Christianity & Liberalism
Reviews (168)
J. Gresham Machen: Christ Crucified and Contrarian Christianity
As I read this book, J. Gresham Machen reminds me of many things, all characteristic of Old Protestantism, and even overtones of classic Puritanism. His writes with the passion of Whitefield, his words have a fire like Wesley, and he possesses both the clarity and contrarianism of Calvin. He's a conservative Presbyterian who preaches like a revivalistic Pentecostal. Simply put, we need more men like Machen in today's church. I don't know about you, but folks, we need Christ, and Christ crucified. Not the Jesus of our imagination, but the Jesus of the blood-soaked Scriptures. In this book, Machen brings his spiritual hammer (the Word of God), and battles the false philosophies of this world (2 Cor. 10:5-6). He unsheathes his sword, and wields it against a false religion, a pretender that cloaks itself in Christian language - "Liberalism". This religion is a marriage of naturalism, humanism, secularism, and sentimentalism all rolled into one. It's anything but Christian. The voices of Old Liberalism (F. Schleiermacher, A. Ritschl, W. Bousset) that Machen is doing serious war with here, are in so many "conservative" denominations and churches today it's shameful. Every "elementary" Christian issue he speaks about - Christ, the Bible, Sin, Salvation, the Church, God & Man - is so diluted or discarded in today's American "church" that most of us are in a Hebrews 5:11-14 situation at best, and a 2 Tim. 4:1-4 situation at worst. Both our recent and present generations are products of the continued fight for the basic truths of the Bible. Both grandparents and parents who have grown up in the church have not endured sound doctrine, and preachers have not "kept the faith". It's passed on to the "Now" generation of church youth, who believe in an imaginary Jesus, and live in a virtual world. Machen speaks against this false religion in devastating fashion. He speaks matter-of-factly and with biblical exactitude. His writing is not for the weak-stomached Christian. Those who are used to pastoral jokes, cute stories about Easter, and fun vacations at your small group - you probably need a "Diet" or "Baby Machen" version of this book. He'll punch you in the mouth if you're not careful. I'm serious. Even for the weathered Christian, the person steeped in the Puritans, the Old Presbyterians, the serious Pentecostals, the student of Edwards, the lover of Lloyd-Jones, this is honestly a spiritually exhausting book to read. You're basically reading all-out theological/spiritual warfare. You've been translated into another reality of the spiritual battle raging which didn't end with the Fundamentals, with Machen, with the Chicago Statement, etc., but will rage and continue to rage. It's a battle between true and false religion. Between a Jesus who is a teacher and a Jesus who is the Savior. Machen, in a concise 153 pages, opens up the biblical canons and fires everything the Word of God has against this false religion. In my estimation it's a book every Christian must read and arm themselves with. There is a profound and substantive difference between true and false religion - Jesus.
much better copies are available for free download
The quality of the text is abysmal, it hurts my eyes. The quality and content of the writing is extraordinary, but the text itself is smeared and muddy. This book is available in the public domain. Don't buy it from Amazon, much better copies are available for free download. That being said, by all means read the book! It's amazing that Menchen can perfectly describe modern liberalism as far back as 1923, before the sexual revolution of the Sixties, which seemed to me the object of liberal worship today. Liberal Christianity is anti-Christian, as Menchen so ably demonstrates in this book.
A Classic Defense of Christianity!
The argument of the book is that liberalism is distinct from Christianity and is a different religion altogether. Liberalism attempts to reconcile Christianity with science and modern thinking. It finds its source in the feelings and thoughts of men. They deny essential Christian doctrines, such as the inerrancy of the Scriptures, the virgin birth, deity of Christ and many others. Their religion uses Jesus's teachings to combat society's ills. They see Him as a great moral teacher instead of the Messiah. They deny original sin, which is reflected in their optimistic view of mankind. Christianity stands in contrast to liberalism. Christianity is concerned with the solution to sin. It faces sin head-on. It proclaims Jesus died on the cross in our place to forgive us of our sins and that he was bodily resurrected from the dead. Christianity is doctrinal and historically supportable, unlike liberalism. The historicity is attested to by the inerrant Word of God, the Bible, especially Paul's epistles and the Gospels. Christianity sees Jesus as the object of faith, not merely an ethical example. This book packed so much into 152 pages, it is amazing! You can tell the author was passionate about sound doctrine. It still speaks to us today as we continue to defend the Christian faith.
