Machen

AGR: Christianity And Liberalism

by

• R. Scott Clark

on April 6, 2018 | 5 Comments

It was a pleasure to join Chris Gordon recently to talk about one of my favorite books, Christianity and Liberalism. Published in 1923, it became Machen’s most well-known work. In it he lays out briefly but clearly the difference between Christianity as . . . Continue reading →

Machen: The Revisions Of Christianity Made To “Save” It Actually Destroy It

by

• R. Scott Clark

on March 17, 2018 | 5 Comments

…But in showing that the liberal attempt at rescuing Christianity is false we are not showing that there is no way of rescuing Christianity at all; on the contrary, it may appear incidentally, even in the present little book, that it is . . . Continue reading →

Machen: Christianity Is A Doctrine

by

• R. Scott Clark

on August 23, 2017

Christianity they will tell us is a life and not a doctrine. Now that seems to be a devout and pious utterance, but it is radically false all the same, and to see that it is false you do not need even . . . Continue reading →

If It Was True Then, How Much More Now?

by

• R. Scott Clark

on July 28, 2017 | 1 Comment

…it should, I think, be made much harder than it now is to enter the Church: the confession of faith that is required should be a credible confession; and if it becomes evident upon examination that a candidate has no notion of . . . Continue reading →

1930 Or 2017?

by

• R. Scott Clark

on May 30, 2017 | 2 Comments

The enemy is made the more dangerous because it is found within, rather than without, the Church. Definite opponents of the Christian religion could have been more easily met; but now as in ancient times Satan has preferred to labor for the . . . Continue reading →

The Disciples Confessed Christ’s Resurrection Because It Was Objectively True

by

• R. Scott Clark

on March 4, 2017

…The belief of the disciples in the resurrection, according to the New Testament, was due simply to the fact of the resurrection. Those disciples came to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead for the simple reason that Jesus had risen . . . Continue reading →

Machen On The Deity Of Christ

by

• R. Scott Clark

on February 28, 2017

The Christian meaning of the term “deity of Christ” is fairly clear. The Christian believes that there is a personal God, Creator and Ruler of the universe, the God who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. So when the Christian says that Jesus . . . Continue reading →

Machen: Salvation Through Faith vs. Salvation Through Love

by

• R. Scott Clark

on September 29, 2015 | 1 Comment

To say that our faith saves us means that we do not save ourselves even in the slightest measure. Very different would be the case if our salvation was said to be through love…. J. Gresham Machen, What Is Faith? (1946), 173–4.

Silencing Dissent In The “Liberal” Mainline

by

• R. Scott Clark

on January 26, 2015 | 8 Comments

This does answer the question, does the PCUSA still have heresy trials? Of course they do. Heresy or apostasy in the PCUSA is now defined as lack or failure of institutional or corporate loyalty, and or actions, speech against the institution. Where . . . Continue reading →

Machen: Evangelical Is Not Enough

by

• R. Scott Clark

on November 5, 2014 | 1 Comment

“Evangelical,” on the other hand, although it is a fine term, does not quite seem to designate clearly enough the position of those who hold specifically to the system of doctrine taught in the Westminster Confession of Faith, as distinguished from other . . . Continue reading →

Machen: Christ Is All Or Nothing

by

• R. Scott Clark

on June 27, 2014 | 4 Comments

But what was the difference between the teaching of Paul and the teaching of the Judaizers ? What was it that gave rise to the stupendous polemic of the Epistle to the Galatians? To the modern Church the difference would have seemed . . . Continue reading →

Law, Gospel, Law

by

• Jack Miller

on June 16, 2014 | 4 Comments

I think, not only the content of preaching, but the order of the content is important; indispensable even. J. Gresham Machen, in Christianity and Liberalism, wrote, The consciousness of sin was formerly the starting-point of all preaching, but today it is gone… . . . Continue reading →

Machen: Debate Is Preferable To Breach Of Faith And Suppression

by

• Heidelblog

on November 29, 2013

Perhaps it may be objected that if we continue to be tolerated, we shall harm the church by an insistence upon the maintenance of a strict view of its doctrinal standards. I think that just from the “Liberal” point of view there . . . Continue reading →

Pervasive Unbelief In The PCUSA

by

• Heidelblog

on October 21, 2013 | 2 Comments

All this is true. But it really does not apply to the situation in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The point is that that Church is very largely dominated by unbelief. It does not merely harbor unbelief here and there. No, . . . Continue reading →

Machen On The Uniqueness Of Pastoral Ministry

by

• Heidelblog

on September 6, 2013

Remember this, at least — the things in which the world is now interested are the things that are seen; but the things that are seen are temporal, and the things that are not seen are eternal. You, as ministers of Christ, . . . Continue reading →

Machen: The Key Verse Of Galatians

by

• Heidelblog

on September 5, 2013 | 3 Comments

“I do not make void the grace of God; for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21) “I do not make void the grace of God,” says Paul in concluding the report of his speech to . . . Continue reading →

Machen: Two Reasons For Christian Schools (1933)

by

• Heidelblog

on September 4, 2013 | 7 Comments

The Christian school is to be favored for two reasons. In the first place, it is important for American liberty; in the second place, it is important for the propagation of the Christian religion. These two reasons are not equally important; indeed, . . . Continue reading →

Machen: The Gospel Makes Men Love The Law

by

• Heidelblog

on August 5, 2013 | 1 Comment

The gospel does not abrogate God’s law, but it makes men love it with all their hearts. How is it with us? The law of God stands over us; we have offended against it in thought, word and deed; its. majestic “letter” . . . Continue reading →

Machen On Revival And Controversy

by

• Heidelblog

on July 29, 2013 | 19 Comments

I do not know all the things that will happen when the great revival sweeps over the Church, the great revival for which we long. Certainly I do not know when that revival will come; its coming stands in the Spirit’s power. . . . Continue reading →

Where Machen Last Preached

by

• R. Scott Clark

on July 24, 2013 | 7 Comments

The photo comes from GhostsofNorthDakoka.com. Thanks to Wayne Sparkman for pointing us to this photo of the Presbyterian Church of America congregation, in Leith, ND, as it was known then, where J. Gresham Machen preached his final sermon before becoming ill on . . . Continue reading →