Resources On Machen, Christianity, And Liberalism

In 1923 J. Gresham Machen, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, published one of the more important books in the modern history of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches, Christianity and Liberalism. It was a stirring and cogent defense of the thesis that biblical, historic, confessional Christianity is one religion and theological liberalism is another. This book is as relevant today as the day it first appeared in print. His major academic works were The Origin of Paul’s Religion and The Virgin Birth of Christ. Machen was the pre-eminent defender of orthodox, evangelical (in the old fashioned sense of the word) Protestant Christianity in the first half of the 20th century. He left his post at Princeton in 1929 to protest a takeover of the seminary by liberals and doctrinally indifferent evangelicals. That year he founded Westminster Theological Seminary. In 1936 he led a separation from the mainline, liberal Presbyterian Church in the USA after they defrocked him for his leadership of a conservative, non-denominational missions board. That year and others founded the denomination now known as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Table Of Contents

Other Machen Titles

Other Volumes Of interest

  • Brown III, Rich S. The Life I Now Live: Continuing Machen’s Historic Battle for the Gospel (2023)
  • Chrisope, Terry Alan. “The Bible and Historical Scholarship in the Early Life and Thought of J. Gresham Machen, 1881-1915,” PhD. Diss. Kansas State University, 1988.
  • Coray, Henry W. J. Gresham Machen: A Silhouette. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1981.
  • Hart, D. G. Defending The Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America
  • Masselink, William. Professor J. Gresham Machen: His Life and Defence of the Bible.  NP, 1938.
  • Nichols, Stephen J. J. Gresham Machen: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2004.
  • Roark, Dallas M. “J. Gresham Machen and His Desire to Maintain a Doctrinally True Presbyterian Church.” PhD Diss, University of Iowa, 1963.
  • Stonehouse, J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir
  • Vandrunen, Katherine Lynn Tan. “The Foothills of the Matterhorn: Familial Antecedents of J. Gresham Machen.” PhD Diss. Loyola University Chicago. 2006.
  • Woolley, Paul. The Significance of J. Gresham Machen Today. Nutley, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1977.

Heidelcast Episodes

  1. Heidelminicast: Machen On Preachers And Friendship
  2. Heidelminicast: Machen On Christianity & Liberalism (1)
  3. Heidelminicast: Machen On Christianity & Liberalism (2)
  4. Heidelminicast: Machen On Christianity & Liberalism (3)
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Audio Books and Chapters

  1. The Significance of J. Gresham Machen Today (pt 1)
  2. The Significance of J. Gresham Machen Today (pt 2)
  3. The Significance of J. Gresham Machen Today (pt 3)
  4. Christianity and Liberalism (ch. 7) Read by Brad Isbell

Interviews

  1. Presbycast: D. G. Hart on the life of Machen (pt 1)
  2. Presbycast: D. G. Hart on the life of Machen (pt 2)
  3. Presbycast: D. G. Hart on the life of Machen (pt 3)
  4. Abounding Grace Radio: Chris Gordon With Scott Clark on Christianity and Liberalism
  5. Office Hours: Machen In His Family Context (Scott Clark with Dr Katherine VanDrunen)
  6. With Presbycast And D. G. Hart: Re-Framing Machen’s Warrior Children
  7. The Life I Now Live: Presbycast With Rich Brown on His New Book on Machen
  8. Melvin Grove Kyle, J. Gresham Machen, and the League of Evangelical Students
  9. D. G. Hart, Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism
  10. Geerhardus Vos and J. Gresham Machen
  11. D. G. Hart, Machen and the Media
  12. Was Rian’s Presbyterian Conflict Dependent Upon Machen’s Own History?

