Robert Murray (priest)

Murray was born to parents who were Congregationalist missionaries in China. His grandfather was James Murray, the noted lexicographer and founding editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. His uncles included H. J. R. Murray and Oswyn Murray. He had his entire education in England. After going to school at Eltham College and Taunton School, he went to study Classics at the University of Oxford. In Oxford, where he met and became friends with J. R. R. Tolkien. While there, he converted to Catholicism. After graduating, he taught at Beaumont College, for one year. It was a school run by the Jesuits. After that year, he decided to join the Jesuits and was ordained at Heythrop College, in Oxfordshire, on 31 July 1959. The next day, at his first Mass, Tolkien was one of the altar servers. ==Academic career==

After graduating from Heythrop, he went to doctoral studies in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1963, he graduated from Rome and returned to Heythrop to teach Fundamental theology. He would teach at the college on other subjects such as scripture, patristics, ecclesiology and pastoral theology, until his retirement in 1999. Murray could understand Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, more than a couple of European languages, but he specialised in Syriac. He wrote two books that utilised his knowledge of theology and numerous languages: Symbols of Church and Kingdom. A Study in Early Syriac Tradition (Cambridge, 1975) and The Cosmic Covenant (London, 1992). ==Bibliography==