“In the sphere of religions, in particular, the present time is a time of conflict; the great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology.” – J. Gresham Machen.
What Machen wrote in 1923 remains true today. We often hear, “Deeds not creeds.” Yet that statement is a creed or doctrine. Machen understood, as should all believers in Christ, that the Scriptures teach both (Eph. 2:8-10; James 2:14-26). An understanding of biblical doctrine impacts biblical behavior. Biblical behavior displays an understanding of biblical doctrine.
“The head or the heart? The mind or the emotions? The will or the affections? Often, we’re tempted to think of them as opposite ends of the spectrum. We can either be filled with information or be ‘filled with the Spirit’ (understood here in the emotional sense),” explains biblical apologist Gregory Koukl. “Both head and heart are important.”
As a young Princeton professor, Machen struggled in understanding this necessary biblical balance. Machen did not desire a biblical intellectualism without faith. Neither did he desire a faith devoid of intellect. He pursued a rigorous scholarship and a vital piety.
“He (Machen) longed for piety and intellect fused into one, an intellectually informed and compelling faith,” writes Dr. Stephen J. Nichols. “He had forgotten the vital piety he had seen in his home, and for that matter, at Princeton. But he also needed to hear that the vital piety was founded on intellectual merit. The faith that Machen would be defending in the years to come would be no blind faith.”
Machen proved to be a popular professor with the students at Princeton. He interacted with students within, and outside of, the classroom. In spite of other teaching offers, he chose to remain at Princeton.
However, the threats of theological liberalism appeared on the horizon. This looming danger was met with the publication of The Fundamentals (1910-1915). It was a series of combined articles defending biblical Christianity. Contributing authors included C. I. Scofield and Princeton’s B.B. Warfield.
With the outbreak of World War I, Machen applied his biblical intellectualism and vital piety into practice by serving overseas in the humanitarian efforts of the YMCA. He often led Bible studies among the soldiers, Machen served on the front lines often in the midst of gunfire, bombs, and the noise of airplanes. He encountered destroyed villages and the remains of countless dead. He served among both French and American soldiers.
Following the end of the war in 1918, Machen returned to Princeton. He returned, as did others, a changed man. He was no longer the same quiet professor enjoying the hallowed halls of academia. He would soon face another battlefront, just as important and devastating as the one he encountered in Europe.
“With World War I over, the battle for the faith was only beginning. Through the first two decades of the twentieth century, Machen had been engaged only in the periphery, and most of the time he was not sure that he wanted to be engaged even at that level. In the next decade, all of that would change. As the “Roaring Twenties” came in full force, Machen emerged as the premier defender of the faith,” explains Dr. Nichols.
Soli deo Gloria!
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