Christianity & liberalism - Machen - XIV

Required reading

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Read the rest of chapter VII, The church. 

My notes and thoughts
Machen closes the book with an appeal to rid the liberals from the confessional churches.  He calls on the Christian officers in the church to (i) encourage a defence of the faith; (ii) make sure pastoral candidates are 'For Christ'; (iii) be loyal members of congregations; and (iv) renew Christian education. 

Machen closes his work brilliantly - his hope is still firmly placed in God: 'God has not deserted His Church; He has brought her through even darker hours than those which try our courage now, yet the darkest hour has always come before the dawn.  We have to-day the entrance of paganism into the Church in the name of Christianity.  But in the second century a similar battle was fought and won.  From another point of view, modern liberalism is like the legalism of the middle ages, with its dependence upon the merit of man.  And another Reformation in God's good time will come.' 

Final verdict
If anyone believes that liberal Christianity is Christian ,then this is the book to set you straight.  Machen shows that on core doctrines the liberal is feeding from a different root than that of historic Christianity.  To allow liberals to be members and pastors of the churches is inviting wolves to support and teach the sheep.  If we wish to remain faithful to our Lord, we cannot allow paganism to infect the church and would do well to heed Machen's teaching and counsel. 

Now it's your turn

Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.