Christianity & Liberalism

by J. Gresham Machen

Machen's classic defense of orthodox Christianity establishes the importance of scripural doctrine and contrasts the teachings of liberalism and orthodoxy on God and man, the Bible, Christ, salvation, and the church. Though originally published nearly seventy years ago, the book maintains its relevance today.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Classics

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 1922

About the author

John Gresham Machen was an influential American Presbyterian theologian in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1915 and 1929, and led a conservative revolt against modernist theology at Princeton and formed Westminster Seminary as a more orthodox alternative. This split was irreconcilable, and Machen led others to form the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because of Tim Challies's "Reading the Classics Together" program. One of the biggest takeaways is Machen's insistence that liberalism is not simply a different version of orthodox Christianity—it isn't Christianity. Read some quotes here, here, and here.

Mentioned positively here.

WORLD's 2023 book of the year (Westminster Seminary Press's edition for the 100-year anniversary) led to a review.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy underlining or highlighting important, insightful, or otherwise noteworthy passages in books, then just forget about with this one, because the entire piece from beginning to end will be marked.

The book is simple in its organization and is laid out as follows:

I. Introduction
II. Doctrine
III. God and Man
IV. The Bible
V. Christ
VI. Salvation
VII. The Church


From the beginning of the book to the end, J. Gresham Machen, a true hero of the faith, pits the Christianity of historical orthodoxy against the 'Christianity' of Liberalism (a rising movement in 1923 when he wrote the book). And beginning to end, the reader can be nothing else but enraptured in hearing the true Gospel preached and defended against the woefully crafty schemes of the god of this world. Liberalism is time and again shown to be representing something 'like' Christianity but completely wrong in all respects.

This is the book that started Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the historical conflict of Liberalism with Christianity and/or any believer who wants to better understand the Christian position on any of the items in the table of contents.

May our Lord Christ bless you in your studies!


P.S. Another note here regarding publishing companies. I again had the unhappy circumstance of obtaining a 'fake' copy (if I can call it that). While this is not as unpleasing as my experience with Abraham Kuyper's "Lectures on Calvinism," the copy of "Christianity and Liberlaism" from which I read was produced by an unknown publishing company(?) called "Bibliolife." Again, the experience was much better than that from the "Feather Trail Press" publisher. But you can tell that these pages are not re-published in a genuine format. They are obviously scans from someone's slightly marked copy.

If you are to purchase the book, I again would recommend you get a copy from a recognized publishing company. This particular book can be found in print by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. A recent edition was printed in 2009 that includes a foreward by Carl Trueman, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for its time. Rightly shows liberalism to be a false religion. I am not entirely sure of how useful it can be for today's battle, aside from broad outlines. New Testament studies (and the countering unbelief) have moved on.

EDIT:

My above review was completely wrong. Given that major Reformed denominations are glibly going towards liberalism under the name of "Social Justice," Machen is more relevant than ever.

[Rick Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several years ago, coming fresh from the cloister of Liberty University and looking for a career in the real world, I had a surreal experience during a job interview. The boss who was interviewing me noticed that I was a religion major and asked what I thought about all the people out there who still believed that Jesus was actually God. I was a bit taken aback by this question. I knew the man’s church to be a conservative, Bible-believing church, and I personally knew the man’s pastor likewise to be a faithful preacher. Yet, this man assumed that because I was educated as a religion major, I would be a member of an elite group of people who can wink at one another over the heads of the ignorant and superstitious masses. I spent the rest of the awkward interview, for a job unrelated to the field of religion mind you, listening to the man explain that Jesus never claimed to be God and that whenever it looks like He is it’s only because prophets and holy men always spoke in God’s name. I had to disagree of course, firmly but tactfully, not wanting to start a relationship with a potential employer with an explosive theological argument. I think we both came away from that interview with some illusions shattered. He couldn’t believe that an intelligent, educated person could really believe all those stories of miracles and resurrection, and I couldn’t believe that there were total theological liberals still attending small-town conservative churches.

