Three Gutenberg Books

The three following books can be accessed here online.

A Brief Bible History: A Survey of the Old and New Testaments by J O Boyd/J Gresham Machen

The Literature and History of New Testament Times by J. Gresham Machen

The Origin of Paul's Religion by J. Gresham Machen

New Biography of Machen

Gresham Machen by Sean Michael Lucas

£6.99

US Price $10.99

Bitesize Biography

Author Sean Michael Lucas

ISBN 9781783970575

Pages 130

 

Dubbed at his death "Doctor Fundamentalis," J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) was one of the most significant defenders of evangelical Christianity in the early twentieth century. Raised in American Presbyterianism, he wrestled deeply with the challenge of Protestant Modernism and provided some of the most significant responses to it, particularly his classic book Christianity and Liberalism. He pointed the way forward toward a Christianity that was both intellectually rigorous and spiritually satisfying, one that was rooted in a trustworthy Bible and in a confessional tradition which in turn produced a genuine faith in Christ. As a result, Machen continues to provide lessons today for those who desire to be valiant for truth in the midst of a hostile world.

In the battle against vital doctrinal declension in the early 20th century, Gresham Machen played a very significant role in defending classic Christian orthodoxy. But it is a role few are acquainted with since biographies of him have been scarce and hard to obtain. This new study of his life is therefore welcome indeed. Highly recommended.

Dr. Michael Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Sean Michael Lucas (Ph.D., Westminster Theological Seminary) is senior minister at the First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA, and associate professor of church history at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He is the author of several books, including Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life and For a Continuing Church: The Roots of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Letters from the front

A new book of letters that Machen wrote in the war is out this month from P & R. See here. The editor is Barry Waugh.

NT Greek

You can find an introduction to the revised version of Machen's NT Greek Primer here.

What is faith?

The full text of the book What is faith? can be found here.

Notes on Notes on Galatians

NOTES ON GALATIANS
J. Gresham Machen, Edited by John H. Skilton
Here we read

The chief feature of this volume is that it makes available in convenient form the "Notes on Biblical Exposition" which Dr. J. Gresham Machen published in the earlier 'Christianity Today' from January 1931 to February 1933. Students at Westminster Seminary have made profitable use of these Notes on Galatians 1:1 - 3:14 by following them, with minor inconveience, through bound periodical volumes; but for many others who might greatly benefit from them, they have long been inaccessible.

Here you will find a master exegete opening up important and essential meterial to help undertsand the import of the great Apoostle on this vital portion of Scripture.

"Notes on Galatians is one of the hidden jewels of J Gresham Machen's outstanding contributions to Christian literature. As Galatians has again become a battleground for theological controversy over the nature of the gospel, Dr Machen's exegetical insight and theological sturdiness provide wise and careful guidance for a new generation of Bible students. Written for a previous generation it continues to speak to the contemporary one." - Dr. Sinclair Ferguson"

"Dr. Machen was a master at crystal clear teaching and his work on Galatians is a good model of this gift. In a day of confused and confusing teaching on this Book, Dr. Machen reminds us of the dynamic power of this Gospel of justification by faith alone in Christ alone that is opened so richly by the Apostle Paul." - Pastor Bill Shishko

"Machen wrote on Galatians to inform his students and to help Sunday School teachers. It is written with delightful clarity and incidentally introduces us to what Machen did very well, teach the New Testament to students at Princeton and Westminster Seminaries. It is wonderfully lucid; a pleasure to read; a model for anyone who preaches the Bible." - Geoff Thomas"

"This is Machen at his best, and surely begs to be re-printed. Especially the introductory chapters are needed nowadays." - Pastor Tom Lyon"

"J. Gresham Machen is perhaps best known for his defense of Christianity and especially for his articulate advocacy of confessional Reformed theology. By training, however, he was a New Testament scholar and by practice he was a biblical exegete of the first order. This little work on Galatians is still useful as a witness to Machen's clear-headed insight into the nature and message of Paul's letter to the Galatians. This witness seems particularly relevant in the midst of the current confusion surrounding Paul and the doctrine of justification." - Dr. R. Scott Clark

The late John H. Skilton did a great service to the church by getting this material from various places and putting it all conveniently in one place.

W H Chellis has written here

In reading through J. Gresham Machen’s Notes on Galatians, I found this interesting quote. It first appeared in Christianity Today in January 1931. Machen died in 1937. I assume this comment is a product of Machen’s more mature thought:

“In the second place, Christians should by no means adopt a negative attitude toward art, government, science, literature, and other achievements of mankind, but should consecrate these things to the service of God. The separateness of the Christian man from the world is not to be manifested, as so many seem to think that it should be manifested, by the presentation to God of only an impoverished man; but it is to be manifested by the presentation to God of all man’s God-given powers developed to the full. That is the higher Christian humanism, a humanism based not upon human pride but upon the solid foundation of the grace of God.”

