Machen: Chapter 4

The Bible 

In this chapter, Machen spends time explaining the “Christian message” and how this message is given to us through the Bible. He wants to dive into the question of, “What shall we think about this Book in which the message in contained?” (59). Machen answers this question throughout the chapter, and touches on a lot of important points that we should think about when we read this message. I plan on touching on two points that he makes that strike a personal connection for me.

At the beginning of this chapter, Machen touches on the fact that the Bible has revelations of ancient truths about God such as the fact that even the heavens worship the creator and His work. However, Machen also explains how the Bible is full of new revelations that help to explain how a human being, full of sin and worldly desires, can live in communion with God and have a strong relationship with Him. This relationship comes through the New Testament when Jesus the Messiah who had been prophesied for years before his arrival. This man came so that we could live in communion with God and have a personal relationship with Him. Machen states on page 60,

“For Christianity depends, not upon complex ideas, but upon the narration of an event. Without an event, the world, in Christian view, is all together dark, and humanity is love under the guilt of sin” (60).

Though I know the gospel story, I never really thought of Christianity as a religion based off of a “Narrative event”. Machen explains that though our salvation does is not completely based off of the truth of what happened in the gospel, but this event has a great impact on our lives today as we walk in faith with Christ by our side.

Later in this chapter, Machen explains something that brought about an “aha” moment for me. He says on page 65,

“The words of Jesus… can hardly contain all that we need to know about God and the way of salvation; for the meaning of Jesus’ redeeming work could hardly fully set forth before that work was done”.

This is a really interesting concept that I guess I knew in the back of my mind, but never really deeply considered until reading this part of Machen’s book. While Jesus speaks wisdom to His people in the New Testament, there is so much more than can be known about God. Machen goes on to explain that we learn to know and understand more and more of who God is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift is important for us to use today as we continue to be in communion with God. Without God giving his son, and sacrificing Him at the cost of His children, the Holy Spirit would not exist. Without the Holy Spirit, we would not be able to have a relationship with God and continue to know and understand who He is.

Machen Chapter 3

God and Man

This chapter focuses on how the gospel focuses on how God saved man. Machen explains that before we can understand this concept, we must understand more about who God is, and who man is. Though there are many solid points in this chapter than should be noted, I plan on picking out two points that really reignited with me as I was reading this portion of the book.

Towards the end of this chapter, Machen states,

“But although Christianity does not end with the broken heart, it does begin with the broken heart; it begins with the consciousness of sin. Without the consciousness of sin, the whole gospel will seem an idle tale” (57).

When I read this part of the chapter, my mind was a little bit blown. I have never thought about the gospel and the consciousness of sin in this way. At times I will ponder on what life would be like if the fall didn’t happen. What would life have been like if the world God didn’t have to send the gift of Jesus, because it was so perfect that we weren’t in need of a savior? Then I begin to think about what life is like for a non-believer who does not understand the concept that life can end without a broken heart, when we have the gift of Jesus. Why would someone not want this gift? The answer to this is complex, but often the answer is that people simply don’t believe that this is even possible! If I was living my life without the hope of having a completely un-broken heart in the end, and spending eternity with Jesus, what would the purpose of my life even be? My simple answer to this is, “I don’t know!”. The idea of why one might not believe about the gift of an unbroken heart slides me into my next point.

           

In the middle of this chapter, Machen states,

“It is no wonder that such a method seemed strange. Could anything be more impractical than the attempt to influence conduct by rehearsing events concerning the death of a glorious teacher?... It seemed foolish to the ancient world, and it seems foolish to liberal preachers to-day” (40).

When I think about it, if the concept of surrounding my entire life around the fact that my Savior died for me so that I could have life through him may seem strange to someone who has not experienced his presence before. Just the other day, one of my co-workers was making fun of someone she met in a grocery store who noticed she was having a difficult day, because the women walked up to her and said, “I’ll pray for you that your day goes better”. When she was telling me about it, she was laughing and said, “I don’t believe in that…” and used some choice words to follow. My initial internal reaction was to be angry with her, but my anger quickly turned to sadness as I realized that she, along with many other people in this world, have never understood what it means to encounter a moment with Jesus and experience His presence. It saddens me that many people live their lives without a strong purpose, and their lives end with a broken heart because of it. This chapter has made me consider how I encourage others to follow Jesus, and ponder how much I allow God to use me as a vessel to further His kingdom.

