Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 27:1 (Spring 2023)
Article: Machen On Christ: An Explanation And Application Of "Christianity And Liberalism", Chapter 5.
Author: Kyle D. Claunch

Machen On Christ: An Explanation And Application Of Christianity And Liberalism, Chapter 5.

Kyle D. Claunch

Kyle D. Claunch is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, where he has taught since 2017. He is the author of numerous scholarly chapters and articles for such academic journals as the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Criswell Theological Review, and Eikon: A Journal for Biblical Anthropology. He is also a contributing writer for “Christ Over All” and “Desiring God.” Dr. Claunch has more than twenty years of experience serving in pastoral ministry in the local church. He is currently a member of Kenwood Baptist Church where he regularly teaches Sunday School and teaches for the newly formed Kenwood Institute. He and his wife Ashley live in Louisville, Kentucky with their six children.

Part 1: Machen’s Critique Of Liberal Christology

In Matthew 16:13–17 Jesus asked his closest followers two questions of enduring significance. (1) “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (v. 13) and (2) “Who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). The first of these questions was answered with a variety of opinions from mistaken but admiring crowds. “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14). Of course, there were others answering the question in Jesus’ own day who were not so admiring. Many accused him of blasphemy (Matt 9:3), demon possession (John 7:20), and even of occultic demon manipulation (Matt 12:24). Whether generally friendly or openly hostile, the variety of public opinions about Jesus of Nazareth all fell

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woefully short of the truth. Each opinion was the product of the reasoning faculties of Jesus’ contemporaries aided by the faulty presuppositions of their experience and worldview and not the result of divine revelation. When the Lord Jesus himself pressed the question personally to the disciples, it was Peter who spoke the truth about Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). This answer, the true confession, was not the result of Peter’s reasoning faculties or the natural outworking of his presuppositions. The truth of this conclusion was grounded in the fact that it was divinely revealed: “Blessed are you, S...