Christianity and Liberalism and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading Christianity and Liberalism on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Christianity and Liberalism [Paperback]

J. Gresham Machen
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $9.99  
Hardcover --  
Paperback $10.89  
Paperback, August 7, 1946 --  
Audio, CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged $19.78  
Unknown Binding --  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $14.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

August 7, 1946
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 Bbible, Christ, salvation, and the church. Though originally published nearly seventy years ago, the book maintains its relevance today.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 199 pages
  • Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Reprint edition (August 7, 1946)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0802811213
  • ISBN-13: 978-0802811219
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #857,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
113 of 119 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Vital Christian Classic, More Relevant By The Day June 27, 2000
Format:Paperback
Few books have had as pivotal a role in the battle of ideas as J. Gresham
Machen's Christianity and Liberalism. Machen's classic was written in the
height of the battle for control over the Presbyterian Church USA (the most
prominent of the "mainline denominations"), and defines with brilliance the
battle lines between liberal (so-called) Christianity and the orthodox
faith. Moreover, it points out exactly what is at stake: the true faith, as
opposed to a perverse shadow of that faith, a shadow based on subjectivism
which elevates man's sovereignty over God's and ends in believing nothing at
all.

It is important to understand that the liberalism Machen castigates is not
political but theological (although many if not most of the liberals of the
latter camp fell also in the former, numerous prominent political liberals
-- such as three-time Democrat Presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan
-- fought alongside Machen). This theological liberalism manifests itself in
many ways, but is chiefly characterized by a rejection of Scripture as
infallibly inspired, a denial of the doctrines of the Fall and of Hell, and
a belief in man's evolutionary self-perfection (process theology, with
progress guided by an "enlightened" elite). Machen correctly asserts that
this is not merely a different approach to the Gospel, but is in fact a
different gospel: an exchange of God's sovereignty for man's, God's law-word
for man's, God's eternal, unchanging standards for man's evolving, situation
ethics. For this reason, Machen contends that liberalism and Christianity
are separate things: rival religions, permanently at war.
... Read more ›
Was this review helpful to you?
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Christianity and liberalism is perhaps the best-known book length treatise against early 20th century theological liberalism in America. It was published as the famous "Fundamentalist-Modernist" controversy was heating up, and has since been one of the clearest contrasting descriptions of the heart of the difference between modernist liberal Christianity and historical Christian orthodoxy.

The major thesis of the book is that Liberalism (modernist theology) and Christianity are diametrically opposed religions that unfortunately use the same language to describe their opposite views of things. He states, "the great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of Christian terminology." Later he states in his thesis, "...we shall be interested in showing that despite the liberal use of traditional phraseology modern liberalism is not only a different religion from Christianity, but belongs to a totally different class of religions."

Machen is interested not in necessarily proving that Liberalism is wrong as he is in explaining that it is not Christian. His burden is not to disprove the tenants of Liberalism (although he speaks some to that end), but to simply describe each clearly and make obvious the huge divergence of thinking in the two groups.

Although Machen is perhaps "the" great Fundamentalists, on must keep in mind this was before Fundamentalist meant: narrow, reactionary, separatist, nationalistic, literalist, ignorant, and the like.
... Read more ›
Was this review helpful to you?
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Christianity & Liberalism: A Modern Classic May 12, 1998
Format:Paperback
J. Gresham Machen's magnum opus, Christianity & Liberalism, is a book that everyone concerned about the demise of American Christianity should read. At first one might not find the title of his book all that striking, but in its day (1923), it had a little more punch. Machen was trying to show that Christianity and liberalism were two separate plans of salvation, two separate faiths--in short, two entirely different religious systems. In his day, it was thought that liberalism was a fresh new approach to Christianity, a way of practicing the faith in the modern context. But in Machen's thinking, however, liberalism had "relinquished everything distinctive of Christianity, so that what remains is in essentials only that same indefinite type of religious aspiration which was in the world before Christianity came upon the scene." Machen set out therefore to bring all the issues out into the open and make clear-cut distinctions between the two faiths: "What that message is can be made clear, as is the case with all definition, only by way of exclusion, by way of contrast." But this approach wasn't always well received:

"Presenting an issue sharply is indeed by no means a popular business at the present time....Clear-cut definition of terms in religious matters, bold facing of the logical implications of religious views, is by many persons regarded as an impious proceeding...But with such persons we cannot possibly bring ourselves to agree. Light may seem at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is always beneficial in the end. The type of religion which rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from "controversial" matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life....

Machen was an extremely clear writer! and thinker. His insight with regard to the battle of orthodox Christianity in the liberal context of the 20's is of tremendous relevance for modern Christians of all stripes concerned about the loss of substance, meaning, theology, etc, in the contemporary church. After reading Christianity & Liberalism, you'll definately want to order his other classic, What Is Faith (1925). Read more ›

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant 90 years later
Rarely do you find a book written almost a century ago that is still relevant for today. The things I have read by J. C. Ryle (1815 - 1900) certainly are. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Reviewer
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Defense of Evangelicalism
Machen's zeal to defend the place of Jesus in salvation, the authority of the Bible and the need for preachers who are submitted to God and his Word is stirring. Read more
Published 2 months ago by T. Guyette
4.0 out of 5 stars Christianity and Liberalism
This book really draws the sharp contrast between genuine Christianity and the Liberalism that attacks the truth. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mike Upton
2.0 out of 5 stars Sounds Like Luther
I can see why Protestants would rate this 5 stars. This book is basically repeating Martin Luther's positions which had been largely watered down over time. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Franklin Schmidt
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, Dr. Machen, for this spiritual medicine
I just read Christianity and Liberalism and it had a profound impact upon me spiritually. I was expecting an academic argument, but this book was a page-turner and I couldn't put... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Love to Shop
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic work defending the Christian faith
This is an outstanding book. Machen was a staunch defender of Christian orthodoxy. He was alarmed at the departure from essential tenets of the faith by liberal theologians. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Battleship
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic on an E-Reader
Enough has been said about the content of this book that I won't go into that. It's just the same, and just as good and relevant today, as it has been for the last 80+ years. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dr. J. B. Boren
5.0 out of 5 stars Applies to 21st Century!
Written in 1920s, but could have been written today! Great description of what is crazy about certain areas of modern Christianity in America in 2011.
Published 18 months ago by David Prather
5.0 out of 5 stars Ever timely
In my opinion, in a well ordered age this would unquestionably be obligatory reading for the education of literate people.
Published 18 months ago by Dr. Marc Mihail
5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest Comparison/Contrast
John Gresham Machen was Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary in the early twentieth century. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Epistem Quest
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews





Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category