Christianity & Liberalism: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Doctrine

In this chapter, Machen elaborates on modern liberalism in the church. He argues that liberalism within the church is “no longer a matter merely an academic matter”(15). Towards the end, he states that liberalism within christianity is a “modern rival” and the two are mostly moving in opposite directions. He goes into more detail on this issue throughout the chapter. However, I plan to elaborate my thoughts on two points that I felt a personal connection to within the chapter. I found myself closely connecting with the beginning of this chapter, so this is where I plan to focus on.

Machen talks about the issue of many religious teachers being fearful of not sharing the full truth on their views on certain issues, for fear of possibly offending people. He states,

“…the religious teacher, in his heart of hearts, is well aware of the radicalism of his views , but is unwilling to relinquish his place in the hallowed atmosphere of the Church by speaking his whole mind” (15–16).

Machen goes on to say that weather these teachers are conservative in their beliefs, or “radical” in their beliefs, their word on Christian issues still matter. They are all working towards one goal, which is spreading the gospel and furthering the kingdom. I was struck by this issue, because I see this happening so often within the walls of the Bible college that I attend. I find myself getting so frustrated with those who are unwilling to speak out the truth they have in their hearts for fear of offending others. I feel as though if someone has something meaningful to say, and they feel it is a word from God, than they should say it. However, of course, this is easier said than done. our world is full of judgement, and at times it feels like it’s easier to keep out mouths shut than speak truth and get negative feedback. This part of the chapter has helped me to evaluate my life and where I fall on this issue, and speak (humbly) about what I feel is truth even if it may cause turmoil in others hearts. After all, we’re all working towards the same goal, right?

“But, it will be said, Christianity is a life, not a doctrine” (17).

The quote above is the second point I would like to elaborate on. This point is so simple, yet so relevant in our society today. Throughout the chapter, Machen talks about how some people follow creeds so closely, and while they are important to know and understand, they can often get in the way of our purpose. I think the creeds were written as guidelines for our lives, but not necessarily “strict rules” that we have to follow. To me, these strict rules are often why non-believers are turned away from Christianity. I view Christianity as a lifestyle. I am a Christian, and my goal is to love God, and love others while furthering His kingdom. this can be done in a variety of ways, depending on gifts and personalities that God gave us in order TO GLORIFY HIM! if we look at Christianity as a rulesy religion, we lose sight of our end goal, and simultaneously push people away from our beliefs.

When we combine the fear of offending others and not speaking our hearts, with looking at Christianity as a doctrine instead of a lifestyle, it becomes a dangerous, and forces us into losing sight of our end goal. I believe we were placed on this early to serve the Lord, and make a lifestyle of our beliefs.

Christianity & Liberalism: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

In this chapter, Machen tells his readers that the purpose of this book is to clearly present religious issues so that we can wrestle with them and come to an understanding on them on our own. During this chapter, there were two particular points that I felt like I had emotional sparks to, and I would like to elaborate on these points, and explain why I felt a connection to them.

1. Machen spends time explaining that there is a new era where modern inventions and industrialism is taking over. From my understanding, he refers to people who aren’t happy about the fact that the world continues to change and grow as new technology develops. He states; “…we can no more remove ourselves from that world that we can escape from the atmosphere that we breathe” (2). We live in a world right now where living a minimalist lifestyle is a hot topic and “the thing to do”. While I believe it is important to be careful how much we follow along with where the world is going with new inventions, I also believe it could be easy to get caught up in being minimalist and forget why Christ asks us to live simply. Colossians 2:6 says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness”. This verse clearly explains that living simply should be a desire of the heart in order to be fully rooted in Christ, not just because it’s a hot topic.

1. Towards the end of chapter 1, Machen talks about the issue that “great men are few and far between or non-existent…”(13). I am currently married to an incredible man who is better at loving me than I am at loving myself at times. While I’m extremely thankful for this gift God has given me, I have to agree with the point Machen is trying to make. Before meeting my husband, I had a very significant moment with the Lord where I was wrestling with Him on why it seemed so hard to find a decent man. If I’m being honest, every man that I dated before my husband, was dating me for the wrong reasons. However, I also think that the pressure is often put on men to be perfect, and when they’re not (because it’s truly not possible), they get hammered for it. I think society often puts high expectations on men. Because these expectations are often impossible to meet, their self esteem goes through the floor. I was able to realize (while wrestling with God on this topic) that my expectations of what society says a man “should be” were completely wrong. 1 Timothy 6:11 says, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness”. Instead of looking at a man and expecting what society says we should expect, we should look for character traits that 1 Timothy 6:11 describes.