All this is simply to say that Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen is as timely today as it was when it was originally written almost ninety years ago. Machen attacks liberalism (theological not political) which has for the last 150 years or so set itself against the understanding of the historic Church. In this book, Machen attempts to demonstrate that liberalism, far from being just another development within Christianity, is actually a completely different religion with different foundational principles attempting to use the same terminology as faithful Christians in order to hijack Christianity into a different way of thinking. The main difference between liberalism and other non-Christian movements that attempt to use the same language, Mormonism for example, is that unlike those movements that break off and start aberrant heretical sects, liberalism exists within the realm of the orthodox Church and co-opts the resources and efforts of faithful Christians for its own ends.

Machen walks through six specific areas in which liberalism departs from true Christianity: the importance of doctrine, the natures of God and man, the Bible, the person and nature of Christ, the purpose and goal of salvation, and the role and importance of the Church. While some of the material in the book is a bit dated, overall the book is excellent and ought to be read widely by thinking Christians. One of the things that pleasantly surprised me about this book was its catholicity. Machen, the founder of what would become the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, staunchly holds to his Reformed Protestant beliefs, but considers himself closer to a Roman Catholic than a liberal in his own denomination. In other words, he draws the boundary lines of the dispute in such a way that, despite disagreements, Lutherans, Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Orthodox believers must all be ready to stand against the onslaught of modernism and liberalism which attack the very foundations of the Christian faith.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful.

[Dr. David Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time through this wonderful work!

[Jeremy Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this in my undergrad at Baylor when I was taking classes in the religion department! Machen helpfully characterizes theological liberalism as a different religion than Christianity because it espouses beliefs that threaten the gospel (I.e. denial of the inspiration of the Scriptures, denial of the necessity of penal substitution for our atonement, denial of a biblical understanding of sin, and so much more). Though his language is sharp and strong, he clearly shows how the theological liberalism of the late 19th and early 20th century in America diverged from true Christian belief and needed to be exposed, even if he had to stand alone in exposing it.

[Kyle Grindberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Machen eloquently, surgically, and decisively divides the malignant tumor of "Liberal Christianity" from the host, Biblical Christianity. It was an excellent read. I was struck at so many points during my read how relevant the book still is today.

Read again in May of 2022 for my old Princeton elective with Paul Helseth, still great, and I got more out of it this time than I did my first time through.

[Jake Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Machen’s work truly is a classic. While this work was originally published in 1923, much of it sounds like a description of the present hour. If you want to see why liberalism is not Christianity, let Machen take you on a theological tour. His chapter on salvation was absolute gold. This is definitely one of the top 10 books for me in thinking about how precise and doctrinal the Christian Faith truly is.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another contender for my book of the year. I feel every Christian would benefit from reading this book. For actual Christians, this book is both a great resource - providing clear examples of how liberalism has infiltrated many churches and Christian doctrines through corrupting the definitions of the very terms themselves (e.g., “deity,” “resurrection,” etc.) - and a great warning to avoid letting liberalism have even a foothold in your beliefs. For liberal Christians, this book would probably make them angry but they would have a hard time denying Machen’s analysis, except maybe objecting to essentially being called wolves in sheep’s clothing and not actual Christians at all. I appreciated the frankness of Machen’s writing style and how it lends itself to a sense of urgency about confronting liberalism in the church today.

[Knowlton Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Machen’s mixture of biblical conviction, coherent arguments, and strong but accessible prose make this book a spiritually edifying and enjoyable book to read. He argues that liberalism is diametrically opposed to historic Christianity in how it regards doctrine, God and man, the Bible, Christ, salvation, and the church. I do wish he had been more specific in citing the people responsible for liberal claims—I would have loved more footnotes indicating primary source material. I believe I will be returning to this book—the implications of what Machen has written are quite extensive.

[Brenden Wentworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insane…Machen’s book is so theologically robust, alarmingly prophetic, and also hope-filled. Top 10 book I’ve ever read.

For a book that was written over 100 year ago about the in-road of theological liberalism into the church…it could’ve been written last week. Just goes to show how truth is timeless and God’s Word is always relevant

If you are someone that sees all the doctrinally errant, politically weird, and ideologically liberal “stuff” creeping into the church and want to know how biblical Christianity squares with such messages, this book is for you

[Brandon Sickling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could’ve been published yesterday. Liberalism is not a flavor of Christianity. It’s a different religion altogether.

