J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937) was a towering figure in early 20th-century American Christianity, particularly within the Reformed tradition. A brilliant scholar and principled defender of orthodoxy, Machen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a devout Presbyterian family. He studied at Johns Hopkins University and then at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he would later teach New Testament. He also pursued studies in Germany, where he encountered theological liberalism firsthand—an experience that would shape the rest of his life and ministry.
Machen was deeply committed to biblical Christianity and to the idea that Christian doctrine mattered—not merely for academic theology, but for the heart and soul of the Church itself. He was no dry academic. Rather, he was a man grieved by the erosion of truth within the churches of his time.
When Princeton Seminary began to drift toward liberalism, Machen and other conservatives found themselves in a bitter struggle to preserve the Reformed faith. Eventually, in 1929, Machen helped to found Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia as a bastion of historic Christian orthodoxy. A few years later, when the Presbyterian Church (USA) continued its liberal trajectory, he organized the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1936. Machen died unexpectedly of pneumonia in 1937 while on a preaching tour in North Dakota.
But long before these later developments, Machen had already laid out his case in one of the most influential Christian books of the 20th century: Christianity and Liberalism (1923).
The Context: Why Did Machen Write This Book?
To understand Christianity and Liberalism, we must understand the historical situation Machen was addressing. At the turn of the 20th century, a theological revolution was sweeping through the Western world, particularly in mainline Protestant denominations. This revolution wasn’t launched from the pews but from the seminaries and pulpits—the very institutions tasked with preserving and passing on the Christian faith.
The movement was called “liberalism,” but its label belied the seriousness of its threat. Liberal theology sought to adapt Christianity to the modern world. Influenced by Enlightenment rationalism, Darwinian evolution, German higher criticism of the Bible, and a general skepticism about the supernatural, liberal theologians attempted to reframe the faith in terms more acceptable to the scientific and cultural elites.
Key Christian doctrines were redefined or discarded:
- The virgin birth was treated as mythology.
- The deity of Christ was downplayed or denied.
- The resurrection became symbolic, not historical.
- The authority of Scripture was reduced to moral inspiration.
- The atonement was replaced with moral influence theory.
- The gospel became “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.”
Many pastors and professors no longer taught the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), but a new, man-centered, worldly religion masquerading as Christianity. The shift was subtle at first, but soon became unmistakable.
Machen wrote Christianity and Liberalism in 1923 as both a warning and a theological declaration. His main thesis is simple and clear: Christianity and liberalism are not two varieties of the same religion. They are, in fact, two entirely different religions.
This was a bombshell claim—especially since Machen was not attacking outsiders but insiders: those in seminaries, pulpits, and denominational leadership who claimed to be Christians but who had abandoned the substance of the Christian faith.
The Principles of Christianity and Liberalism
Machen structured his book around six major themes: doctrine, God and man, the Bible, Christ, salvation, and the Church. Each chapter builds upon the last, creating a cohesive and logical case that the so-called “liberal Christianity” of his day was not Christianity at all, but an entirely different religion—one based on human intuition and modern philosophy rather than divine revelation.
Let’s walk through each of these themes and distill their content for the benefit of the intelligent reader—especially the newer Christian seeking clarity in a confusing religious landscape.
Doctrine: The Foundation of Christianity
What Machen Teaches:
Machen begins with a strong affirmation: Christianity is a religion rooted in doctrine. Contrary to liberalism’s claim that Christianity is merely a life, an experience, or a moral movement, Machen insists that it is first and foremost a message. That message is what the Bible calls “the gospel”—good news about something God has done in history. Doctrine (which means teaching) is simply the faithful explanation of that message.
Why It Matters:
If you remove doctrine from Christianity, you remove the very thing that makes it Christian. Liberalism, by denying the necessity of doctrine, empties the gospel of content and reduces Christianity to vague moralism.
Illustration:
Machen compares Christianity to a message sent from headquarters to the frontlines in wartime. The messenger may be brave, but if he alters the message, he becomes a traitor. Likewise, the Church must preserve and proclaim the message—not invent or modify it.
