Theology: Two Books Touching J. Gresham Machen

Defending the Faith
By D.G. Hart
P & R Publishing, 2003
(228 pages, $14.99, paperback)

reviewed by Lon Atkins

A champion of traditional Biblical Christianity in the Presbyterian Church, and in the larger world, J. Gresham Machen fought against the encroachment of Liberalism into churches during the 1920s and ‘30s. Machen's far-sighted position statement, Christianity and Liberalism , first published in 1923, reads as an accurate indictment of mainstream Protestant denominations today. Machen asserted that Liberalism is not Christian by any historical standard we can find and that, worse, it diametrically opposes much fundamental Christian doctrine. His analytic demonstration of these facts is brilliantly logical.

Hart gives us a thorough account of the personal and professional lives of J. Gresham Machen, a son of Southern gentility and conservatism. The biography reads almost like a novel in its presentation, yet observes both Machen's strengths and his weaknesses with a scrupulous eye. I came away feeling that I knew both Machen and his battles as if I had lived in those days (though some of this familiarity stems from my experience opposing today's unhappy secularization of the Episcopal Church into which I was born).

Machen taught at Princeton Seminary during its era of strong Calvinistic orthodoxy in the tradition of Charles Hodge and Benjamin Warfield. He made his reputation early with the release of Christianity and Liberalism , presented first as a lecture, then as an article in the Princeton Theological Review , and finally as a book. Fundamentalism was on the rise, and sharpshooters like H. L. Mencken were blasting away at anything that didn't salute Darwin . Machen's little book presented the orthodox case with such clarity and logic that even Mencken was impressed. Of course, the fundamentalists also claimed Machen as being of their own persuasion. It is ironic that both sides claimed, at the time, a man who truly endorsed neither camp; Machen's primary concern was the apostate drift within his own denomination.

The Presbyterian Church USA was falling progressively under the control of men who desired the cachet of popular and political correctness. As Machen struggled to make the plain principles of the Gospel evident, and to keep the popularizing liberal contingent out of power, human vanity and politics undercut him. Hart shows the politics without editorializing—I suspect he knows we will see unsettling parallels to our current situation in the mainstream Protestant churches.

In the end, Machen's stiff-necked approach led to his failure. Liberals had redefined core Christian doctrines to align with the Spirit of This World. Machen's acerbic (and sometimes personal) comments bruised tender egos. The aftermath led to the formation of a new seminary and a new denomination. Machen poured his own money and enormous personal energy into the cause. By the age of 56 he was dead, but his contributions should not be forgotten. His was a prophetic vision.

Christianity and Liberalism
By J. Gresham Machen
PWm. B. Eerdmans, 1923, 21st printing
(195 pages, $12.00, paperback)

The first sentence of the Introduction reads, “The purpose of this book is not to decide the religious issue of the present day, but merely to present the issue as sharply and as clearly as possible, in order that the reader may be aided in deciding it for himself.” Machen seems to believe that the conflict of ideas can be separated from human politics. Machen is no politician, yet his opponents thrive on politics. Indeed they draw the core of their revisionist doctrine from what we today call “political correctness.”

Machen is ready for the battle. When he says “sharply,” he means it. Liberalism is an “attack upon the fundamentals of the Christian faith.” The traditional and right principles are then expounded in lucid terms backed by Biblical references. Machen's superlative knowledge of the Pauline corpus is much in evidence. He highlights the exit ramps by which liberalism is departing from apostolic faith.

What to do? Machen decides that he is called to step up and proclaim the Truth. His blend of academic expertise and deep faith produces a classic. His chapter titles (“Doctrine,” “God and Man,” “The Bible,” “Christ,” “Salvation,” and “The Church”) serve as probing searchlights with which to examine the ideologies of Liberalism. Machen's critical observations blend nicely with his reflections on doctrine and its practical application within the community of belief. This book is in many ways a devotional as well as an apologetic. The light shining through these pages is the light of Christ's words spoken to the Pharisees in the discourses of John.

Read this book for the pleasure of Machen's language, for the correct theology within Machen's language, and for Machen's courage, intelligence, and faithfulness to Christ. The world can grind away at Christians, seeking, through the many pressures its dark prince can exert, to turn our eyes from the goal, to weary us. In his chapter on the church, Machen reminds us that the Liberal theology is cruel, though it seeks to disguise itself as an angel of light. He writes, “It is strange how in the interests of an utterly false kindness to men, Christians are sometimes willing to relinquish their loyalty to the crucified Lord,” describing a blind disloyalty of the sort that recalls Matthew 7:21-23.

This review covers two books that are closely linked. It's possible to read Christianity and Liberalism on its own, but to take it from of its historical context is to scrap half of its value. Defending the Faith provides that context. I'm generally interested in old books, but those that tell me something about the world unfolding today particularly fascinate me. This one is achingly relevant to the contemporary mainstream Protestant churches in America . As a Harvard philosopher prominent in Machen's day wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”(George Santayana, Reason in Common Sense ). Let us remember Machen's struggle for truth.

Lon Atkins is an Anglican and a bibliophile. He and his wife Julie live up in the Blue Ridge mountains near Roanoke, VA, where they are active members of the Church of St Peter and St Paul (www.httppeterpaul.org).