iustitia aliena

HT: Peter Chen

Here’s what is on the back cover:

Michael Horton’s highly anticipated The Christian Faith represents his magnum opus and will be viewed as one of—if not the—most important systematic theologies since Louis Berkhof wrote his in 1932.

A prolific, award-winning author and theologian, Professor Horton views this volume as “doctrine that can be preached, experienced, and lived, as well as understood, clarified, and articulated.” It is written for a growing cast of pilgrims making their way together and will be especially welcomed by professors, pastors, students, and armchair theologians.

Features of this volume include: (1) a brief synopsis of biblical passages that inform a particular doctrine; (2) surveys of past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions; (3) substantial interaction with various Christian movements within the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodoxy traditions, as well as the hermeneutical issues raised by postmodernity; and (4) charts, sidebars, questions for discussion, and an extensive bibliography, divided into different entry levels and topics.

It is already out for display at Christianbook.com here.

Peter Chen in sunny Alhambra, California who is a contributer to this blog writes a review on J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism (1923)

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Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen was published in 1923. It is a modern classic among other great Christian literature. This book is timeless in message and value, though this book was forged in the heat of battle. Machen wrote against the “Liberals” who rejected the essential aspects of Christianity, and yet continue to preach and teach in Christian churches and seminaries. Though more than 85 years have past, the ink is still wet with relevance as the battle remains to the present. The issue over inerrancy, females and homosexuals as ministers, Christians and false religions together and emergent sects are only symptoms to the disease that is affecting our modern churches. Liberalism has influenced popular Christian opinion, and confused Christians don’t know what they believe. I am convinced that every Christians needs to learn and relearn the essential Christian teachings clearly set forth in this book against the back drop of error.

John Gresham Machen (July 28, 1881 – January 1, 1937), came from a wealthy and devout Christian family, where he learned the faith from childhood by the means of catechism. At 17 years old, in 1898, Machen entered Johns Hopkins University for his undergraduate, and in 1902, 4 years later, he doubled majored in theology at Princeton Seminary and philosophy at Princeton University. Encountering Liberalism in his studies, he was given permission from his parents to study in Germany, in 1905, where these new ideas were emerging. Machen was challenged and made stronger for the battles ahead.

Soon enough, these teachings crossed the ocean, and had taken root in Christian seminaries and churches. Between the years of 1915 and 1929, Machen was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary. The modern teaching became the majority opinion of the leadership within the Seminary, and reluctantly Machen and a few other professors had to leave the seminary. They established Westminster Theological Seminary in 1929 to continue the teachings of the Christian faith of the Presbyterian confession.

In the midst of this battle, Machen composed this book, clearly contrasting Christianity against the errors of Liberalism. Liberalism was the child of naturalistic evolution, and pietistic existentialism. The title was well chosen to indicate Machen’s fundamental claim is that “liberalism is not Christianity.” (pg. 160)

The basic areas of dispute are dealt with one chapter at a time. Let me summarize some of the points:

Doctrine — Liberalism rejected doctrinal teaching for subjective personal felt needs and “practical” teachings. Machen states, “The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts with the meaning of the facts is doctrine.” (pg. 29) Doctrine is the essence of Christianity.

God and Man — Liberals made god in their own image, by subjecting god to the opinions of man. Machen argues that God, in his essence, is transcendent and must always be separated from man. (pg. 62) Unaided humanity is not able to apprehend God.

The Bible — Liberalism claimed that Bible was only the words of man influenced by god. Machen affirmed the Bible as words of man, but also the word of God. God preserved the writings of fallible man, resulting in the infallible word of God. The Bible is alone the infallible and inerrant word of God as Jesus believed it to be.

Christ — Jesus is not merely our high moral example (WWJD), but our savior and Lord. Jesus is a divine “supernatural Person,” (pg. 112) God in the flesh, and the object of Christian faith.

Salvation — “Liberalism finds salvation… in man; Christianity finds it in an act of God.” (pg. 117) The gospel is news of an event that really took place in real human history. Sin against God is a cosmic crime against the Creator. Man must make the payment, but only God is able to save; thus Jesus being the God-Man came to save sinners. Jesus died as a vicarious atonement for sins: Jesus took on himself the sinners’ guilt and satisfied the wrath of God due to sin, and gives the believing sinner peace with God.

