J. Gresham Machen Bibliography

Foreword By J. Gresham Machen, D.D. Assistant Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis in Princeton Theological Seminary.

THE title of this book may cause misgiv¬ ing in certain quarters. “Questions about Christ” are sometimes thought to be un¬ necessary; we may differ in our opinions about Christ, it is said, and yet have Christ Himself; we may trust Him without taking sides in theological controversies. But a little reflection shows the absurdity of such indifferentism. Faith in a person always involves opinions about the person in whom faith is reposed; it is impossible to trust a person whom one holds to be untrustworthy. So it is in the case of our relation to Christ. It is really pos¬ terous to place “theology” in contrast to simple faith; for the “theological” questions which are being debated in the Church today are not ques¬ tions which lie on the periphery of Christian belief, but concern rather the central question whether Jesus was merely a prophet who initiated a new type of religious life or a Saviour to whom we may safely commit the destinies of the soul.

It is these great matters which are discussed in

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8 FOREWORD

this book. They are discussed by a preacher of proven power, and in the book the secret of his power is revealed. Dr. Macartney is a preacher because he has a message—a message which it is reasonable to accept. He is not engaged merely in voicing his own opinions on the subjects of religion or ethics or sociology; but when he comes forth into the pulpit he comes from a secret place of meditation and power, and with the message which God has given him to proclaim. The centre and core of the message is Jesus Christ—not the reduced and unreal Jesus of modern naturalistic Liberalism, but the all-sufficient Saviour presented in the Word of God. But may we still hold to the Jesus of the Word of God? That is the real ques¬ tion which is being faced by the Church today. And it is convincingly answered in the twelve chapters of the present book.