[Mark Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I apologize to the internet for not giving this classic five stars, but it simply didn't quite reach the level of incisiveness and helpfulness for me in my situation that Packer's analysis in "Fundamentalism" and the Word of God reached. It was, nonetheless, excellent. It was sad to see that we are facing some of the very same issues today, and in exactly the same way, that he faced in the early 20th century. This could have been written yesterday:

Religion, it is said, is so entirely separate from science, that the two, rightly defined, cannot possibly come into conflict. This attempt at separation, as it is hoped the following pages may show, is open to objections of the most serious kind. But what must now be observed is that even if the separation is justifiable it cannot be effected without effort; the removal of the problem of religion and science itself constitutes a problem. For, rightly or wrongly, religion during the centuries has as a matter of fact connected itself with a host of convictions, especially in the sphere of history, which may form the subject of scientific investigation; just as scientific investigators, on the other hand, have sometimes attached themselves, again rightly or wrongly, to conclusions which impinge upon the innermost domain of philosophy and of religion.

And this:

In trying to remove from Christianity everything that could possibly be objected to in the name of science, in trying to bribe off the enemy by those concessions which the enemy most desires, the apologist has really abandoned what he started out to defend. Here as in many other departments of life it appears that the things that are sometimes thought to be hardest to defend are also the things that are most worth defending.

I repeatedly had the feeling that I had heard these arguments all my life—from people who must have gotten them from Machen. This, for example, is what I've always been taught by my teachers and my current feeling exactly:

Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity-liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.

The objections to inerrancy which have been presented to me in the last two months as fresh insights were familiar to Machen:

The doctrine of plenary inspiration does not deny the individuality of the Biblical writers; it does not ignore their use of ordinary means for acquiring information; it does not involve any lack of interest in the historical situations which gave rise to the Biblical books. What it does deny is the presence of error in the Bible. It supposes that the Holy Spirit so informed the minds of the Biblical writers that they were kept from falling into the errors that mar all other books. The Bible might contain an account of a genuine revelation of God, and yet not contain a true account. But according to the doctrine of inspiration, the account is as a matter of fact a true account; the Bible is an "infallible rule of faith and practice."

If Machen is to be thought a brash fundamentalist for his carefully arranged, beautifully written take-downs of theological liberalism, just listen to his heart:

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Were we not safer with a God of our own devising-love and only love, a Father and nothing else, one before whom we could stand in our own merit without fear? He who will may be satisfied with such a God. But we, God help us-sinful as we are, we would see Jehovah. Despairing, hoping, trembling, half-doubting and half-believing, trusting all to Jesus, we venture into the presence of the very God. And in His presence we live.

Machen was trying to preserve not just doctrine but piety.

And Machen was willing to let God judge individuals; he did not assume that all his opponents were wrong on every point but was willing to give grace where he could and let God preserve their souls. But he also saw an internal dynamic within liberalism that made its tenets into a slippery slope which I still see:

The plain fact is that liberalism, whether it be true or false, is no mere "heresy"-no mere divergence at isolated points from Christian teaching. On the contrary it proceeds from a totally different root, and it constitutes, in essentials, a unitary system of its own. That does not mean that all liberals hold all parts of the system, or that Christians who have been affected by liberal teaching at one point have been affected at all points. There is sometimes a salutary lack of logic which prevents the whole of a man's faith being destroyed when he has given up a part. But the true way in which to examine a spiritual movement is in its logical relations; logic is the great dynamic, and the logical implications of any way of thinking are sooner or later certain to be worked out. And taken as a whole, even as it actually exists to-day, naturalistic liberalism is a fairly unitary phenomenon; it is tending more and more to eliminate from itself illogical remnants of Christian belief. It differs from Christianity in its view of God, of man, of the seat of authority and of the way of salvation. And it differs from Christianity not only in theology but in the whole of life.

A classic for good reason. A real pleasure. And a real sadness.

[Grant Carter]

“Surely this and this alone is joy: It is a joy akin to fear. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Were we not safer with a god of our own devising? One before whom we could stand in our own merit without fear? He who will may be satisfied with such a god. But we, sinful as we are, we would see Jehovah. Despairing, hoping, trembling, half-doubting and half-believing, trusting all to Jesus, we venture into the presence of the very God.”

