Christianity and Liberalism J. Gresham Machen

Transcription

1 Christianity and Liberalism J. Gresham Machen

2 In the sphere of religion, in particular, the present time is a time of conflict; the great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology. This modern nonredemptive religion is called 'modernism' or 'liberalism'. - p.2

3 Machen's Context... In 1902 Princeton Seminary, within a decade of rounding out the first century of its life, enjoyed the reputation of being a gibraltar of orthodoxy and a school of eminent scholarship. As 'the theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.,' its influence through its faculty and alumi upon the life of the denomination, and far beyond its bounds, was second to none of the other Presbyterian Seminaries...There might be the feeling in some quarters that the Princeton theology was old-fashioned and was bound to undergo eclipse, but there was no doubt that the Seminary had stood and was standing for the rugged, undiluted Calvinism of the Westminster Standards. - J. Gresham Machen, a biographical memoir, p.41,42.

4 ...attempts to commit our church to certain theories concerning the inspiration of the Bible, and the incarnation, the Atonement, the Resurrection, ant the Continuing Life and Supernatural Power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We hold most earnestly to these great facts and doctrines; we all believe from our hearts that the writers of the Bible were inspired of God; that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh; that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, and through Him we have our redemption; that having died for our sins He rose from the dead and is our everliving Saviour; that in His earthly ministry He wrought many might works, and by His vicarious death and unfailing presence He is able to save to the uttermost. Some of us regard the particular theories contained in the deliverance of the General Assembly of 1923 as satisfactory explanations of these facts and doctrines. But we are united in believing that these are not the only theories allowed by the Scriptures and our standards as explanations of these facts and doctrines of our religion, and that all who hold to these facts and doctrines, whatever theories they may employ to explain them, are worthy of all confidence and fellowship. - J. Gresham Machen, p. 315.

5 The doctrine of inerrancy, intended to enhance the authority of the Scriptures, in fact impairs their supreme authority for faith and life, and weakens the testimony of the church to the power of God unto salvation through Jesus Christ - p.314

6 Order of Business... I. Introduction II. Doctrine III. God and Man IV. The Bible V. Christ VI. Salvation VII. The Church

7 I. Introduction

8 I. Introduction The past one hundred years have witnessed the beginning of a new era in human history, which may conceivably be regretted, but certainly cannot be ignored, by the most obstinate conservatism...modern inventions and the industrialism that has been built upon them have given us in many respects a new world to live in; we can no more remove ourselves from that world than we can escape from the atmosphere that we breathe. But such changes in the material conditions of life do not stand alone; they have been produced by mighty changes in the human mind, as in their turn they themselves give rise to further spiritual changes...no department of knowledge can maintain its isolation from the modern lust of scientific conquest; treaties of inviolability, though hallowed by all the sanctions of age-long tradition, are being flung ruthlessly to the winds...so many convictions have had to be abandoned that men have sometimes come to believe that all convictions must go. - Christianity and Liberalism p.3-4.

9 I. Introduction we shall be interested in showing that despite the liberal use of traditional phraseology modern liberalism not only is a different religion from Christianity but belongs in a totally different class of religions.

10 II. Doctrine

11 II. Doctrine 'Teachings', it is said, 'are unimportant; the exposition of the teachings of liberalism and the teachings of Christianity, therefore, can arouse no interest at the present day; creeds are merely the changing expression of a unitary Christian experience, and provided only they express that experience they are all equally good. The teachings of liberalism, therefore, might be as far removed as possible form the teachings of historic Christianity, and yet the two might be at bottom the same. p.18

12 II. Doctrine About this movement definite historical information has been preserved in the Epistles of Paul, which are regarded by all seroius historians as genuine products of the first Christian generation. The writer of the Epistles had been in direct communication with those intimate friends of Jesus who had begun the Christian movement in Jerusalem, and in the Epistles he makes it abundantly plain what the fundamental character of the movement was. -p.21

13 II. Doctrine What we are now concerned to observe is that Jesus certainly did not content himself with the enunciation of permanent moral principles...he certainly did not announce the event without giving some account of its meaning. But when he gave account of the meaning of the event, no matter how brief that account may have been, He was overstepping the line that separates an undogmatic religion, or even a dogmatic religion that teaches only eternal principles, from one that is rooted in the significance of definite historical facts; He was placing a great gulf between Himself and the philosophic modern liberalism which today incorrectly bears His name. -p.32,33