This post contains two short videos about J Gresham Machen; the first is on his book Christianity and Liberalism. Therein, Stephen Nichols explains the controversy which led Machen to write his book.
In the course of his explanation, Nichols provided basic teaching on modernism, liberalism, the Scopes monkey trial, and Christian fundamentalism…. If you know nothing of these things, you should hear this video because it will give you insight into origins of current struggles in the church.
The second video, 7-minutes, is an answer to a question submitted to Ligonier Ministries. This video is also on Machen but is more of an overview and covers different things.
Narrative that accompanied the first video at YouTube: “J. Gresham Machen’s classic book Christianity and Liberalism is more than one hundred years old, yet its contents remain relevant to this day. This is because the book’s main subject matter is Christian truth, which never changes yet always seems to be under attack.
In this message, Stephen Nichols provides the historical context of Machen’s book to underscore why it was and is still urgently needed.”
CLASSROOM LECTURE HIGHLIGHTS:
- Machen wrote his book in 1923
- His purpose was to clarify foundational Christian doctrines
- His book thesis was Christianity is NOT liberalism [Christian liberalism is not Christianity]
- Machen’s book was an answer to a sermon by Harry Emerson Fosdick [wherein Fosdick undermined Christian doctrine and supported the position of the Christian liberals]
- The Rockefellers supported Fosdick and published thousands of reprints of Fosdick’s sermon for Americans
- They also supported him via a spot on radio wherein Fosdick could preach his liberal sermons
- The elephant in the living room was Modernism [that which influenced everything but that no one was talking about]
- Modernists had begun to place their belief in man, science, progress, because of all the recent advancements…; men believed they no longer needed God and His word
- Along with that was a belief in the goodness of mankind; a disbelief in sin and a wrathful God
- They believed that man could become sinful if he was impacted by some sinful element in society
- Therefore, if society could be fixed, then we could have a utopia on earth, no need for heaven or God [Marxism is a chief ideology deriving from modernism and Darwinian evolution – it has never yet worked and is responsible for the deaths of around 200 million innocent people in the 20th century]
- [Psychology is based on those ideas also, people are inherently good but become bad because of abuse, upbringing, social oppression…]
- The social progress made between 1880 and 1920 wrongly moved men to believe such things
- So, people who subscribed to modernist’s beliefs, did not have a need for Christ’s atoning work; they viewed Him as merely a useful example for mankind to follow
- Modernists began leaving the church because of what they believed were antiquated ideas that interfered with progress [the religious and political progressives today think the same things]
- Biblical scholars; college professors; social elites viewed the Bible and believers in biblical Christianity as backward and socially unacceptable
- All faiths were seen as valid ways to worship
- Colleges began offering courses in comparative religious studies
- Machen wrote his book in 1923 to defend biblical doctrine
- In 1925, the Scopes monkey trial was a major event that promoted the views of Darwinian evolution, modernism
- People who believed in the Bible and defended its doctrines were called Fundamentalists
- During the 1920’s, fundamentalism was different that in later decades
- They believed that the Bible was the inerrant word of God; that Christ was born of a virgin; that He died on the cross for substitutionary atonement; that He was going to come again; and that the miracles in the Bible are true
- Fosdick undermined all those beliefs by providing false explanations for what they represented
- Fosdick’s purpose was to keep the modernists from leaving the church because they viewed it as antiquated an irrelevant
- [This is likely why some SBC churches currently embrace CRT, to remain socially relevant and keep members, possibly even grow; however, that makes them unbiblical; but with pastors whose rationale is like Fosdicks, congregants will be convinced that progressive man-made doctrines are the natural evolution of the apostles religion, or something like that]
- Nichols explained the ways in which Fosdick undermined biblical truth when speaking of the above aspects of scripture
- He then talked about the chapters in Machen’s book that they would be covering: Doctrine of God and Man; the Bible; Christ; Salvation and the Church
- He closed by saying that modernism’s message was that the Bible is antiquated and we have new religious / spiritual experts
- The new message was that hope is to be found in yourself; you can make the world a better place…
- Machen, like the reformers, focused on scripture and stated that salvation comes from outside oneself, from Christ
The following 7-minute overview of Machen’s life provides a summary and restatement of many things above. You may find his statements more understandable? If you are interested in the topic, listen.
This message is from Dr. Nichols’ 12-part teaching series Christianity and Liberalism. Learn more: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series…
The message above is part 6 of 12; to hear the others at Ligonier, you must buy the series or be a member of Ligonier Connect which costs $90 per year. Members are able to partake in all of their teaching series as in an online college class. There are exams….
The short video is from a different Ligonier Ministry:
Who was J. Gresham Machen? What can we learn from his ministry? From one of our live Ask Ligonier events, W. Robert Godfrey introduces this 20th-century theologian and his insightful book Christianity and Liberalism.
You can watch more videos like this at Ligonier.org/answers