''Christianity and Liberalism'' is a 1923 book by

J. Gresham Machen John Gresham Machen (; 1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1906 and 1929, and led a revolt against modernist ...

. It was written in response to

Harry Emerson Fosdick Harry Emerson Fosdick (May 24, 1878 – October 5, 1969) was an American pastor. Fosdick became a central figure in the fundamentalist–modernist controversy within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s and was one of the most prominen ...

's 1922 sermon "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?", thus triggering the fundamentalist–modernist controversy. Machen argued that

Liberal Christianity Liberal Christianity, also known as liberal theology and historically as Christian modernism (see Catholic modernism and fundamentalist–modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by prioritizing modern knowle ...

constituted a distinct religion, since it denied

substitutionary atonement Substitutionary atonement, also called vicarious atonement, is a central concept within Western Christian theology which asserts that Jesus died for humanity, as claimed by the Western classic and paradigms of atonement in Christianity, which r ...

. However, its true nature was, according to Machen, "hidden by the duplicitous use of traditional terms and categories by liberal clergy." Machen wrote,

The liberal attempt at reconciling Christianity with modern science has really relinquished everything distinctive of Christianity, so that what remains is in essentials only that same indefinite type of religious aspiration which was in the world before Christianity came upon the scene.

Iain H. Murray calls ''Christianity and Liberalism'' "one of the most important books of all times".

Vance Havner Vance Havner (October 17, 1901 – August 12, 1986) was an American Southern Baptist minister, evangelist, and author. Over a ministry career spanning more than seven decades, he became widely recognized for his concise preaching style, commitm ...

was deeply influenced by the book, which caused him to reject his earlier fascination with Fosdick's teaching.

References

External links

*
Christianity and Liberalism
' at Wikimedia Commons 1923 non-fiction books Christian theology books {{Christian-book-stub