The Westminster Podcast

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Bonus Episode: Machen: The Man Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

On a cold winter’s day in 1921 pallbearers carried the body of one of the great theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries to a graveside in Princeton, New Jersey. Writing to his mother afterwards, J. Gresham Machen would remark that when they carried B. B. Warfield’s body out, that Old Princeton went with him. Old Princeton had been the primary seedbed for pastors and missionaries in the Presbyterian church, but now, more than 100 years from its founding, the roots of declension had taken hold and modernist theology had made inroads, infiltrating the pulpits and pews of the Presbyterian church as well. As Machen saw it, Warfield’s vital orthodoxy had been the last vestige of orthodoxy keeping Princeton from a catastrophic embrace of liberal theology.

Over the next 15 years, J. Gresham Machen’s struggle to preserve an orthodox Presbyterianism would become a touchpoint of the larger “fundamentalist controversy” boiling over in churches all around the United States. His book, Christianity & Liberalism, precipitated a series of events that culminated in Machen and other professors leaving Princeton in 1929 to plant a new seedbed for pastors and missionaries called Westminster Theological Seminary. Then, in the 1930s, Machen would break away from the mainline Presbyterian church he had spent his life in and establish a new denomination devoted to faithful teaching of God’s ancient word — an idea completely antithetical to the most influential and powerful forces of the day.

Politics. Technology. Identity. Power. Science. Everything seems to be changing. So why not faith?

Visit christianityandliberalism.com for more on the book, audiobook, and show.

Music: “Line in the Sand (C&L)” by Timothy Brindle Produced by Nobody Special Wrath and Grace Records Music Licensing Codes: HGUBSIMJ58IH3NEB XOORY3CLGEDUW4C5

The Affirming Church (Chapter 3: God and Man, Pt. 2) Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

And yet, as radical as this seems, there are prescient notes throughout Machen’s 100 year old book, words from his time that can help us make sense of our own. Principles that help us to take every thought captive, even in a world that insists on allegiance to being everything we want to be, whenever we want it, on demand. . .

Politics. Technology. Identity. Power. Science. Everything seems to be changing. So why not faith?

Visit christianityandliberalism.com for more on the book, audiobook, and show.

Music: “Line in the Sand (C&L)” by Timothy Brindle Produced by Nobody Special Wrath and Grace Records Music Licensing Codes: NLBIDNZFO0KSQJKB JAWQDKU3NABLF4LG

Reinvention (Chapter 3: God and Man, Pt. 1) Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

What does it mean to be a human being created in the image of God? In the brave new world of today, that’s a loaded question. Modern culture in the West has affirmed a radical reinvention of the self that was barely imaginable when J. Gresham Machen wrote Christianity & Liberalism in 1923. Not only is LGBTQ ideology inescapable—in schools, books, movies, fashion, sports, even beer and car commercials. It has become a dogma of the mainstream. And yet, as radical as this seems, there are prescient notes throughout Machen’s 100 year old book, words from his time that can help us make sense of our own. Principles that help us to take every thought captive, even in a world that insists on allegiance to being everything we want to be, whenever we want it, on demand. . . Politics. Technology. Identity. Power. Science. Everything seems to be changing. So why not faith? Visit christianityandliberalism.com for more on the book, audiobook, and show. Music: “Line in the Sand (C&L)” by Timothy Brindle Produced by Nobody Special Wrath and Grace Records Music Licensing Codes: NLBIDNZFO0KSQJKB KJNJEKWBCFMJQ9GI

The Ampersand (Introduction) Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

Arrested Development. In the 1990s, it was a hip hop group. In the early 2000s, it was a sitcom. But it’s a real psychological phenomenon that happens when, due to a variety of causes, a person or institution stops growing and ceases to thrive. And it’s a phrase J. Gresham Machen uses in his book Christianity & Liberalism to describe the consequences of a liberal theology.

In the book, Machen is describing liberals who ridicule Christians for defending a defenseless cause. It’s like defending the belief that the earth is flat, they say, or that miracles happen, or that sins need to be forgiven. What’s the point, says the Liberal. Everyone knows those things are impossible, so why bother defending them?

If that sounds familiar, it’s because we hear similar arguments from within the church today. Many are calling for a reevaluation of biblical views on sexual attraction, the sanctity of life, ethnic diversity, or even what it means to be a man or a woman. Although the topics have changed, the motivation for liberalism today isn’t all that different from that scathing critique of the church Machen confronted 100 years ago. Back then, the American church tried to compromise essential tenets of orthodox Christianity in order “to make it work.” And, as Machen predicted, it resulted in arrested development. In the years after Machen’s book, liberal protestant mainline liberal churches folded, thousands made a shipwreck of their faith, denominations split, and scores of ministries succumbed to the trajectory of theological compromise and, ultimately, to decline into the outward appearance of faithfulness—beautiful buildings and good deeds on the outside, but without a genuine saving faith in Jesus within.

So, what should we do? Visit christianityandliberalism.com for more on the book, audiobook, and show. Music: “Line in the Sand (C&L)” by Timothy Brindle Produced by Nobody Special Wrath and Grace Records Music Licensing Codes: G1HX88SIQCSCHHVQ RAHXBDKANRLMHSBS

Christianity & Liberalism – Trailer Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

In 1923, the church in the United States was in a crisis. Modernist theology born in pre-War Europe now gripped a country experiencing vibrant technological and societal change. America in the “Roaring Twenties” was booming. Fashion was changing. Music was faster, louder. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin were astonishing moviegoers with impossible stunts. The cities were electric. Industry was booming. The country was three years into a progressive prohibition of hard liquor. For the first time, a person could fly non-stop from New York to Seattle. President Harding was the first president to be elected by women who’d won the right to vote. Even so, much of the country remained racially segregated. Mass produced cars, trucks, and tractors had replaced horses and wagons, and were transforming the landscape. Telephones and the advent of radio meant that information traveled faster than ever.

Politics. Technology. Identity. Power. Science. Everything seems to be changing. So why not faith?

https://wtspress.com/products/christianity-liberalism-100th-anniversary-edition

Worship and the Power of the Spirit Dec 22, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Westminster faculty discuss John Murray on Romans 12, noting how worship of God puts us in the perfect place to follow the commands of God. The power of the Spirit enables us to lead a life commensurate with Christ, to whom we are united. This life is a life that glorifies God and enriches the church.

God's Adoption, Love, and Justification in Christ Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, John Murray's exposition of Romans explores adoption in Christ and the full restoration and renewal of all things in him. Westminster faculty also dig into Romans 9 to explain Paul's teaching on God's unconditional, electing love and our justification through union with the person of Christ.

Union with Christ and the Real Change of the Gospel Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Westminster faculty reflect on John Murray's passionate teaching on union with Christ and its pastoral comfort. Union with Christ brings real change in us and offers his personal presence in the midst of our suffering so that we can persevere with hope.

How Christ Saves and Identifies You Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Westminster faculty discuss John Murray's work on Romans 6 and how union with Christ changes everything. Being united to Christ defines not just our eternal destiny, but our very identity in the present. His work doesn't just forgive us of sin; it defeats the power of sin in our lives right now.

John Murray's Childlike Joy Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

Mark Garcia speaks passionately of John Murray's childlike joy in the gospel, even in darker passages such as Romans 5. Westminster faculty also talk about the importance of Christ's righteousness, shared by all those who are in union with him.

https://wtspress.com/products/the-epistle-to-the-romans

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