A Summary of Christianity & Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen

---

I urge Christians to read Christianity & Liberalism by the early 1900s theologian J. Gresham Machen. This book lays out the early theological problems in North American Christianity that have led to the blatant rebellion that much of the Church is in today on various moral and social issues.

Below is a summary that I wrote while at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in Hamilton, ON, that lays out some of the pivotal points in Machen’s arguments and the difference between Christianity and Liberalism. I hope it inspires you to buy the book and start a book study.

---

Machen rarely calls out particular names in this book. On page 10, he makes reference to Mr. H. G. Wells in writing “Outline of History.” In this book, he maintains theological objectivity by focusing on ideas being promoted in the church at large. It also was not Machen's aim to be in conflict a particular denomination. Instead, his target is what he refers to as the “Liberal Church” which he regards as another church. It is interesting that in his section on Christian doctrine, Machen even writes positively concerning the Roman Catholic Church: “The Church of Rome may represent a perversion of the Christian religion; but naturalistic liberalism is not Christianity at all.”¹