Talks/Lectures

Quotes and Essays

  1. Hart, D. G. “Make war no more? The rise, fall, and resurrection of J. Gresham Machen’s warrior children” in R. Scott Clark and and Joel E Kim, eds. Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey. Escondido, CA: Westminster Seminary California, 2010.
  2. Noll, Mark. “Machen and Liberalism” in Charles G. Dennison, ed. Pressing Toward the Mark: Essays Commemorating Fifty Years of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Philadelphia: Committee for the Historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 1986.
  3. R. Scott  Clark, “[Machen On] Salvation” in Tabletalk (February, 2023).
  4. Machen’s Warrior Children, Ed Stetzer, And Beth Moore
  5. Machen: The Revisons of Christianity To “Save” It Actually Destroy It
  6. Machen: Christianity is a doctrine
  7. Machen: Jesus’ Religion And Ours
  8. Machen: Salvation Is By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone
  9. Machen: God Uses Sturdy Contenders For The Faith
  10. Machen: The Regulative Principle Governs The Church
  11. Machen On The Deity Of Christ
  12. Machen Against The Department Of Education
  13. Machen Against Kenosis
  14. Machen: Salvation Through Faith Vs. Salvation Through Love
  15. Machen: Evangelical Is Not Enough
  16. Machen: Christ Is All Or Nothing
  17. Machen: Debate Is Preferable To Breach of Faith And Suppression
  18. Machen On The Uniqueness Of Pastoral Ministry
  19. Can This Really Be True? Another Reason Machen Was Right
  20. Machen: The Key Verse Of Galatians
  21. Machen: Two Reasons For Christians Schools (1933)
  22. Machen: The Gospel Makes Men Love The Law
  23. Machen On Revival And Controversy
  24. Where Machen Last Preached
  25. Carnell’s Ironic Critique Of Machen
  26. Machen On The Present Situation
  27. Machen’s Warning To MDiv Students
  28. Machen: The Good Fight Of Faith
  29. Machen On Jaywalking And Civil Freedom
  30. Machen Was Not Nice: D. G. Hart On Machen And His Warrior Children
  31. Machen On Loving The Congregation
  32. Machen On The Responsibility And Spirituality Of The Institutional Church
  33. The Spirit Of Machen
  34. Machen On Mission
  35. Machen’s Non-Theocratic Case For Blue Laws
  36. Machen: Is There Not Some Place?
  37. A Happy Belated Birthday To Machen
  38. Machen: All Tolerance Is Not Equal
  39. How And Where Machen Spent His Parrothood
  40. Machen On Whether The Gospel Is A Life Or An Announcement
  41. Trueman: Comfort For Machen’s Worrier Children
  42. Machen In 1930 Sounds Like Today
  43. R. Scott Clark, Machen’s Enemies Then And Now And The Myth Of Influence
  44. Machen: We Could Learn From The Lutherans About Church Membership
  45. Machen: Pervasive Unbelief In The PCUSA (1935)
  46. Godfrey: Machen Was Recovering the Reformed Confession
  47. R. Scott Clark, Machen’s Letter To His Mother Or What To Do With Dead Sinners?
  48. R. Scott Clark, Word of the Day: Anachronism
  49. Brad Isbell, Machen Was Worth a Hundred of His Fellows
  50. Brad Isbell, Machen Worked & Played Harder Than You Do
  51. R. Scott Clark, Machen’s Private Racism And Contemporary Public Segregationism
  52. Machen’s Response To The Open Letter
  53. Machen’s Other Opponents: The Moderates
  54. R. Scott Clark, Who Gets To Criticize Machen?
  55. Machen Contra Dispensationalism
  56. Machen: Justification Sola Fide Is The Central Doctrine Of The Christian Faith
  57. Machen’s Antidote To Political Correctness
  58. Swaim: Machen Was Right
  59. 1929 Or 2018?
  60. Barry Waugh, The Wonders and Woes of J. Gresham Machen’s Motorcars
  61. R. Scott Clark, Was Machen Gay?—Or, How Not To Do History

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5 comments

  1. As I’ve commented before, I’m new on the Reformed/Confessional journey. (A year and a half) But, after hearing the boys on Theocast, possibly Horton mention him, and seeing you post about Machen a few times, I was intrigued and bought “Christianity and Liberalism” last fall. As I read that book, I found myself just underlining everything and felt like I was reading so many of the same thoughts that had been stirring up inside me as I looked at modern day evangelicalism and Christianity. Machen’s destruction of the liberal argument in all matters was so refreshing. (I come out of a more Pietistic background.) Machen’s arguments were at times new but also at times the things I had been piecing together and thus strengthened me more and more. Greater still, was that the Gospel shone brighter in Machen’s argument than any sort of liberal or pietistic argument lobbed that way. (In particular his points against moralism, Jesus as example, and how giving up one doctrine leads to falling further and further away from Christianity.) I’m in seminary currently so I have not had time, but I plan on taking in “What Is Faith?” next.

    Also of note resource wise, I enjoyed watching a lecture on youtube by an old Undergrad professor of mine, Dr. Steven Nichols whom I had at Lancaster Bible College in PA before he moved on to Reformed Bible College. I wish in undergrad that I had come to know who Machen was sooner so that I could have talked with Dr. Nichols more about him. His lecture he gave talked about Machen’s life a bit overall but also spoke of his character.

    As a general question Dr. Clark, if you had to suggest the next book after “What Is Faith” by Machen which way should I go? Machen has become my favorite theologian due to content and zeal that he had. As I continue on, I’m fairly certain I’ll be taking in some biographies on Machen along with his other works. His “active obedience of Christ” quote often comes to mind when needing a reminder that I am Christ’s.

    • Drew, we are Christ’s because he has bought us! Once we were slaves of sin, but now we have a new master. Our good works serve Him BECAUSE we belong to Him, not so that we might belong to Him. Christ paid the price of our acceptance with the Father, that is our assurance and incentive to obey. That was Machen’s final comfort, that Christ’s active obedience provided all the righteousness he needed for acceptance with God. You were bought with as price, therefore glorify God with your body, which is His. 1Cor. 6: 19-20

  2. Thank you for this resource Dr. Clark. I may be sending this link to our congregation.

    One quibble: I did not see “Machen’s Enemies Then and Now and the Myth of Influence,” on you list. As it is a favorite of mine, I was wondering if it was left off the list intentionally.

  3. Machen is amazingly contemporary, as is his point that those who come into Reformed churches as pastors and swear to uphold the Confessions, only to teach Liberalism, which is opposite to the Christian faith as defined by the Confessions, or any other doctrine that does not agree with the Confessions, is acting deceitfully.

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