"Stupendous" (Minus 1 star for the scanned font on kindle version)
Could a book be more relevant for today? Well, surely God's Word is--but Machen's book written nearly a hundred years ago seems pre-molded for modern America 2015. We live in the age of Creflo Dollar's gospel, Bart Ehrman's textual criticism, Rob Bell's universalism, Joel Osteen's preaching, and Oprah Winfrey's theology. If the circumstances surrounding Dr. Machen's early 20th century world were bad--what has it come to today?! There indeed is nothing new under the sun. The battles that were wrestled in the past are the same battles we are fighting today (though perhaps under different names). Machen iterates, "The greatest menace to the Christian Church today comes not from the enemies outside, but from the enemies within; it comes from the presence within the church of a type of faith and practice that is anti-Christian to the core." It is therefore that menace to the precious church of Jesus Christ that Machen fights against with all righteous tenacity of a shepherd whose flock is under siege by wolves. Machen reveals that "Liberal Christianity" is not Christianity at all. He goes as far as to say that liberalism is no "mere hersey" as it proceeds from a "totally different root". Liberal Christianity, as Machen defines in the opening, is a false gospel. It has a different view of God, a far more positive view of man, a different view of Jesus Christ, and therefore a far different view of salvation. Jesus under the liberal teaching is no longer the "object of our faith" but a faithful example to us of ethics, morals, and love for all. Man needs only follow his example alone and all will be well! To that Machen says--FALSE RELIGION. If Jesus did not live, die, and rise from the dead in historical time and space we have nothing. A gospel without the supernatural, Machen concedes, may be easier to believe--but it would not be worth believing! We are in desperate need of deliverance from our sin, and only the blood of Jesus can satisfy that need. Machen also includes a brief and incredibly strong defense of the authenticity of Paul's letters as well as the unity of the Scriptures as a whole. "Christianity and Liberalism" is an excellent defense for the Truth of the Gospel as expressed throughout Scripture and could not be more relevant for today. I marked down one star because the font was scanned directly from the hard copy--and not the Amazon "Bookerly" font I prefer for the Kindle. Some words were impossible to read as some letters were distorted. All in all 5 stars for Machen. 3 for Kindle edition (99 cent purchase keeps it from going any lower).
Guard Your Heart
Excellent book - since purchasing this, I'd since seen it referenced in various other writings and reference material, so good to have read it personally, and had the back up for knowing what the writing is others are referring to. The reviewer has attended (unknowingly at the time) a 'liberal' so called church all their life, and still does (for certain reasons beyond review material), but not all of them are the same. Ours is one that never mentions the LORD, The Cross, hardly the words, "Jesus Christ" and never Salvation. It mainly talks of 'following his teachings' (despite that Jesus never said to 'follow my teachings', but Follow Me. Last Sunday, we heard on Buddhism by a guest pastor who talked about 'truth' and never mentioned Our LORD , that I Am The Truth, and no one batted an eye-lash over it. This book was comforting to read in that to know others are recognizing such disparities, and the history of what he referred to as a completely different 'religion' altogether (this took me all the way back to Eve's Seeing only of a Tree that was without The Life, having not Heard His Voice in Understanding, but rather being propelled to the inclinations of the heart of the 'natural man', a perpetual situation..
A church that is a rotary club is not a church at all.
