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 →
Machen
If It Was True Then, How Much More Now?
…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?
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
…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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
“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)
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
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
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
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 →
Carnell’s Ironic Critique Of Machen
The mentality of fundamentalism sometimes crops up where one would least expect it; and there is no better illustration of this than the inimitable New Testament scholar, J. Gresham Machen. Machen was an outspoken critic of the fundamentalist movement. He argued with . . . Continue reading →
Machen On The Present Situation
THE present situation in the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. is only one phase of a situation that prevails in the Protestant churches throughout the world. Everywhere—in the countries of Europe and in mission lands—Christianity finds itself in a mighty . . . Continue reading →