Takeaway for Today:
The cry “doctrine divides” is common in modern churches, but Machen would respond, “Yes—but it also unites. Without truth, there is no basis for unity at all.” Christians must know what they believe and why they believe it.
God and Man: The Chasm Liberalism Ignores
What Machen Teaches:
Machen emphasizes the radical distinction between God and man. Christianity teaches that God is holy, transcendent, and personal. Man, in contrast, is fallen, sinful, and helpless apart from divine grace. Sin isn’t just ignorance or moral failure—it’s rebellion against a holy God.
Liberalism, however, teaches the essential goodness of man and a God who is more like a cheerleader than a sovereign Lord. It flattens the Creator-creature distinction and turns sin into a social problem rather than a personal offense against God.
Why It Matters:
If man is not truly sinful, he doesn’t need a Savior. If God is not truly holy, He will not judge sin. The gospel depends on the truth that man is guilty and God is righteous. Without this, Christianity collapses into self-help.
Illustration:
Imagine a doctor who refuses to tell a patient he has cancer because he wants to avoid upsetting him. Liberal theology is that kind of “pastor”—one who flatters the congregation into hell rather than confronts them with truth that saves.
Takeaway for Today:
Many modern churches emphasize self-esteem over repentance. Machen reminds us that a right view of man and God is not optional—it is essential. Only when we see our need clearly can we appreciate the grace of Christ.
The Bible: The Book God Wrote
What Machen Teaches:
Machen defends the inspiration and authority of Scripture. The Bible is not merely a record of human religious experience—it is the Word of God. Its facts are real; its teachings are binding. To deny its truth is to reject God’s authority.
Liberalism, by contrast, views the Bible as inspiring literature—a collection of man’s best religious insights. Errors are assumed. Miracles are dismissed. The Bible is judged by modern standards, rather than modern minds being judged by the Bible.
Why It Matters:
If the Bible is not the Word of God, then Christianity has no sure foundation. All doctrines—whether about Christ, salvation, or eternity—are built on the Bible’s authority. Undermine Scripture, and you undermine everything else.
Illustration:
Machen says liberalism approaches Scripture like a scientist dissecting a frog—interested in analysis, but with no love or reverence. The true Christian sees the Bible not as a specimen, but as a voice: God speaking.
Takeaway for Today:
From progressive seminaries to TikTok theologians, the authority of Scripture is constantly under assault. But Christians must continue to affirm, as Machen did, that “the Bible is not the record of man’s religious aspirations; it is the record of a revelation from God.”
Christ: The Divine Savior, Not a Moral Example
What Machen Teaches:
At the center of Christianity is Jesus Christ—not just as a teacher or prophet, but as the eternal Son of God made flesh. Machen is unambiguous: Christ is fully God and fully man. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed real miracles, died as a substitutionary sacrifice, rose bodily from the dead, and will return in glory.
Liberalism, however, recasts Jesus as a moral example or spiritual genius. It strips away His deity and makes Him simply a noble teacher of love and brotherhood—essentially a first-century version of Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr., rather than the eternal Lord of heaven and earth.
Why It Matters:
If Jesus is not divine, He cannot save us. If His death was not an atonement for sin, we are still lost. Liberalism’s sentimental Christ may inspire us to be better people—but he cannot raise the dead, forgive sins, or reconcile us to God.
Illustration:
Machen writes that liberalism sees Jesus like a model citizen at a charity banquet—someone to applaud and emulate. But true Christianity sees Him more like a lifeguard who dives in to save drowning men. Christ is not our example first—He is our Savior.
Takeaway for Today:
Many popular “Christian” influencers talk about Jesus in vague, friendly terms—celebrating His love while avoiding any mention of His authority, deity, or coming judgment. Machen reminds us that the real Jesus demands worship, not just admiration.
