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I love Machen
(...but can anyone tell me how to pronounce his name?)
False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Under such circumstances, what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root. Many would have the seminaries combat error by attacking it as it is taught by its popular exponents. Instead of that they confuse their students with a lot of German names unknown outside the walls of the universities. That method of procedure is based simply upon a profound belief in the pervasiveness of ideas. What is today matter of academic speculation begins tomorrow to move armies and pull down empires. In that second stage, it has gone too far to be combatted; the time to stop it was when it was still a matter of impassionate debate. So as Christians we should try to mold the thought of the world in such a way as to make the acceptance of Christianity something more than a logical absurdity ... Under such circumstances, what more pressing duty than for those who have received the mighty experience of regeneration, who, therefore, do not, like the world, neglect that whole series of vitally relevant facts which is embraced in Christian experience - what more pressing duty than for these men to make themselves masters of the thought of the world in order to make it an instrument of truth instead of error? The Church has no right to be so absorbed in helping the individual that she forgets the world.
- J. Gresham Machen, in an address to Princeton Theological Seminary ("Christianity and Culture"), September 1912
(Read the whole speech here)
I have always wondered how to pronounce his name, too, and he is the founder of my denomination!
Machen sounds like May-Chin. Is that what you wanted to know? :-)
"what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root"
The above comment by Machen made me think of another quote that said, "There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to the one chopping at the root." I love that quote. It's from The New Dictionary of Thoughts. It's what Machen is driving at as well in terms of conceptual systems. Get understanding in such a way that you can destroy speculations that are contrary to the mind of Christ at their root, and thus demonstrate the beauty and coherence of the Christian worldview in the dark culture around us. Such flashes of Christlike brilliance will surely capture the attention of the bored masses around us and glorify God.
We almost named our fourth son Machen. . .
my "mockin" was waaay off...thanks for the correction, Tony.
YnottonY, "There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to the one chopping at the root." I love that quote too! Not only does this apply to spiritual evil, but it seems to be the political way to handle unlawful or harmful actions. Rather than getting to the root of a problem, let's slap a law into place which ends up being only a band-aid solution to the real issue.
Laura, Sometimes I fear to enter into debate (oral not written) because I know that I mangle the pronunciation of great thinkers' names--not to mention mangling their ideas. Machen is one such name.
Seriously, though, I love the quote.
Great quote and I agree with the main meaning of it. However, I do see a tendancy in intellectuals (in myself as well) to be preoccupied with ideas, when the Bible is clear that there is a spiritual battle. We may have brilliantly articulated the beauty of Christian world view, but the depravity of the world may keep it from being able to hear or see this truth at all.
Thus I see "False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel." as an incorrect, unbiblical sentance. The greates obstacle is the sinful heart, which takes a miracle to overcome. That is why I believe we must be more devoted to prayer than appologetics (though I obviously think the latter is right up there!). Though there are a few passages on destroying lofty speculations, there are many that directly instruct us to pray and show love and forgiveness. Often I believe truth and ideas go unheard because there is no hand of love demonstrating them.
Did y'all know that U2 wrote the song "crumbs from your table" (on their new fabulous album) about the American chruch?
Annie, don't think you those false ideas that unbelievers cling to could include a fundamental misunderstanding (or denial) of their sinful nature? That's certainly a false idea that we can work to destroy. I fully agree that we cannot persuade other people to become Christians - thank God, that is the work of the Holy Spirit alone. But our duty is to make the conditions favourable, so to speak: by prayer, as you said, and also by provoking a person to thinking about and correcting the false ideas they retain about God and the human condition.
Samantha: Hehe, well, there you go.
Tony: Yes! Thanks! And great quote, too.
TulipGirl: Ohh, awesome. Why'd you decide against it? :D
Marla: I know, I thought "mockin" made sense, too!
Hannah: Hah, I usually avoid debate more for the former reason. :-/
Laura - yes, I agree that correcting false ideas is very very important. I just do not see it as the "greatest". Unbelievers cling to a fundamental misunderstanding of their sinful nature because they want to, not because they have a lack of information. If that false understanding is to be changed it will be through both spiritual enlightenment as well as intellectual formation.
