J. Gresham Machen

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March 17 : Machen’s Profession of Faith

17 March, 2012 in March 2012 by archivist | 1 comment

This Day in Presbyterian History:

A Stirring Confession of Faith

On Sunday evening, March 17, 1935, Dr. J. Gresham Machen filled the pulpit of the  First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  This time period was in the framework of being under indictment for refusing to cease and desist from the support of the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Mission, as the Mandate from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, had stated  in 1934.  His ordination was thus at stake.  His standing in that denomination was at stake. Listen to his profession of faith given on that evening.

“My profession of faith is simply that I know nothing of the Christ proclaimed, through the Auburn Affirmation.  I know nothing of a Christ who is presented to us in a human book containing errors, but know only a Christ presented in a divine book, the Bible which is true from beginning to end.  I know nothing of a Christ who possibly was and possibly was not born of a virgin, but know only a Christ who was truly conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary.  I know nothing of a Christ who possibly did and possibly did not work miracles, but know only a Christ who said to the winds and the waves, with the sovereign voice of the Maker and Ruler of all nature, ‘Peace be still.’  I know nothing of a Christ who possible  did and possibly did not come out of the tomb on the first Easter morning, but know only a Christ who triumphed over sin and the grave and is living now in His glorified body until He shall come again and I shall see Him with my very eyes.  I know nothing of a Christ who possibly did and possibly did not die as my substitute on the cross, but know only a Christ who took upon Himself the just punishment of my sins and died there in my stead to make it right with the holy God.”

Despite what the ecclesiastical machinery of the Presbyterian Church would do, Dr. Machen’s conviction was settled.  He ended it all by stating that he would “rather be condemned for an honest adherence to the Bible and to my solemn ordination pledge than enjoy the highest ecclesiastical honors and emoluments as the reward of dishonesty.”

Words to Live By: Can you echo the words of J. Gresham Machen today?  Today the attacks continue upon both the written and living Word.  Let us affirm this confession today, until God takes us home.

For further study:
To read the full message delivered by Dr. J. Gresham Machen that Sunday evening, March 17, 1935, click here.

Through the Scriptures:Joshua 19 – 21

Through the Standards:  The Humiliation of Christ, according to the Confession

WCF 8:4a – 4i
“This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake; which that He might discharge, He was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it; endured the most grievous torments immediately in His soul, and most painful sufferings in His body; was crucified, and died, was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption . . . .”

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March 13 : The Virgin Birth of Christ, by J. Gresham Machen

13 March, 2012 in March 2012 by archivist | No comments

This Day in Presbyterian History:

The Virgin Birth of Christ

According to the universal belief of the historic Christian faith, including the evangelical and Reformed churches in the twenty-first century,  Jesus of Nazareth was born without a human father, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.  And many, if not all of our readers, would respond to this statement in the affirmative.  But many negative replies would also be given in the church at large, from both those who stand behind the pulpit, to  those who sit in the pew.   There is a great divide in the visible church to this doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ.   The answer to these objections has been for the past eighty years in the book by John Gresham Machen entitled “The Virgin Birth of Christ.”

Published jointly in New York and England on March 13, 1930, this definitive book by the late Presbyterian scholar and seminary professor J. Gresham Machen  continues to be referenced and quoted by Christians today.  The late James Boice once said that a Harvard professor, who himself didn’t believe in the doctrine, stated that Machen’s book has never been answered.   Though old by human standards, the book is as up-to-date as when it first was written.

It was originally written by Dr. Machen in response to the Presbyterian signers of the Auburn Affirmation who stated that it was not necessary to believe in the Virgin Birth as a statement of faith.  Yet the Presbyterian General Assembly had stated it as a fundamental of the faith in 1910, 1916, and 1923.  Its’ denial by the eventual 1294 ministers of the Presbyterian Church USA in 1924 brought the whole issue of theological liberalism to the forefront of that denomination.


