WTS 80th Anniversary; Machen's Christianity and Liberalism Republished

WTS 80th Anniversary In September

Machen's Christianity and Liberalism Republished

by Forrest Wayne Schultz

September of 2009 will be the 80th anniversary of the founding of Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS). One of the things WTS has already done this year to honor its founder -- J. Gresham Machen -- is to persuade Eerdmans to republish what is probably his most famous book, Christianity and Liberalism with a special preface added, written by WTS Vice-President for Academic Affairs Carl R. Trueman. Trueman's preface places the writing of this important book into its historical context, noting some things I was hitherto unaware of.

This book is one of the best treatments of the contrast between Christianity and what was then called liberalism, but which we now usually call the old liberalism. Later on, one of the most important WTS professors, Cornelius Van Til, wrote a book attacking the new liberalism(or new modernism) which he titled Christianity and Barthianism, which is arguably the most scholarly critique of Barth ever written. John Frame has noted the parallel between the two books including the very titles, thus suggesting that Van Til and Machen are closer in their thinking than is sometimes supposed.

Sincerely,

Forrest