Salvation: By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone
What Machen Teaches:
Christianity teaches that man is saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. Salvation is not earned—it is a free gift received by trusting in the One who bore our sins on the cross. This gospel is based on historical events (the death and resurrection of Jesus) and explained through divine revelation (the Bible).
Liberalism, on the other hand, denies substitutionary atonement and speaks instead of Jesus “inspiring us” to live better lives. Salvation becomes a matter of moral effort, social justice, or inner transformation—not a supernatural rescue from sin and wrath.
Why It Matters:
If we are not saved by grace, then Christianity is just another works-based religion. Machen argues that liberalism makes the cross unnecessary. But the apostle Paul says “if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21).
Illustration:
Machen likens salvation to a rope dropped to a drowning man. The liberal says, “Swim harder.” The Christian says, “Grab the rope.” We are not saved by what we do, but by what Christ has done.
Takeaway for Today:
Modern preaching often focuses on self-improvement and empowerment. But Christianity is not about becoming a better you—it’s about receiving a new you through Christ. Machen reminds us that grace is not a concept—it’s a Person who bled and rose for us.
The Church: A Divine Institution, Not a Social Club
What Machen Teaches:
In his final chapter, Machen turns to the Church. He insists that the Church is not a human organization we invent for our own purposes. It is a divine institution established by Christ, built on truth, and tasked with proclaiming the gospel and administering the sacraments.
Liberalism, however, turns the Church into a social club or ethical society—a place to promote community service, uplift morality, or discuss ideas. The focus shifts from the glory of God to the needs of man.
Why It Matters:
When the Church stops preaching the gospel, it ceases to be a Church. Machen saw that liberalism was producing churches filled with activity—but empty of truth. The Church’s primary mission is not to improve the world, but to proclaim the Word.
Illustration:
A liberal church is like a lamp without a bulb—it may have the right shape, but it gives no light. The true Church may be small, but if it clings to Christ and His Word, it is the “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Takeaway for Today:
In 2025, many churches are preoccupied with social causes, activism, and entertainment. Machen warns us that a Church without doctrine, without Christ, and without the cross is not a Church at all—it is a counterfeit.
Summary of Machen’s Argument
Machen’s message is remarkably simple, yet devastatingly profound. Therefore, Christians must choose: Will we hold fast to biblical faith, or drift into apostasy?
Christianity is a revealed religion based on historical facts and divine truth. Liberalism is a man-made religion based on modern thought and human aspiration.
The two are not compatible. They are not friends, cousins, or rivals. They are enemies.
Transcending 1923: Applying Machen’s Warnings to the Crisis of 2025
When J. Gresham Machen published Christianity and Liberalism in 1923, he was confronting a rising tide of theological accommodation—an effort to baptize the spirit of the age in Christian language. A century later, we are facing a strikingly similar crisis—but this time, the “spirit of the age” is shaped by a different ideology: Neo-Marxism, more commonly recognized today as “wokeness.”
Just as Machen’s generation tried to reconcile Christianity with Enlightenment rationalism and evolutionary naturalism, our generation is witnessing an attempt to merge Christianity with progressive ideologies grounded in critical theory, intersectionality, and identity politics. The vocabulary has changed—but the threat is the same.
Let’s unpack how Machen’s insights apply directly to the crisis of our own time.
Wokeness as a New Religion
Neo-Marxism, like theological liberalism before it, presents itself as morally superior, scientifically informed, and culturally necessary. But in truth, it is a religious system—with its own doctrine of original sin (privilege), its own saints and martyrs (activists), its own heresies (wrongthink), its own liturgies (hashtags, protests, and DEI training), and its own version of redemption (dismantling oppressive systems).
This new faith does not call sinners to repent before a holy God. It calls the “privileged” to apologize, redistribute, and deconstruct. It does not offer salvation, only perpetual activism and penance. It replaces divine justice with ideological justice, and divine grace with systemic guilt.
Machen’s central argument—that liberalism is a different religion altogether—applies perfectly to woke Christianity. The two systems are irreconcilable.
The chief modern rival of Christianity is not atheism, but a substitute religion which is not Christianity at all.
