Shorter Writings

Selected shorter writings available in ebook format here

Machen on the cross

"I do not think that what the New Testament says about the cross of Christ is particularly intricate. It is, indeed, profound, but it can be put in simple language. We deserved eternal death; the Lord Jesus, because he loved us, died in our stead upon the cross. It is a mystery, but it is not intricate. What is really intricate and subtle is the manifold modern attempt to get rid of the simple doctrine of the cross of Christ in the interests of human pride. Of course there are objections to the cross of Christ, and men in the pulpits of the present day pour out upon that blessed doctrine the vials of their scorn; but when a man has come under the consciousness of sin, then as he comes into the presence of the cross, he says with tears of gratitude and joy, He loved me and gave himself for me."

– J. Gresham Machen, “What the Bible Teaches About Jesus,” in Selected Shorter Writings, ed. D.G. Hart. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004), 30

On the miracle of miracles

Found here
“The very point of the Christian view of the cross is that God does not wait for someone else to pay the price of sin, but in His infinite love has Himself paid the price for us– God Himself in the person of the Son, loved us and gave Himself for us; God Himself in the person of the Father, who so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.
It is a strange thing that when men talk about the love of God, they show by every word that they utter that they have no conception at all of the depths of God’s love.
If you want to find an instance of true gratitude for the infinite grace of God, do not go to those who think of God’s love as something that cost nothing, but go rather to those who in agony of soul have faced the awful fact of the guilt of sin, and then have come to know with a trembling wonder that the miracle of all miracles has been accomplished, and that the eternal Son has died in their stead.”
– J. Gresham Machen, “What the Bible Teaches About Jesus,” in Selected Shorter Writings, ed. D.G. Hart. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004), 31-2.

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