The Church — The Christian church is composed of “twice-born sinners” (pg. 158) born-again by the Holy Spirit. The true church is the brotherhood of the invisible church that affirms all the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. These liberal teachers gave oaths to uphold the creed of the confessing church, and they have violated their oaths. The Christian churches and seminaries were paid for by offerings and gifts from people who held to the confessing creed, and so they do not belong to the liberals who are in contradiction to the creed. It would be more respectful if these liberal teachers were to withdraw from the denomination.

Machen’s concern was for the Christian church itself, because if the church leaderships adopted the modern teachings of Liberalism, then those churches would depart from Christianity. The mission board would propagate a distorted message, until it stops being distinct from the world.

Doctrine is not light or impersonal matters of beliefs, but definitional of Christianity itself. Machen called for decisions to be made by those who still held to the Christian doctrines. If the leadership is to depart from these Christian doctrines for Liberalism; for the sake of the faith, the Christian must reluctantly depart.

Free online edition: http://www.biblebelievers.com/machen/

*Edited and posted again.

Here are some quotes from Concise Reformed Dogmatics, you gotta love these two confessionally Reformed Christian theologians they carry the good news.  I’m finding this book very beneficial, encouraging, and a good learning resource of the Christian Faith.

Here the authors are writing  about Herman Bavinck’s Dogmatics:

In subsequent editions of his work, in which this preface was omitted, it is noted that the first duty of every practitioner of science, and particularly of any theologian, is to be humble and modest.  He may not think himself to be wiser than he ought to think.  (17)

5.2  Special Revelation

When a distinction is made between general and special revelation a description or definition of special revelation is in order.  Bavinck provided the following one:  It “is that conscious and free act of God by which, he, in the way of a historical complex of special means (theophany, prophecy, miracle) that are concentrated in the person of Christ, makes himself known–specifically in the attributes of his justice and grace, in the proclamation of law and gospel–to those human beings who live in the light of this special revelation in order that they may accept the grace of God by faith in Christ or, in case of impenitence, receive a more severe judgement. One might opt for a shorter formulation: it is that revelation of through which, by special means which have their focus and climax on Christ, he has disclosed a way of life for sinners, whom he grants to live in this light.  (52, 53.   The Bold is mine)

What changed in the light of the Reformation was described in Klare wijn (clear wine, 1967) as follows:  Luther and Calvin are suddenly enflamed with passion.  To them the Bible is not in the first instance a source of information from which they obtain truths and precepts, but in Scripture they encounter the living God and his message.  (70)

In referring to the concept of revelation in theology, we saw that it was typical of Calvin to believe that God adapts himself to our capacity to understand (accommodatio).  God can speak to us in a throughly human manner.  It resembles the teaching of small children.  He is like a king whose majesty we must not take lightly, but who wants to have an intimate conversation with us.  When he communicates his Word to us through human mouths, in human language, he thereby takes our needs into consideration.  (72)

The Old Testament is seen as the book of retribution.  The Old Testament would present the religion of holiness and the New Testament faith in God’s love.  But this view is not really tenable.  It is indeed the case that in the Old Testament we encounter God in his exaltation and holiness.  But he is also “merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”  This is how the announcement of his name begins in Exodus 34:67.  Thus the LORD manifests in Christ but also refers to his wrath (John 3:36).  ”Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31).   Already the first few chapters of the book of Genesis are of fundamental significance for self-knowledge.  Man, created in God’s image, fell away from him, but God considered his state and sought him out.  Thus man stands there as creature of God and sinner before God.  God, who is the creator, also seeks to be his redeemer.  God both demands and grants the atonement for sin (Lev. 17:11).  Via the subsequent preaching of atonement through sacrificial ministry and through prophecy, all lines lead to Christ, of whom the New Testament says:  ”Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  When Paul refers to Christ as the last Adam the unity of the Old and New Testaments is underscored (cf. 1 Cor. 15:45; Rom. 5:12-21).  (69)