— J. Gresham Machen (paraphrased and updated for today)
The Erosion of Doctrine in the Name of “Love”
Modern progressive Christianity often cloaks its deviation from orthodoxy in the language of love, inclusion, and social concern. But Machen saw through that façade a century ago. He understood that when truth is sacrificed for the sake of peace or relevance, the result is not love—it is spiritual malpractice.
Today’s woke theology abandons biblical doctrines under the banner of compassion:
- God’s justice is replaced with anti-racist theory.
- Biblical anthropology is rejected in favor of gender theory.
- The gospel is recast as economic or social liberation.
- Preaching becomes moralistic storytelling or activist monologue.
- The Church becomes a platform for protest rather than a pillar of truth.
In all these cases, the gospel is no longer the good news of Christ crucified for sinners—it is a tool for achieving utopian goals, designed by human hands.
The Modern Liberal Church
We are living in an age when entire denominations are collapsing under the weight of cultural compromise. The United Methodist Church is splitting over LGBTQ+ issues. The PC(USA) long ago adopted woke political positions. Even formerly conservative churches are now hiring “diversity consultants” or redefining sin categories to avoid offending modern sensibilities.
The fruit of this compromise? Churches that shrink, seminaries that empty, and sermons that say nothing of eternal consequence. As Machen put it, liberalism “makes everything seem so pleasant, but kills the soul.” The same could be said of progressive Christianity in 2025.
Wokeness vs. Biblical Anthropology
One of the clearest contradictions between biblical Christianity and wokeness is the view of humanity. Scripture teaches that every person is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), yet deeply fallen in Adam (Romans 5:12). The deepest problem with man is not social systems or power structures—it is the corruption of the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:20–23).
Woke ideology teaches the opposite: sin is external, not internal. You are either oppressed or oppressor, based on group identity. Salvation comes not through repentance and faith, but through activism and ideological conformity.
Machen saw in theological liberalism the same anthropological error—an unwillingness to face the reality of sin. He would see today’s “gospel of grievance” as a further hardening of that same error.
The Need for Courage and Clarity
Machen’s courage to stand against his own denomination and institutions must inspire us today. We need a new generation of Christians—pastors, teachers, parents, students—who will resist the tide of ideological compromise with equal boldness.
His model was not anger or hostility, but firm conviction and clarity. He never confused kindness with cowardice. He knew that truth matters, and that love without truth is just sentimentality.
In a world where many Christians are afraid to be labeled intolerant or “on the wrong side of history,” Machen reminds us that faithfulness to Christ always puts us at odds with the world.
“Men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we can preach the truth without attacking error… But if we follow that advice, we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings.”
— J. Gresham Machen
Conclusion: Why Christianity and Liberalism Still Matters Today
J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism is not a dusty relic of theological debate from a bygone era. It is a prophetic book—a warning siren that continues to ring clear a hundred years later. The crisis he described has only deepened. The false religion of liberalism has changed its name, vocabulary, and marketing strategy—but its essence remains the same.
For Christians today—especially newer believers, high school graduates entering college, or laypeople navigating cultural pressure—this book is a lifeline. It clarifies what Christianity truly is. It shows why doctrine is not a distraction but the very heartbeat of our faith. And it equips us to stand firm when the world (and often the visible church) urges us to compromise.
So here’s your encouragement:
- If you’ve never read Christianity and Liberalism, read it now. It’s under 150 pages, written clearly, and accessible to any serious reader.
- If you’re already convinced that wokeness is a threat to biblical faith, this book will strengthen your spine.
- If you’re unsure where you stand, Machen will help you see what’s truly at stake.
- If you’re a parent, teacher, or pastor, this book will help you prepare others for the pressures of compromise.
The battle lines Machen drew have not faded—they’ve only moved closer to your doorstep.
“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding. The really important things are the things about which men will fight.”
— J. Gresham Machen
May we be found faithful.
S.D.G.,
Robert Sparkman
MMXXV
rob@basedchristianity.org
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