Thursday, July 21, 2011

Notable Quote - J. Gresham Machen

Here's the first, and it certainly won't be the last, of some notable quotes pulled from the book, "Christianity and Liberalism" by J. Gresham Machen as I read along.


The following is from the introduction, and it's one of those moments where I think the author veers a little off topic to add his own commentary on the context he finds himself. He's an American author, but having lived in the U.S. myself for 7 years I couldn't help but feel that his remarks still hold very true today. It's in regards to American politics, and while you may not be into that sort of thing I think it's still worth listening to.


...The whole development of modern society has tended mightily toward the limitation of the realm of freedom for the individual man. The tendency is most clearly seen in socialism; a socialistic state would mean the reduction to a minimum of the sphere of individual choice. Labor and recreation, under a socialistic government, would both be prescribed, and individual liberty would be gone. But the same tendency exhibits itself today even in those communities where the name of socialism is most abhorred. When once the majority has determined that a certain regime is beneficial, that regime without further hesitation is forced ruthlessly upon the individual man. It never seems to occur to modern legislatures that although "welfare" is good, forced welfare may be bad. In other words, utilitarianism is being carried out to its logical conclusions; in the interests of physical well-being the great principles of liberty are being thrown ruthlessly to the winds.



Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What Is Ben Reading - J. Gresham Machen

This isn't a blog post or newspaper article, this is a book I'd like to share. I'm assuming for those of you with those fancy iThingy e-Reader devices would prefer to see this in digital book format. For all I know there's one available, but I'll leave it to you to search for yourselves. I can promise you it's definitely worth the read. In fact, I think I'm gonna sit down and read it again as it's been a number of years.

J. Gresham Machen's "Christianity and Liberalism" is available online. 

The book was written in 1923, around the time the word "fundamentalism" was becoming more widely used. Although it should be noted that fundamentalism back then had a far different meaning than it does today. Fundamentalism once referred more to what we would now call a firm stand on historic Christian orthodoxy rather than blind dogmatism. The issues addressed in this book are surprisingly pertinent to todays issues. 

The thrust of his argument is that the Liberal interpretations and ideas of Christianity are really not Christianity at all, but an entirely different religion. As he makes his case he demonstrates why orthodoxy is so important, because at some point crossing the boundaries into heresy means stepping into the realms of something that isn't recognizable Christianity anymore.

Anyway, it's a fairly straightforward read and definitely one to keep in your personal, uh, "e-library"...or something.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

What is Ben Reading?

Hello everyone. It's been far too long since I've posted and that's for a number of reasons. I've been very busy and writer's block likes to step in at random. It's difficult to keep a blog fresh when there are so many other things that demand your attention but given the positive response I've had since I've started this I would very much like to keep going.

In the meantime I can at least refer you to some interesting articles I've come across, including the following...

For years I've been going on about the silliness of the self-esteem movement. I find it particularly troubling among my own reformed-minded brethren. And now, it seems, that even the mainstream is beginning see it for what it really is.  How to Land Your Kid in Therapy. It's a fairly lengthy article, and please excuse the expletive at the very beginning. This comes from The Atlantica fairly mainstream and secular newspaper.

Enjoy!