Christianity & Liberalism

by J. Gresham Machen

Genres: Theology, Christian, Classics, Cultural

Paperback

Published January 24, 2009

About the author

John Gresham Machen was an influential American Presbyterian theologian in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1915 and 1929, and led a conservative revolt against modernist theology at Princeton and formed Westminster Seminary as a more orthodox alternative. This split was irreconcilable, and Machen led others to form the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Reviews

[Grant Van Brimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

every Christian should read this like every 2 years.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some classics introduce earth shaking paradigms and then are outdone by later works that develop those paradigms into maturity. But, at least from my limited reading as a twenty-first century Christian, Machen's theological treatment of liberalism is still standing head and shoulders above many current attempts to address these issues. His rhetoric is pleasant and his insights are poignant. No wonder this is a classic!

[Nathan Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a slow burn, but he makes some great arguments and points. Overall he does a good job of showing liberalism as its own religion and separate from Christianity.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Machen was unbelievably prescient in his analysis of the church’s ills. His genius is his ability to boil down every argument to
its essence. So many applications to today!

[Cole Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book the author sets forth the thesis that classical liberal Christianity is a completely different religion than historical Christianity. Written over 100 years ago we do not find ourselves facing the same problem of classical liberalism but this book is very helpful by way of example in how we face modern attacks against the Gospel of Jesus Christ and historic Christianity. It also is very straightforward in its explanations of the Christian view of God and man, the Bible, Jesus, Salvation, and the Church as well as the necessity for Christian doctrine.

I highly recommend this short book for anyone seeking an example for how to address modern liberal “Christianity”, pluralism, or syncretism in the church today. But even more broadly I think this book is helpful for someone who wants to understand historic Christianity and hear a well thought out defense of the need which mankind has for it and ultimately for Jesus Christ in every age.

[Alex Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian should read this book! It has been said that this book is one of the most influential books of the 20th century and it still rings true today. Machen is brilliant. He offers a stark warning against theological liberalism which has invaded our evangelical churches, resulting in a turn and trust in self with a low view of sin and God. What a beautiful work of art and refreshment to the soul.

[John Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, written in the 1920s, sounds like it was written in the 2020s. Or in the year 120. The truth of the Gospel will always be true and there will always be people who oppose it or try to "improve" it.

[David Northup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this a of couple years ago. Machen wields a sharp sword to chop the heads off of modern theological liberal ideas. The book is about a hundred years old I think but still super useful today. Every American Christian should read this book. It will even expose the theological drifting occurring today.

[Stephen Hoogerhyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was first published in 1923 it is still very much applicable today. At times as I read it I was astonished to realize it speaks directly to today's situation.

Carl Trueman, in his introduction to this new edition, writes what serves well as a summary for the book: "A gospel rooted in Scripture and based on the historical action of God in Christ is still the primary need of the world around us. Anything less is not just inadequate; it is in realty not historic, redemptive Christianity in any meaningful sense."

Machen was writing to combat the creeping liberalism that was threatening, and would eventually engulf, the Presbyterian Church in the USA. I found it interesting that he wrote it was not yet imperative that Christians withdraw from the PCUSA. But only thirteen years later he deemed that the time had indeed come.

For the modern reader, some of Machen's prose may be difficult, but patience will be rewarded. Machen was very thorough and specific in his explanations and criticisms. I found his comments on the public education system to be very incisive, and incredibly on point even today. But what I appreciated most was his hammering away at the crux of Christianity, his continual insistence that Christianity is based upon a message (the gospel), and that message has content (doctrine), and that content is based upon historical facts, as revealed to us in God's inspired and infallible Word.

As he writes, "'Christ died'--that is history; 'Christ died for our sins'--that is doctrine. Without these two elements, joined in an absolutely indissoluble union, there is no Christianity." Furthermore, "But it was the message, 'He is risen'. That message alone gave to the disciples a living Saviour; and it alone can give to us a living Saviour to-day."

Machen consistently shows how liberalism gives glory to man by giving man a large part of their own salvation, while Christianity gives all the glory to God for his saving work. "Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity--liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God."

The chapters of the book address in order doctrine, God and man, the Bible, Christ, salvation, and the church. it is not a long book (152 pages), and it is well worth reading.

[Vaughn Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Machen's words are so prescient it's scary. Machen argues that Christianity and theological liberalism are in no way compatible. If churches give up who God is, who man is, who Christ is, who the Spirit is, what the atonement is, and who the Church is, they simply cannot call it Christianity anymore but paganism. He emphasizes that these issues are polarizing issues and not trifling issues among brothers in Christ.

What I found surprising was not only how apt it is today but also how simple and thorough it reads. It's not overly heady or dense. Really, Machen is concerned with the biblical fundamentals of what Christianity is.

Read Christianity & Liberalism if you care about how we ought to think, prepare, and combat liberalism in the Church. This book will help your church to have an immune system to modern, heretical ideologies. And if you are a pastor, please do your congregation a favor and read it twice.

[Eli Andersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Machen is obviously brilliant and has a very creative way of explaining why people are wrong. His main thrust is that only the purest gospel from the Bible is acceptable and any step in any other direction is a step off a cliff into a faith that cannot save. I wish I could give it 5 stars but this book suffered from two things. First, there are miserably few verbs other than "is". He often finds himself in long strings of definitions, where the nouns are just being related to each other and not ever really doing anything. Second, he has no organization other than chapter titles, subtitles would have been delightful when going back and trying to find something he said earlier. This also was a challenge because it was a common occurrence for two pages to have no paragraph breaks across them. All in all I thoroughly agree with all he said

[Debbie Cowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent little book. There needs to be another one in a series entitled "Christianity and Progressivism," since the liberalism of Machen's day seems to have nuanced and winsomed itself into progressivism. Nevertheless, very valuable little book to open one's eyes to the existence of enemies within the church.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, which is argued wisely and rationally presented. My teens and I couldn’t believe what was creeping into the church then, and we are still left with the fallout.
A little clunky in his expression - probably due to English usage having been a little different then - but his rhetoric is sound.
It is very clear what he means.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent short book on the differences between modernism/liberalism as a distinct religion from historic Christianity. Each chapter compares a specific doctrine to show the clear contrast and different theological methods: doctrine, God and man, the Bible, Christ, salvation, and doctrine of the church.

[Phil Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and insightful explanation of orthodoxy and why some heresies are destructive. Liberalism in the church isn't just a variety of big disagreements. It's not Christianity at all and should not be tolerated as such.

[Karen Krause · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written 101 years ago and even more timely today!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb.

[Taylor Thunstedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s wild how Machen predicted this over 100 years ago. This is an important read to fight back against a culture that seeks to water down the Gospel.

[Cameron Borders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Classic and Great!

[Daniel Huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book! It’s very clearly laid out and is a good reminder both what is true and how some of that can shift.

[Randi West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Machen saw the writing on the wall 100 years ago and wrote his warning to the church. we're, unfortunately, now seeing it being played out because we haven't stood firm.