I simply believe that the spiritual must begin to move before the intellect will, not the reverse order. Who was it that responded to Jesus' teaching? Who responded to Paul's arguments? Those who were of good soil, those who were spiritually open. Why were they open? The work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this essentially boils down again to a issue of arminianism versus reformed doctrine.
Good Discussion.
The last sentance too is a little strange to me. "The Church has no right to be so absorbed in helping the individual that she forgets the world." It smacks of marxism to me. Exactly what is "the world" if it is not made of individuals? Christ had an amazingly individually focused ministry. It seems the disciples were more worried about getting him concerned about 'bigger' issues, while Jesus preferred to minister to the individuals near him.
Annie said:
"I simply believe that the spiritual must begin to move before the intellect will, not the reverse order. Who was it that responded to Jesus' teaching? Who responded to Paul's arguments? Those who were of good soil, those who were spiritually open. Why were they open? The work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this essentially boils down again to a issue of arminianism versus reformed doctrine."
Tony:
Let's not forget thet the good soil is first prepared and cultivated, unlike the thorny and hard ground. The Holy Spirit, as you know, uses secondary causes to address the "spiritual" issues. That which is spiritual not less than the mental. The mind is usually prepared (some Puritans used the idea of preparationism, like Edwards just after them) for the reception of the gospel through the removal of intellectual barriers etc. The corrupt affections and idols of the heart surely need to be changed in order for the mind to properly function, but this is accomplished through means, namely the means of Christian instruction coupled with prayer and the Holy Spirit.
It's not a case of either Arminianism or Reformed doctrine, but a full appreciation of the use of means for the conversion of sinners. Your concerns about prayer and dependence on God to deal with the affections are vital, but so is the concern for the use of means. We address the will and emotions of a person through their minds, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones spoke of in his book on preaching.
Does that help?
Annie, I'm sure Machen would be quick to put himself far from anything that "smacks of marxism," so let me try to defend him. In fact, I'll just quote the previous words of the speech, because he addresses your concern specifically therein:
"We are all agreed that at least one great function of the Church is the conversion of individual men. The missionary movement is the great religious movement of our day. Now it is perfectly true that men must be brought to Christ one by one. There are no labor-saving devices in evangelism. It is all hand-work."
(And he went on to say this, which leads directly into the part I quoted):
"And yet it would be a great mistake to suppose that all men are equally well prepared to receive the gospel. It is true that the decisive thing is the regenerative power of God. That can overcome all lack of preparation, and the absence of that makes even the best preparation useless. But as a matter of fact God usually exerts that power in connection with certain prior conditions of the human mind, and it should be ours to create, so far as we can, with the help of God, those favorable conditions for the reception of the gospel."
Hope that clears things up. I just want people to see how unbelievably on-target Machen was in this kind of thing.
Ooh, Tony, Lloyd-Jones is another hero of mine, but I only know him through sundry quotes I've heard in sermons. Is his book on preaching worth a layperson's read?
"Is his book on preaching worth a layperson's read?"
Well, since I am a mere layperson, I would have to say so ;-) I have a good collection of books on preaching because I want to know what authentic preaching is, and how to listen to sermons in a worshipful fashion. I think you would love his book on preaching. I believe you will find it edifying and insightful. Richard Baxter's book The Reformed Pastor would also be a book you may like.
Grace to you,
Tony
Laura - Thank you for quoting the previous part of the speech. That makes the statement more clear.
YnottonY - Thank you for the clarifications you made. yes, we absolutely address the will and the emotions through the mind. I still think that "false ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel" is inaccurate. Its not primarily a battle of ideas, a philosophical war, it is a spiritual war, which yes, largely includes the mind. Are 'ideas' really the biggest problem? That is a pretty postive view of human nature.
i skimmed for it, but maybe i missed it: i agree with the May-Chin rendition, but just thought i'd mention that the emphasis is on the first syllable...in case you were wondering. MAY-chin. and the "mockin" rendering is understandable, yea, desirable - especially if you're into german language study. oh well. =} kind of like the poor man who called my office today and pronounced his name "friday" but proceeded to spell its source as an inexplicably-lost-in-translation yet nonetheless wunderbar-ly german word "freidag."
TulipGirl: Ohh, awesome. Why'd you decide against it? :D
Machen lost out to another heavyweight theologian. Calvin.
