Protestant theologian, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He studied at Johns Hopkins (1901) and Princeton Theological Seminary (1905), and taught at Princeton. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1914 and served overseas with the Young Men's Christian Association during World War 1. A leading conservative during the controversy over fundamentalism in the 1920s, his Christianity and Liberalism (1923) argued that liberal theology and Christian faith were incompatible. In 1929 he was forced out of Princeton for his views, and was suspended from the ministry as a schismatic in 1935.
John Gresham Machen (1881-1937) was an influential American Presbyterian theologian in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1915 and 1929, and led a conservative revolt against modernist theology at Princeton and formed Westminster Theological Seminary as a more orthodox alternative. This split was irreconcilable, and Machen led others to form the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. When the northern Presbyterian church (PCUSA) rejected his arguments during the mid-1920s and decided to reorganize Princeton Seminary to create a moderate school, Machen took the lead in founding Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia (1929) where he taught New Testament until his death. His continued opposition during the 1930s to liberalism in his denomination's foreign missions agencies led to the creation of a new organization, The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions (1933). The trial, conviction and suspension from the ministry of Independent Board members, including Machen, in 1935 and 1936 provided the rationale for the formation in 1936 of the OPC.
Machen is considered to be the last of the great Princeton Theologians who had, since the formation of the college in the early 19th century, developed Princeton theology: a conservative and Calvinist form of Evangelical Christianity. Although Machen can be compared to the great Princeton Theologians (Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge, A.
Machen's influence can still be felt today through the existence of both institutions that he founded - Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "The first syllable is pronounced like May, the name of the month. Wagnalls, 1936.)
Early life
Machen was born on July 28, 1881 in Baltimore to Arthur Webster Machen and Mary Jones Gresham.
Machen's upbringing was considered to be privileged.
Academic training
In 1898, the 17-year old Machen began studying at Johns Hopkins University for his undergraduate degree, and performed sufficiently well to gain a scholarship. Machen was a brilliant scholar and in 1901 was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society after graduation.
Despite having some indecisiveness about his future, in 1902 Machen opted to study theology at Princeton Seminary, whilst simultaneously studying a Master of Arts in Philosophy at Princeton University.
He also pursued theological studies in Germany for a year in 1905.
Princeton 1906-1916
In 1906, Machen joined Princeton Seminary as an instructor in New Testament after assurances he would not have to sign a statement of faith. It appears that under their influence Machen resolved his crisis of faith.
World War One
Machen did not serve "conventionally" during World War I, but instead went to France with the YMCA to do volunteer work near and at the front.
Princeton 1918-1926
After returning from Europe, Machen continued his work as a New Testament scholar at Princeton.
The Origin of Paul's Religion (1921) is perhaps Machen's best known scholarly work.
Christianity and Liberalism (1923) is another of Machen's books that critiqued theological modernism.
These books, along with a number of others, placed Machen firmly in one theological camp within the Presbyterian Church.
Despite his conservative theological beliefs, Machen was never able to fully embrace popularist fundamentalism either. Moreover, Machen's scholarly work and ability to engage with modernist theology was at odds with Fundamentalism's anti-intellectual attitude.
Controversies
Between 1924 and 1925, relations among the Princeton faculty deteriorated when The Presbyterian questioned if there were two different parties on the faculty. In response Machen remarked that his differences with Charles Eerdman related to the importance they attributed to doctrine. Moody) knew that controversialists do not usually win followers for Christ.’
Westminster
The 1929 General Assembly voted to reorganise Princeton Seminary and appointed two of the Auburn Affirmation signatories as trustees. Machen and some colleagues withdrew and set up Westminster Theological Seminary to continue fundamental theology.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
In 1933, Machen became concerned about liberalism tolerated by Presbyterians on the mission field and formed The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. When Machen and seven other clergy refused, they were suspended from the Presbyterian ministry. The controversy divided Machen from many of his fundamentalist friends including Clarence Macartney who dropped away at the prospect of schism. Ultimately, Machen withdrew from the Northern Presbyterian Church and formed the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Death
Much to the sadness of those who had been involved in the movements that he had led, Machen died in 1937 at the relatively young age of 56. Some commentators (notably Stonehouse) point out that Machen's "constitution" was not always strong, and that he was constantly "burdened" with his responsibilities at the time.
Machen had decided to honor some speaking engagements he had in North Dakota in December, 1936, but developed pleurisy in the exceptionally cold weather there.
Works
In addition to those mentioned in the main article, Machen's works include:
What is faith? (1925) New Testament Greek for beginners (1927) The virgin birth of Christ (1930) The Christian faith in the modern world (1936) The Christian view of man (1937) God transcendent (1949) edited by Ned B. Stonehouse from Machen's sermons, ISBN 0-85151-355-7. John Cook from two sets of Machen's course materials, ISBN 0-85151-240-2. John Gresham Machen. Gresham Machen - A Biographical Memoir (3rd ed.). Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America. ISBN 0-87552-563-6 Machen, J.
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