Christianity and Liberalism
Written by J. Gresham Machen
Narrated by Ray Porter
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
J. Gresham Machen
John Gresham Machen was one of the most colorful and controversial figures of his time, and it is doubtful that in the ecclesiastical world of the twenties and thirties any religious teacher was more constantly in the limelight. Machen was a scholar, Professor at Princeton and Westminster Seminaries, church leader, apologist for biblical Christianity, and one of the most eloquent defenders of the faith in the twentieth century. He went home to be with the Lord on January 1, 1937.
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Reviews for Christianity and Liberalism
167 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Was relevant back then and is relevant now. Thought the Author answers the big push for morals rather then Jesus very well. Had a slow start but he brought the thunder in later chapters!
Need to revisit often to understand, some things I’m still piecing out: liberals in the church…it almost seemed he meant throw them out if they will not accept proper orthodoxy, I think he is just more focusing on those who are believers and don’t want to subscribe to proper orthodoxy rather then prevent his evangelistic mission.
The question of the day: live in harmony with those of vast theological differences or speak the truth about Separation into congregational alignment, yet know there are different degrees of truth and allow congregational assimilation into those different factions. Than the two groups could debate and reinforce convictions/change opinions.
But as long as the main things are the plain things: Jesus is God, he is not a moral teacher He is God incarnate, part of the triune God, the antidote and solution to our sin. Not a nice ideal to live up to but a savior to cling to. He will indirectly make the world a better place by individual salvation and individual choices. He will not a be a political ploy to cure national woes, He is a government of His own, but good citizens make good Governments and the best citizens live by Godly virtues. We shadow only His image. The world will only change to the extent that we are born again and living like saved creatures from a sinful and shameful nature. Keep coming back to the source of our hope. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful book that is as relevant today as it was in the 1920’s.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love this book. Clearcut differences from what many call Christianity and what IS Christianity. The dividing line between lies and truth again is made known in this book as Manchen follows CHRIST HIMSELF. There is nothing more better than reading a book like this. All fog is cleared and the lies are seen clearly.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was written 100 years ago in 1923. Did he have a crystal ball or was he sounding an alarm that the church has not listened to? This was absolutely phenomenal writing. I will be getting a hard copy to do further study.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a difficult read (listen) but worth the effort and time. I love Machen’s call to true love and kindness for others that doesn’t back down from fidelity to Christ and His Gospel. He had a clear and deep understanding of how to protect the Gospel and the church in his day and in ours. (A&L)
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Instructive.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chistianity and Liberalism J. Gresham Machen The main points of the christian faith are clearly exposed by Gresham Machen in order to refute liberalism. This work, though written in 1923, anticipates the controversies faced by christian churchs in recent time, as an effect of the development of liberals ideas. Christian ortodoxy, the author points, is chistianity plain and clear. Christian faith is not a mere way of life. It is a message based on facts and with an achievable meaning. The work great merit consist in explaining the christian message, pointing to the facts in with its based and giving its meaning.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It would appear that little has changed in the 90 years since this book was first published. Or, perhaps more accurately, the capitulation of large segments of the evangelical church to the relentless tide of what Machen termed "liberalism" has gone unchecked. Either way, the result is the same. Confessing churches have decreasing adherence to their confessions and much of what is labeled as "Christianity" bears little resemblance to the model of faith held up in the Bible.Machen knows this territory well, being on the faculty of Princeton Seminary when the trustees went all in as the philosophy we know today as Modernity swept through society. As a result, he and several of his colleagues left Princeton to found a seminary and a denomination, Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Their purpose was to continue to teach and uphold those things which had long been essential to the church and were clearly affirmed in its confessions, such as the Westminster and Belgic confessions. Today virtually every denomination that was considered mainline in his day has rolled over to the trends driving society, and the church is infinitely poorer and weaker for it.I found much in this book that rings true, in part because I am a member of perhaps the last mainline denomination that hasn't gone completely off track. But some days it seems as if we are in a car going through a corner at high speed and with only three wheels on the ground. Rollover seems a heartbeat away. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is in church leadership and wonders about the threat to the church from the culture. It is a threat that feels more immediate today than when Machen wrote these words. Yet I also believe, with Machen, that the church itself will survive, for God has always preserved for himself a remnant of the faithful, to be his witnesses in an unbelieving world.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So, I dug into my Presby roots a little and decided that J. Gresham Machen was made of awesome.
It is fascinating to see how Machen makes his case that early 20th century theological liberalism and (proto-evangelical-coalition) traditional Christianity were essentially two different religions. But, more than that, it's amazing how prescient Machen seems; in 1923, he anticipated much of what has come to divide denominations today (which is fairly continuous with the early Fundamentalist/liberal skirmishes of the last century). I don't think one has to agree with his "two religions" thesis to find the book historically illuminating; and even with that argument, he's not polemical in the way one might expect. I think it's possible that the book could provide a basis for a quite interesting dialogue between theologically liberal and traditional Christians.
I thought he was right on target in identifying conception of God and view of human sin as the two primary points of division.