On Academics & Imperialists
Gentlemen, lately I have been reading George M. Marsden's Fundamentalism and American Culture, which traces the background and events of the Fundamentalist/Modernist Controversy in the 1920's. Here is a quote that I'd like to leave for your perusal by J. Gresham Machen, founder of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the founding president of Westminster Theological Seminary:
What is to-day [sic] matter of academic speculation begins tomorrow to move armies and pull down empires. (Marsden, 137)
Marsden notes that Machen believed that ultimately the key arena for evangelism was not in the pews nor the streets, but in the universities. (137) Is Machen's diagnosis correct? What implications does this have for ministry in the early twenty-first century?
posted by Anonymous at 10:33 AM
8 Comments:
I think the issue of evangelism is complicated. First, I do agree that action proceeds from thought which means that the seminary has great influence in modern practices because the theory behind such practices start in the think-tank.
However, evangelism is tricky because it also involves believers either a)yielding to the commandment of God or b)yielding to the sinful, carnal man that is still fighting for his life.
By the way, I recommend starting a new group blog and changing the format a little...I think we don't post on here as much because we think we have to come up with some novel and intriguing topic everytime. Let's swallow our pride, get real and go to a Blogger Beta site and just blog whenever we have anything to say - whether it be theological or maniacal.
oh...apparently, all Blogger is beta now...
I just finished the book today, and let me enthusiastically recommend it to all of you men as a great explanation for some of the current cultural conditions in the church today. Anti-intellectualism, church and culture issues, impact of dispensationalism, etc. all are covered very well.
The afterword, which addresses the relationship between history/historiography and the providence of God, alone is worth the price of the book.
Drew,
Does the author mention anything about the condemnation of alcohol with prohibition, etc and how that has effected modern day denominations?
The prohibition issue was a bit phenomenal, to tell you the truth. Marsden takes quite a bit of time to discuss how the predominant dispensational premillenialism (which was a defining characteristic for much of classic fundamentalism) led the first fundamentalists (late 19th/early 20th century) to be quite ambivalent towards culture compared to their classic Reformed brethren (most of whom were postmillenial). The postmillenial camps had been campaigning for decades about getting rid of slavery and alcohol due to their belief that as Christianity took root in political legislation, the kingdom of God would be advanced, culminating in Christ's return. Therefore, the dispensational camps (which included many many Baptists) originally had an "escapist" mentality (i.e. forget the culture, let's just withdraw from it until the rapture happens). Over time and without a great deal of rationale, however, the dispensational camps jumped to the social activism side, particularly on the issue of prohibition.
Hmm...I wonder what the bridge was that led the Dispensational Fundamentalists to the social activist role.
Also, I'm curious how the author explains the shift that Postmillenials must have made from being teetotalers to non-teetotalers.
Maybe I should just read the book.
by the way,
I can't post on here anymore since I moved over to Beta on my other blog before this did. Drew, I think you have to re-invite me or else I can't post anymore.
thanks for the invite, cuz.
Post a Comment
<< Home