[Lance Kinzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book written 90 years ago that truly stands the test of time. Not merely a vital piece of Protestant history, but a stern warning for our own time regarding the impossibility of sustaining the Christian life in the absence of rigorous concern for orthodox Christian doctrine.

[Grant Van Brimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Principally, this book is a must-read for all Christians. His arguments can still be applied today to the church's current compromises with wokism and the sexual/gender revolution.

[David Westerfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1923, Machen addresses a system of theology encroaching upon the church that would bring about the sure eclipse of the very Gospel itself within the 20th century. It is important to note from the outset that this liberalism is not at all the same as modern political liberalism (though there are likely some fundamental philosophical similarities), but is rather theological liberalism. (In fact, Machen was strongly opposed to entering World War I and fought vigorously at the Congressional level to keep us out, if that peaks your interest at all.) So don't stumble over the title if that happens to be your particular political bent. In his day, J. Gresham Machen, at great cost to himself, fought against the theological and doctrinal accommodation of the scientific culture within the church, who were denying miracles and the supernatural based upon empirical scientific evidence and methodologies. Despite many of his "brethren" in the day, he held out that we must adhere to the divine, supernatural nature of all that Christianity entails or else forfeit the Gospel itself: the divine inerrancy of the Scriptures, the nature and qualities of both God and man, that salvation is a supernatural work of God, that real people with real sins were atoned for by the blood of Christ, the human and divine natures of Christ, amongst many things that set Historic Christianity apart from all other religions devised by man out in the world.



The thinking of the forerunners of theological liberalism went like this, “In order to reach the scientifically enlightened culture we live in, it is not important to hold to a literal virgin birth, a literal resurrection, atonement through the cross, or any miracles really at all, mainly because these events cannot be empirically proven through scientific analysis and methods; we believe these things personally, but it is not important to hold to these things in light of science.” Because the church was increasingly falling prey to this and in danger of apostatizing from the Gospel itself as a result, Machen wrote this book in response and fought vigorously for the truth of the Scriptures, Orthodoxy, and Historic Christianity. While it is definitely possible the intentions of the original liberals were good in trying to reach a culture with Christ that had scientific empirical evidence as a presupposition when coming to the spiritual/supernatural statements of Christianity, the followers in its wake have basically denied Christianity of any supernatural and divine quality (which is how lives are effectually changed, i.e. God creates in people something that was not there through the cross of Christ). Theological Liberalism essentially renders Christianity just another choice of moralistic religions, that we are all basically good, and can morally reform ourselves outside of God, amongst a host of other religions saying the same thing.



I believe it is deeply and vastly important for modern believers in the Gospel to read this book, because there is a movement underway in our culture that is doing the same things as liberals of the early 20th century: it goes by the name of the Emerging Church. The liberalism of the 20th century addressed the Modern era, and now the Emerging church (new liberalism) addresses the postmodern era. With modernism there was scientific certainty; with postmodernism, there is total uncertainty and skepticism, and this has translated into the realm of spirituality (i.e. "we can't really know anything for sure concerning who God is, what He's like," etc). While times have changed (philosophical/cultural thinking) and even science itself (there is increasing ambiguity concerning the very nature of particles and waves in the scientific community, i.e. what scientists thought they knew for sure in the 20th century concerning matter, anti-matter, and laws of physics, they are not so sure about now, based greatly upon quantum mechanics - so miracles and the supernatural are no longer deemed as impossible scientific propositions), the premise is the same in both ages: adopt the culture with its thinking, belief structure, and presuppositions in order to win the culture for Christ. Make Christianity attractive by bringing in the thinking of the world around us.