Despite the title of this book, it has nothing to do with politics. Well, it interacts with politics insofar as it critiques a Christianity that is only interested in dogooding. But primarily this book is a robust defense of the fundamental tenants of the Christian faith, and how by discarding the divinity of Christ, the authority of the Scriptures, the reality of sin and the need for repentance, a different religion from Christianity has been constructed. Despite his reputation, Machen is surprisingly gregarious. He waxes about what all true Christian sects have in common that allow us to identify each other as brothers. He discusses the doubts and issues a believer might face while still identifying them as a true Christian. What he has no time for are preachers who reduce Jesus to being a 'good teacher' (For if Jesus is not who he claimed to be, he was a madman, not someone worthy of emulation), discard the Bible and essentially want to turn the church into a social club with a vaguely spiritual gloss. What he especially takes issue with are the ministers who lie, who take oaths confessing they subscribe to doctrines, belief in the Bible, and specific creeds/confessions, then turn around and openly dispute them. He has respect for the Unitarian church as they're honest about what they believe. He disagrees with them appreciates their candor. He has no patience for those who wanted to turn (and are succeeding) in turning the Presbyterian church into a Unitarian church. Machen was right. The denomination he was defending is now rife with those preaching exactly what he feared, that Jesus was not God, God is not Triune, there is no ressurrection, and that there is no hell (and possibly no heaven). This is not a form of Christianity, but something different altogether. And we should be wary of those who use vague spiritual notions to try and make the world a better place. Reading this helped snap into place why Machen stood opposed to the Christian push for Prohibition and why he refused the invitation to speak at the Scopes Trial. This book is just as applicable today as it was when it was first printed.
As true today as it ever was
It would appear that little has changed in the 90 years since this book was first published. Or, perhaps more accurately, the capitulation of large segments of the evangelical church to the relentless tide of what Machen termed "liberalism" has gone unchecked. Either way, the result is the same. Confessing churches have decreasing adherence to their confessions and much of what is labeled as "Christianity" bears little resemblance to the model of faith held up in the Bible. Machen knows this territory well, being on the faculty of Princeton Seminary when the trustees went all in as the philosophy we know today as Modernity swept through society. As a result, he and several of his colleagues left Princeton to found a seminary and a denomination, Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Their purpose was to continue to teach and uphold those things which had long been essential to the church and were clearly affirmed in its confessions, such as the Westminster and Belgic confessions. Today virtually every denomination that was considered mainline in his day has rolled over to the trends driving society, and the church is infinitely poorer and weaker for it. I found much in this book that rings true, in part because I am a member of perhaps the last mainline denomination that hasn't gone completely off track. But some days it seems as if we are in a car going through a corner at high speed and with only three wheels on the ground. Rollover seems a heartbeat away. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is in church leadership and wonders about the threat to the church from the culture. It is a threat that feels more immediate today than when Machen wrote these words. Yet I also believe, with Machen, that the church itself will survive, for God has always preserved for himself a remnant of the faithful, to be his witnesses in an unbelieving world.
An important book...
Though an elitist and pedant, Machen is also an astute critic of modern liberal Christianity, rightly noting that it deviates radically from Biblical Christianity in every fundamental dogma. Read this and you will understand why theological liberalism is a different religion than historic Biblical Christianity. This is an irritating book in certain ways due to the elitism of the author and certain rigidly false views he himself propounds (note especially his description of the essential Galatian heresy and his description of Christ's purpose in preaching the Sermon on the Mount), yet it is an important book and will be influential in years to come when the prickly nature of its author is no longer remembered.
A True Christian Education!
A must read for all Christians in this modern age. We must defend the faith and re educate ourselves when The Gospel is being watered down by liberal thought and society. Written in 1923 this book relates to 2017 like you won't believe. We need to know what we believe and this book will truly educate us in that direction. It will also clarify what we don't believe as Christians! Yes we Christians can be intellectual in our faith and yes we are on a firm ground at the foot of the cross!!!
Excellent Definition of Liberalism vs. Fundamentalism
Text arrived overseas in Korea in just 2 weeks--New book--very good service-- The text gives an excellent definition of liberalism vs. Fundamentalism--Machen calls for the liberals to leave the conservative churches and start their own denominations and churches--that did not happen and most conservatives were timid enough to co-exist with the liberals--Machen separated himself from Princeton Seminary and started his own school: Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, PA--he then left the Presbyterian denomination and started a Conservative Presbyterian denomination--J. Gresham Machen was a great man of God who stood for the truth of the Bible and separated himself from people who would not do the same--must reading for everyone interested in the difference between Conservative Fundamentalism and Liberalism--
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