Yet this book was no hastily written book by the New Testament professor at Westminster Seminary.  Machen had begun to write about Christ’s supernatural birth in 1905 for the Princeton Theological Review scholarly magazine.  Then, in 1906, 1907, 1908, 1912, 1915, and  1918, he had penned articles or reviewed other books on this topic.  The theme of Christ’s supernatural birth  was fresh on his mind and heart.  This book was the result of all these articles and was designed to set down once and for all that a belief in the Virgin Birth was necessary for Christianity.  Deny it, and you deny the authority of the Bible, the supernatural aspect of everything about Christ Jesus, including the good news of salvation itself.   Machen himself said, “If the Bible is regarded as wrong in what it says about the birth of Christ, then obviously the authority of the Bible in any high sense is wrong.”

« Opening page of Machen’s 1905 article as it appeared in The Princeton Theological Review.

Words to Live By: For an exercise, think of all the cardinal doctrines of historic Christianity which would be compromised if the Virgin Birth of Christ did not take place. Then think of where you would be spiritually if they were not true!  Last, thank God for past and present Christians who defended the historic Christian faith in teachings that you have listed on your exercise, and pray that you too will be “always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (NIV) First Peter 3:15b

For more background on Machen’s study of this subject, click here.

For Samuel Craig’s review of The Virgin Birth of Christ, click here.
[Samuel Craig was the founder of the Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Company.]

Through the Scriptures: Joshua 7 – 9

Through the Standards:  Christ Executes the Office of Prophet

WSC 23 — “What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.”

WLC 43 — “How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in his revealing to the church, in all ages, by his Spirit and word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God, in all things concerning their edification and salvation.”

WSC 24 — “How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.”

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January 1

1 January, 2012 in January 2012 by davidtmyers | 5 comments

This Day in Presbyterian History :

Faithful unto Death

God’s servant in the battle for the Bible in the early part of the twentieth century was J. Gresham Machen.  Born into Old School Presbyterianism in 1881, Machen was educated at the Reformed bastion of orthodoxy, Princeton Theological Seminary.  After further education overseas, he returned to his alma mater to teach in the New Testament field.  It was there that he first saw the approaching apostasy which eventually enveloped all the agencies of the church, including the theological institutions of the Presbyterian church.  When some who had denied the fundamentals of the faith were placed on the Board of Trustees of Princeton Seminary, he and three other professors left to begin Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia in 1930.  Three years later, he began the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, seeking to organize a biblical missions board within the church.  That organization led to his deposition from the Presbyterian church in 1936.

In the closing days of 1936, he was invited to North Dakota by a few Princeton graduates who were ministering in that state.  Despite a cold, the fifty-five year old theologian went by train in the midst of winter,  seeking to draw out a remnant for the faith once delivered unto the saints.  Rev. David K. Myers,  who graduated from Princeton in 1929, and father of this contributor, picked him up at the train station.  He observed how his former professor was violently shaking from the frigid weather, despite a heavy overcoat.  After fulfilling a couple of speaking engagements, he was hospitalized with pneumonia.  His heath deteriorated rapidly in that Bismarck North Dakota hospital.

Dying words remarked about the grandness of the Reformed faith.  A last telegram to fellow Westminster professor John Murray exclaimed that there was no hope without the active obedience of Christ. He died at 7;30 p.m.  on January 1, 1937.  His funeral took place at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 5. The tombstone reads in Greek, “Faithful unto Death.“

Words to Live By:  “We have today the entrance of paganism into the Church in the name of Christianity.  But in the second century a similar battle was fought and won.  Another Reformation in God’s good time will come.”  J. Gresham Machen, “Christianity and Liberalism,” p. 178

Through the Scriptures: Genesis chapters 1, 2 (Note: We begin a daily reading through the Bible.)

Through the Standards: Duty and destiny of people
[Westminster Larger Catechism # 1 (hereafter WLC); Westminster Shorter Catechism #1 (hereafter WSC)]

WLC 1: ‘What is the chief and highest end of man?
A: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”

WSC 1:  “What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

The J. Gresham Machen Manuscript Collection is preserved at the Montgomery Library on the campus of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA. Separately, the staff of the PCA Historical Center have gathered a modest collection of Machen-related materials, a list of which may be viewed here.

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