio) communicate his love for the topic. I hope to get to his commentary soon after finishing The Cross in the New Testament and the NICNT commentary on Hebrews by Bruce.

For me, the particular value of Morris' work has been for its clarity, accessibility, and focus on the work of Christ for us as the paramount message of the Gospel. Excepting The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, which does have some discussion on Greek terminology that might that might require some modest familiarity with the language, Morris writes without all of the flower and show that seems to be endemic with theological writers today. He is a "meat and potatoes" theologian. But it is rock solid. Even in his shorter devotional works, like The Cross of Christ, have meat enough to eat. His commentary on Galatians I cited above is an excellent example of what popular commentaries should be - engaging, informative and readable. Through his theological writings and his many years of teaching, Leon Morris has forged a lasting legacy worthy of the saying, "Though dead, he yet speaks". Blessed in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

What I'm listening to: At the recommendation of Clay Biggs, I'm listening to Maurice Duruflé, Sacred Choral and Organ Works. I've only listened to the first disc of two thus far (which includes his Requiem, Op. 9), but this is great music to soothe the soul. Very passionate and an excellent blend of organ and voice. As always, this is a good call by Mr. Biggs.

Update #1: D.A. Carson has some remembrances of Morris at Reformation21.