Who is Arnold Murray?

Arnold Murray’s background and public ministry

So, who is Arnold Murray? Arnold Murray is the pastor of a church called the Shepherds Chapel which is based out of Gravatt, Arkansas. He has about 200 or more television stations that carry his ministry.

Mr. Murray presents himself as a Christian scholar, calls himself doctor and says he is an ex-marine who served in the Korean War where he was wounded. Unfortunately, proof of his doctorate degree is not available.

He also refuses to provide any documentation regarding his scholastic achievements. In fact, getting any information on Mr. Murray is very difficult. He is rather private about his personal history and he has refused so far to provide much biographical information about himself.

Also, it is not necessary to have a doctorate degree in order to be a good teacher of the Word of God. But since he refers to himself as a doctor, it would be nice to verify his credentials. No such verification is manifested from him so far.

Questions about Murray’s church history and theological influences

Mr. Murray stated that when he was young he attended many different churches and that he has incorporated some of these teachings from these different churches into his current theology. Where are these churches?

What different churches did he go to? We are again remiss to be able to find out his history. What churches did he go to? We want to know if any of them were non-Christian cults. We want to know if they were Orthodox or if they were not.

We want to know because we want to find out what his theological background is since it might explain where he gets some of his aberrant theological ideas. Mr. Murray, or Pastor Murray as his followers call him, teaches a brand of theology that has many problems.

Denial of the Trinity, hell, and the rapture

Mr. Murray denies the doctrine of the Trinity. He denies the existence of hell and the rapture. He states that Eve had sexual relations with the devil and that his union produced Cain. When watching his television show, it becomes quickly evident that he is a bit condescending to those who he claims are misled.

This is something that seems to have rubbed off on his followers. He justifies this approach by stating that he was in the Marines and learned how to teach his troops with discipline. Unfortunately, his approach lacks the humility and grace of the Holy Spirit.

Christian Identity teaching and distorted biblical interpretation

Mr. Murray is also frequently a teacher of what is called the Christian Identity Movement, which says that the British, and therefore the Americans and Canadians, are the true descendants of the lost tribes of Israel.

This is something that no serious Bible scholar will take seriously. Mr. Murray supports his off-base theological positions by interpreting verses in light of his preconceived ideas, sometimes stripping biblical verses right out of their context.

He also selectively appeals to the Strong's Concordance, cites what Greek and Hebrew words mean, and weaves his theological positions into the text at his convenience. In reality, all he has done is justify his ideas through his unsound interpretive techniques.