Christianity and Liberalism

Last week I finished Christianity and Liberalism for a Reading Classics Together series. This was my second reading of the book and what fascinated me was how apropos the book is almost 90 years after it was written. Truly there is nothing new under the sun. The struggle for truth is still the same as it always has been.

In chapter one, Introduction and Doctrine, Machen proposes that Liberalism is not simply a “flavor” of Christianity but a different faith. He reminds us that Christianity is based on history and fact. It is more than the realm of ideas and philosophy. Historical truth matters.

In the remaining chapters, God and Man, The Bible, Christ, Salvation, and The Church, Machen defends his assertion by reviewing how Liberalism presents each topic differently than historical Christianity and how the difference is substantial enough that Liberalism should be regarded as a different religion/faith/ideology altogether.

Though the book was more then 60 years old the first time I read it, its longevity did not grab me in the same way. I saw the similarities but I guess my idealism had me convinced that “we” could do something about it. Reading this book again more than twenty years later was enlightening. It is as if nothing has changed.