(p 33)

Another good quote is this one

“The faith that James is condemning is not the faith that Paul is commending.”

NT Greek Grammar

The text of Machen's NT Greek grammar can be found here

A Brief Bible History

Work extracted from a joint work by Machen and James Oscar Boyd entitled "A Brief Bible History: A Survey of the Old and New Testaments" (The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, (1922), now in the public domain can be found here in pdf.

The whole work can also be found here.

The Evangelical Student

Largely forgotten now, the League of Evangelical Students was an early 20th Century forerunner to such contemporary evangelical student fellowships as InterVarsity, Campus Crusade for Christ and Reformed University Ministries. Its mission statement declared it to be "an inter-denominational and international student movement for the defense and propagation of the Gospel in the modern student-world."

Organized 1925, the League grew to have over 60 chapters across the campuses of America, with an affiliated chapter located in China. Its leadership came primarily from the conservative ranks of the northern Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) and it is notable that many of these same leaders were later to figure prominently in the formation of both Westminster Theological Seminary 1929 and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church 1936. The Evangelical Student magazine ran 1926-1939, with the first issue appearing April, 1926. In addition to the magazine, the League held annual conferences which were hosted by various chapters. Three articles appearing in the first issue give something of the background and purpose of the organization. The final issue of the magazine was January 1939 (Vol 14, no 1).

Over the years Machen contributd the following six articles:

"Facing the Facts Before God," 6.1 (Oct. 1931) 6 - 10.
"Is the Bible Right About Jesus?: I. What the Bible Teaches About Jesus," 3.1 (Oct. 1928) 4 - 11.
"Is the Bible Right About Jesus?: II. The Witness of Paul," 3.2 (Jan. 1929) 7 - 15.
"Is the Bible Right About Jesus?: III. The Witness of the Gospels," 3.3 (Apr. 1929) 11 - 20.
"A Precious Fragment of the Gospel According to John, 11.2 (Apr. 1936) 6 -7.
"The Separateness of the Church," 12.2 (Apr. 1937) 6 - 12.

The series "Is the Bible right?" is reproduced in the Selected Shorter Writings

The Origin of Paul's Religion

Machen's book The origin of Paul's religion can be found here

Books

The main books available by J Gresham Machen are as follows:

1. A Rapid Survey of the Literature and History of New Testament Times, Parts I, II, III, and IV in The Westminster Departmental Graded Series International Course-Modified (Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, 1914 and 1915), eight volumes in all, Student's Text Book (4 vols.) and Teacher's Manual (4 vols.)
2. The Literature and History of New Testament Times (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work, 1915), 288pp.
3. The New Testament: An Introduction, edited by W John Cook, (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), hb, 386pp.
4. Christianity and Liberalism (Philadelphia: The Sunday School Times Company, 1923, reprinted February 1924; also New York: The Macmillan Company, 1934 [seventh printing], hb, 189pp.
5. The Origin of Paul's Religion (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1921), hb, 329pp.; 22.5 cm. [being the James Sprunt Lectures delivered at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, VA]
(Grand Rapids : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1925, 1970, 1973 and 1976), pb, 329pp.
6. The Virgin Birth of Christ (New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1930, Second edition, 1932), hb, x, 415pp.
7. What Is Faith? (Grand Rapids : Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1946), hb, 263pp.
8. The Christian View of Man (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1937, 1965), pb, 254pp.
9. God Transcendent (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1949, 1982), pb, 206pp.
10. Education, Christianity and the State, edited by John W. Robbins (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, 1987, third printing, 2004), pb, xii, 163pp.
11. Selected Shorter Writings, edited by D.G. Hart (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2004), hb, vii, 590pp.

12. Notes On Galatians, edited by John Skilton, (Solid Ground Books, 2006), pb, 248pp.
13. The Gospel and the Modern World, edited by S J nichols (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2005), pb, 48pp.

Also see New Testament Greek for Beginners New Testament Greek for Beginners (MacMillan)

Virgin Birth

Machen's scholarly study on the Virgin Birth of Christ can be explored in part here

The Language of the New Testament

The intro to Machen's primer on NT Greek can be found here and here

Christ's Life

Here we have nine chapters from a work co-authored by Machen A Brief Bible History: A Survey of the Old and New Testaments (1931).

The Christian Faith in the Modern World

Machen's 1936 book (based on original radio addresses) The Christian Faith in the Modern World can be found here and here

The Origin of Paul's Religion

The intro to Machen's 1921 book The origin of Paul's Religion can be found here

Christianity and Liberalism

Machen's 1923 book Chrisianity and Liberalism is available online here or here in pdf