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*Note: Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this series.

During the first half of the twentieth century, few Christian figures were more active in contending for the faith than J. Gresham Machen (Jude 1:3).[1] When confronted with the face of theological liberalism in the Presbyterian Church of the United States (PCUSA), it was Machen who served as the chief stalwart for Reformed orthodoxy, and as the leader in developing the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC).[2] In the face of compromise from prominent leadership at Princeton Theological Seminary—which would eventually lead to the institution’s apostasy—Machen rallied a group of likeminded professors to establish Westminster Theological Seminary: a bastion of Reformed theological education over the past century.[3] As seen in present-day Reformed Christian contexts in America, Machen’s legacy continues to cast a sizable shadow.[4]

Yet, as remarkable as Machen’s polemical work is to consider within his unique context in self-identifying Christendom, the corpus of his ministry reveals an equally zealous passion for seeing believers involved in the public square.[5] One of the clearest examples of Machen’s diligence to promote Christian interaction with public theology is illustrated in a 1913 essay that he published in the Princeton Theological Review. Although not among the more popular works produced by Machen, his concerns for Christian engagement with culture ring equally true today as it did when that paper was originally authored at Old Princeton. Consider just a sampling of Machen’s argumentation embedded within his treatise, “Christianity and Culture.”

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.[6]

It is hard to read this commentary from Machen and not hear echoes of what the Apostle Paul emphasized in passages such as 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. Among other related texts, Paul draws attention to the reality that followers of Jesus Christ are involved in a war of ideas. That is to say, standing in juxtaposition to biblical Christianity are a plethora of ideologies that vie for acceptance throughout the public square. In the context of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul describes these unbiblical and anti-Christian frameworks as “fortresses” (2 Cor. 10:4).[7] The word picture used here would have likely had a twofold effect on the original recipients of 2 Corinthians-

1. Corinth, like most major cities in its geographical area, had an acropolis. The acropolis in Corinth was located on a mountain near the city, which would have offered residents of the city with refuge from outside attacks.[8] Thus, when Paul described unbiblical and anti-Christian worldviews as “fortresses,” the Corinthians would have correctly recognized them as formidable intellectual foes.
2. In the writings of ancient Cynic and Stoic philosophers, the same term that Paul uses for “fortresses” was utilized in reference to the fortification of the soul by reasonable arguments, so that it would be rendered impregnable while under attack by adverse ideas.[9] This connotation would have further reinforced the sophistication associated with the unbelieving systems of thought being referenced in 2 Corinthians 10:4.

Nevertheless, even though the secular world offers many erudite interpretations of reality (i.e., fortresses of ideas), Paul emphatically asserts that the calling of believers is to destroy any ideology that stands in opposition to God’s truth by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). By God’s grace, the testimony of church history reveals that Christians have been faithful to this weighty endeavor time and time again.[10]

Furthermore, the charge provided by the Apostle Paul in passages such as 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 parallels Machen’s appeal transcribed above. God desires Christians to destroy obstacles to the Gospel—and to the truth of His Word—at their root. How else can this task be fulfilled apart from Christians being intentional to see their faith at the forefront of the public square? If the people of God are not willing to champion their faith before a watching world, and if they are not vigilant to showcase the superiority of their worldview to other competing ideologies, then the obstacles to Christianity will only continue to compound. Sober reminders like these should motivate believers to grow in their propensity to give an answer for the hope that is in them when the public square offers an opportunity to do so (2 Tim. 2:24-26; 1 Pet. 3:15). In the days to come, may the triune God raise up droves of blood-bought saints to protect biblical Christianity’s place in the public square.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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[1]In J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2019), Ned B. Stonehouse provides a compelling account of how Machen was one of the most significant figures in the evangelical church throughout the twentieth century.

[2] D. G. Hart, “Machen and the OPC: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church,” The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, accessed November 22, 2022, https://opc.org/machen.html.

[3] “Westminster Seminary History: Rich Legacy of Faithfulness,” Westminster Theological Seminary, accessed November 22, 2022, https://www.wts.edu/about/history.

[4] D. G. Hart, “J. Gresham Machen and the Cost of Faithfulness,” Christian Library, January 1, 1997, https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/j-gresham-machen-and-cost-faithfulness.

[5] Kevin T. Bauder, “Machen’s ‘Christianity and Culture,’” Sharper Iron, April 11, 2011, https://sharperiron.org/article/machens-christianity-and-culture.

[6] J. Gresham Machen, “Christianity and Culture ,” newhopefairfax.org, accessed November 22, 2022, https://www.newhopefairfax.org/files/Machen.Christianity%20And%20Culture.pdf.

[7] “Bible Gateway Passage: 2 Corinthians 10 – New American Standard Bible,” Bible Gateway, accessed November 22, 2022, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+10&version=NASB.

[8] John F. MacArthur, 2 Corinthians (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2003), 492, SCRIBD.

[9] Colin G. Kruse, 2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 170.

[10] For a thorough overview of how Christians have defended their faith in the public square throughout church history, consider the lectures and corresponding reading material made available in James N. Anderson’s seminary level course, “Christian Apologetics,” Reformed Theological Seminary, accessed November 22, 2022, https://subsplash.com/reformtheosem/learn-about-rts/li/+af52519.