Christianity and Liberalism- Introduction

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Greshman Machen

Introduction 

     Though Machen's first sentence says "this book is not to decide the religious issue of the present day, but merely to present the issue as sharply and clearly as possible" I feel that his opinion is made clear. If I were to summarize his thesis it would be that Christianity was not only being watered down but was becoming an entirely new religion as society wrestled with the question of if religion and science can co-exist. From his view it seemed that liberalism was steadily tearing away the primary doctrines of Christianity from the church. 

     I found it interesting how Machen described this slow fade of doctrine. He described it as a slow retreat of the church into their city for the sake of peace only to find that the pursuit of the enemy follows them there. The church was seeking to appease those who came after it with science and liberalism as their weapons but instead of coming to a compromise found that the enemy really wanted to destroy every holding of the church. What I really appreciate about Machen in this moment is that he gives the warrior his blessing to intellectually investigate the claims of both sides. He understands that some people may be able to simply declare faith in God but gives others the permission they need to walk through the intellectual struggle. Sometimes people need that space to explore their belief and when it comes to Christianity there should be no fear surrounding that exploration because we know that it is the truth.       

     Machen also suggests that science and modern liberalism are pushing in and climbing over the walls of the "Christian City". He says while scientific discovery has accomplished much it has also led to the spiritual decline of society which he says is shown through the decline of arts and literature and the institution of required public education. Now I don't know if I would use changes in art or literature or the requirement of education as a measure of spiritual decline. Machen calls the education system a "soul-killing" system and writes that public schools would lead to the "ultimate destruction of all real education". My hope is that Machen uses more specific examples of where he saw this happening in the twenties because I went to public school from 2002-2014 and this was not my personal experience that I was aware of. I look forward to seeing if Machen discusses instances which might reveal in what ways he thinks Christianity is declining in society. 

      Overall, my greatest curiosity after reading the introduction is to see if he was right about our world. Considering he was writing this in the twenties about what was happening and also what was likely to come I wonder how accurate he was. Fifty years later the culture I live in is a product of many scientific advances and shifts in society. Was he right about the twenties and thirties? What was he able to foresee and what has changed in the past fifty years? These are some of the questions I hope to answer through reading Machen's "Christianity and Liberalism".