Machen and the Presbyterian Controversy

Taught by Dr. Darryl G. Hart, this course in church history explores the life and legacy of J. Gresham Machen, fighter of the good fight of faith during the Presbyterian controversy of the 1920s and 30s.

Format

Online
Course

Duration

6 hours, and 23 minutes.

Subtitles Included

English, Chinese (Simplified), and Spanish

Price

$97
Free

Course Overview

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Taught by Dr. Darryl G. Hart, this course in church history explores the life and legacy of J. Gresham Machen, fighter of the good fight of faith during the Presbyterian controversy of the 1920s and 30s. What formed Machen as a fighter? What did he fight against? How should we remember him? Drawing upon a myriad of primary sources, Dr. Hart paints a multi-faceted portrait of Machen from which Christians of all backgrounds may draw encouragement as they self-sacrificially contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. In addition, he brings the mature fruit of his own 40 years of reflection on Presbyterian history to address matters of perennial importance to the church, e.g. the relationship between Christ and culture, the significance of creeds and confessions, and the spirituality of the church.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Analyze the formative influences on J. Gresham Machen's character, convictions, and combative stance within the broader context of early 20th-century Presbyterianism and American culture.
Evaluate Machen’s theological and ecclesiastical critiques of liberalism, especially his insistence that theological liberalism constitutes an entirely different religion from Christianity.
Assess the enduring importance of Machen’s commitments to the spirituality of the church, the necessity of doctrinal confessions, and the independence of the church from both political activism and cultural accommodation.
Apply Machen’s vision for confessional Presbyterianism to current ecclesiastical and cultural challenges, particularly in relation to Christian education, civil liberty, and church-state relations.

Resources and Information

Accreditation
Course Materials
Certification

Reformed Forum is an approved provider of Continuing Education Units through the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). This course has not yet been approved for CEU credit. If you are interested in receiving ACSI credit for this course, contact us to let us know.

Course Handouts

Each lesson concludes with a brief quiz, which will assist you in assessing your progress. The questions are multiple choice or true/false. Each question is designed to reinforce basic points of the lectures and to provide a means of self-assessment.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have the option to download a certificate of completion on the main course page.

Course Lessons

Your Teacher

Patrick Jones - Course author

 Darrly G. Hart

MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary; MTS, Harvard University; MA, Johns Hopkins University; PhD, Johns Hopkins UniversityDarryl G. Hart is Professor of History at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. He is the author of numerous works on American religious and intellectual history, including Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America and Calvinism: A History.

Machen and the Presbyterian Controversy

Taught by Dr. Darryl G. Hart, this course in church history explores the life and legacy of J. Gresham Machen, fighter of the good fight of faith during the Presbyterian controversy of the 1920s and 30s.

Format

Online
Course

Duration

6 hours, and 23 minutes.

Subtitles Included

English, Chinese (Simplified), and Spanish

Price

$97
Free