Christianity and Liberalism by Gresham Machen-Machen

Biography of Gresham Machen

Machen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1881. In 1898, Machen enrolled at Johns Hopkins University and became a brilliant scholar. In addition, Machen obtained theological studies in Germany in 1905 where he being thrown into confusion of his own faith because of the influence of the liberalism. After returning from Europe, In 1906, Machen join as an instructor in New Testament at Princeton Seminary.

Machen’s work in the 1920s was divided between his time at Princeton Seminary and his political work with Presbyterians. In addition to Christianity and Liberalism, Machen works are such as The Origin of Paul’s Religion, What is Faith, New testament Greek for Beginners, The Virgin Birth of Christ, The Christian Faith in the Modern World, and The Christian View of Man.

In 1923, Christianity and Liberalism was first published in a middle of major controversy in a Presbyterian church over the issue of theological liberalism. Throughout Machen’s entire carrier and all of his writings, he asked the same question: why does the liberal stay in church, when they don’t believe the history of Christianity. At the end result, Machen was kicked out from church by the liberals. He ended up leaving a seminary which was captured by the liberals and left a Presbyterian church which was also captured by the liberals. And he formed the Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary and as well as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Machen died in 1937 at the age of 55.

Purpose of Christianity and Liberalism

The purpose of Christianity and Liberalism was to defend that orthodox Christianity and Liberalism are two distinct religions. Machen was conservatism, and in the book he compared the teaching of historic biblical Chr...

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Machen argues the church should be open for individuals so that they can hear the Gospel and not establish a closed door policy to church service. However, Machen is critical and sensitive of the individuals who serve in the church. The church leaders should be ordained and must maintain the integrity of the church. Machen strongly encourages the church to carefully screen candidates for ordination to critically examine beliefs. As Machen discusses if one disagrees with the integrity of the church, the church should not accommodate the disagreement to keep the purity of the church.

In conclusion, the church is appointed and maintained divinely body of regenerated believers who sustain the true doctrine of God, humanity, Scripture, Jesus Christ, and salvation which are absolutely non-negotiable.

Works Cited

Machen, J.G. (2011). Christianity and liberalism.