Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 27:1 (Spring 2023)
Article: The Rise And Fall Of J. Gresham Machen’s "Christianity And Liberalism"
Author: Darryl G. Hart

The Rise And Fall Of J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity And Liberalism

Darryl G. Hart

Darryl G. Hart is Associate Professor of History at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan. He earned his PhD in American History from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He is the author of numerous articles and books including Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994), That Old-Time Religion in Modern America: Evangelical Protestantism in the Twentieth Century (Ivan R. Dee, 2002), Deconstructing Evangelicalism: Conservative Protestantism in the Age of Billy Graham (Baker, 2004), From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservativism (Eerdmans, 2011), Calvinism: A History (Yale University Press, 2013), and Damning Words: The Life and Religious Times of H. L. Mencken (Eerdmans, 2016).

Liberal democracy relies on debate. Candidates running for office need to attract voters through messages that persuade. Of course, political speeches include denunciations of a political rival. But in a society with free elections and a free press, candidates smeared by their political foes have outlets for response. The back and forth between competing political candidates continues in political administration. Legislators debate proposed policy in search of a majority that will secure a measure’s approval. An executive may veto such legislation and so upend the debates and negotiations that informed a piece of legislation. Even then, a legislature may engage in more debate to garner a super-majority that will override an executive’s veto. This political process is neither elegant nor efficient. But it does provide means for arriving at a political consensus within a free and diverse society.

For all the worries about democracy’s death in the past five years, some of the most ardent fretters also seem to think restricting debate will advance

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democratic ideals. Concerns about misinformation and disinformation (and even mal-information) are not merely the fears of a few journalists or professors. Government agencies and big tech companies have cooperated to prevent the spread of claims that depart from received views. Another set of worries follow from those troubled by the free flow of ideas. These liberal worriers argue that restricting access to information violates freedom of speech which in turn threatens the very character of a democratic society.

As novel as the recent debates about freedom of speech in journalism and politics may sound, one hundred years ago the Presbyterian Church in the USA established a precedent for suppressing speech, ideas, and assembly. This is ironic if only because church...