Sounds good right? I mean, at least on a surface level, the intention may be good, which is win people for Christ! But is it effective in the long run? As John Piper properly notes in an introduction to a sermon he preached, "If you adjust your doctrine to fit the world in order to attract the world, sooner or later the world realizes that they already have what the church offers. That was the story of much of mainline Protestantism in Europe and America in the 20th century. Adjust your doctrine – or just minimize doctrine – to attract the world, and in the very process of attracting them, lose the radical truth [the Gospel itself] that alone can set them free." In order to accommodate a postmodern culture, the Emerging Church has brought down its doctrinal walls in order to win the culture. However, as history shows, this does not work. This movement will ultimately wind up blocking people from seeing, believing in, and enjoying the true Christ of the Scriptures (as opposed to the Jesus made in their own image and likeness), for which they will be held accountable before His White Throne judgment (may God have mercy on us all on that day). Emergents have themselves adopted postmodern thought within a “new” system of Christianity, that you cannot really know anything for sure, so there is no need to be dogmatic on doctrine. And in addition to this, they have in many cases totally redefined the Christian message altogether, where it is no longer distinguishable from that of other religions with their pseudo-pietistic, works-based approach to God. As with the liberalism in the 20th century that Machen addressed in this book, the Emerging Church will surely bring about the very eclipse of Christ and the Gospel (the good news of redemption!) itself in the 21st century. The Emerging Church is just version 2.0 of the theological liberalism of the 20th century. May we learn from history and glorify Jesus by adhering to His infallible Word, even if people hate us!

[Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly simple defense of the historicity and necessity of Christianity, which is still remarkably applicable for our own day. I am thankful for men like Machen who fought for the truth of the Bible in the dark days of Liberalism. He kept returning to the importance of the Creator/Creature distinction as the basis for our understanding of God and man. He emphasized the need for doctrine in order to know God. He explained that Jesus was not just a mere man who was simply meant to provide a moral example for us, but he was a supernatural person who appeased the wrath of God on behalf of sinners. Hands down my favorite book that I read this semester at RBC.

[Jim Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Really very good and to the point. Clear and concise. In total agreement with him.

[Peyton Gunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeet

[Rick Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that deserves to be read and re-read. Even though it was written near the beginning of the 20th century, the false teaching it addresses returns perennially in different garb. It remains as revelant today as it was a hundred years ago.

[Becky Pliego · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, a brilliant defense of biblical Christianity against the Liberalism trying to gain more ground in all the areas of this world.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Machen plays a perfect game of Whac-A-Mole in his refutation of liberalism. A hundred years on, the only difference is that things have gotten worse. Machen highlights liberalism's majoring on the universal Fatherhood of God, but if there's one thing liberalism now hates and seeks to destroy, it's fatherhood of every sort. Even thirty years ago, the PCUSA had turned against God's Fatherhood. They sent some survey to our church that was supposed to help guide our pastoral search process. One of the questions was something like, "Which of God's names is most meaningful to you?" I don't remember what the list of options was, only that Father was not on it. That was very shortly before I finally left for more orthodox pastures. I wouldn't have understood Machen back then. So many people wouldn't have understood him when he first wrote this book, or many more would have followed him out of the PCUS of his day. Alas, too many stayed under bad teaching then, and too many remain under worse teaching today. The false shepherds who lead ignorant sheep astray are going to have a very hot eternity.

This narrator was better than the one on the last edition I listened to.

[Matt Harms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the new audiobook of this in more or less one sitting so I will certainly have to revisit it, probably multiple times. The clarity of both the defense and definition of Christianity is astounding.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book may be summed up in a couple of quotes from the last chapter. "It [liberalism] differs from Christianity in its view of God, of man, of the seat of authority and of the way of salvation. And it differs from Christianity not only in theology but in the whole of life" (173). "An outstanding fact of recent church history is the appalling growth of ignorance in the church" (176). The unfortunate truth is that many of the characteristics of the liberalism that Machen described a century ago are becoming more and more apparent in the evangelicalism of the early 21st century, not least the appalling ignorance of the Bible and Christian doctrine.

[Sophia Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary how prescient Machen’s writing is!! He lays out the fallacies of Christian liberalism and refutes them with clear Biblical truths. Every chapter is applicable to today’s Evangelical culture. A must-read for every believer today!

"And from under the threshold of that house [the church] will go forth a river that will revive the weary world."

[Matt Veilleux · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real classic. Very applicable for today.

[Rafael Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Positively surprising. Machen provides a timeless and stark comparison between Christianity and the ever present threat of liberalism. His writing style betrays his training in classical literature and has the book read as a one-piece long oration. Yet, incisive and quotable lines are scattered throughout. Truly a classic and a noteworthy read for days of social unrest within and outside the church.

[Philip Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read given its status as a classic in shaping and giving context to 20th century evangelicalism, let alone the fact that it's excellent in and of itself.