Who was J. Gresham Machen?

Answer

John Gresham Machen (1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian apologist, scholar, and fervent defender of conservative Reformed theology. Throughout most of his career, he served as a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He emerged as a prominent figure and vocal advocate in the Fundamentalist-versus-Modernist controversy of the early twentieth century. In 1923, J. Gresham Machen published “Christianity and Liberalism,” a renowned defense of traditional Christian theology. Additionally, he established the denomination now recognized as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Machen grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, as the second of three sons born to a prosperous and prominent attorney, Arthur W. Machen. John inherited his father’s love for classical literature and logical reasoning. His mother, Mary Gresham, who was raised in the Old School Presbyterian Church, imparted to John a comprehensive education in the Scriptures and the Westminster Catechism.

After receiving a classical education at nearby Johns Hopkins University, J. Gresham Machen enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1902. During his time as a seminary student, John grappled with the idea of pursuing ordination as a clergyman. He believed that a ministerial vocation clashed with his intellectual and academic abilities. Initially, he contemplated a career in banking or international law. However, upon his graduation in 1905, Machen felt a calling to dedicate his life to scholarship in New Testament studies. He spent a year in postgraduate studies at Marburg and Göttingen in Germany.

In the autumn of 1906, Machen took up a position at Princeton Theological Seminary, teaching elementary Greek, Bible exegesis, and an introductory course on the New Testament. Despite ongoing internal struggles and uncertainties, Machen’s doubts about his vocation were eventually resolved within the intellectual and spiritual milieu at Princeton and under the mentorship.

During his time at Princeton, J. Gresham Machen was a staunch opponent of liberal Protestantism and a champion of orthodox Christian beliefs. His seminal work, “Christianity and Liberalism” published in 1923, positioned him at the forefront of the theological debate. In this book, Machen meticulously contrasts the tenets of liberalism with core Christian doctrines concerning God, humanity, Jesus Christ, salvation, and the church. He unequivocally asserts that “liberalism” stands as the primary adversary to Christianity, emphasizing the fundamental divergence between the two movements.

In 1929, Machen parted ways with Princeton Theological Seminary due to its shift towards a more liberal theological stance. Subsequently, he spearheaded the establishment of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the explicit aim of upholding Reformed theological traditions. Additionally, Machen advocated for the creation of a missions board to independently verify the orthodoxy of missionaries, leading to his expulsion from the Northern Presbyterians. In 1936, he founded the Presbyterian Church of America, later renamed the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, distinct from the Presbyterian Church in America.

Among Machen’s notable scholarly works are “Origin of Paul’s Religion” (1921) and “The Virgin Birth of Christ” (1930), which defend traditional perspectives on New Testament subjects. His textbook “New Testament Greek for Beginners” (1923) remains a staple in seminary curricula to this day.

J. Gresham Machen, inspired by the legacy of Professor Benjamin B. Warfield, dedicated his life to upholding biblical doctrine and defending orthodox Christianity.

He never married. At the age of 55, he died suddenly of pneumonia while on a preaching tour. His life remains an exemplar of careful scholarship and doctrinal integrity, especially for young Bible students and ministers in an era of shifting theological currents.

Here are a few quotes from the works of J. Gresham Machen:

“Light may seem at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is always beneficial in the end” (Christianity and Liberalism).

“The Sermon on the Mount, like all the rest of the New Testament, really leads a man straight to the foot of the cross” (Christianity and Liberalism).

“The religion of Paul was rooted altogether in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Jesus for Paul was primarily not a Revealer, but a Saviour” (The Origin of Paul’s Religion).

“The Biblical writers, after having been prepared for their task by the providential ordering of their entire lives, received, in addition to all that, a blessed and wonderful and supernatural guidance and impulsion by the Spirit of God, so that they were preserved from the errors that appear in other books and thus the resulting book, the Bible, is in all its parts the very Word of God, completely true in what it says regarding matters of fact and completely authoritative in its commands” (Christian Faith in the Modern World).