Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 82:1 (Spring 2020)
Article: J. Gresham Machen And The Culture Of Classical Studies
Author: Jeffrey S. McDonald

WTJ 82:1 (Spring 2020) p. 95

J. Gresham Machen And The Culture
Of Classical Studies

Jeffrey S. McDonald

Jeffrey S. McDonald is Pastor of Avery Presbyterian Church (EPC), Bellevue, NE, and Affiliate Professor at Sioux Falls Seminary.

J. Gresham Machen was known as one of the most distinguished NT scholars of the 20th century. He was also known as a leader of the wider evangelical movement and of conservative Presbyterians. Machen’s well-known opposition to theological liberalism was an extension of his biblical scholarship and his commitment to Reformed orthodoxy. But where did Machen’s NT views come from? How was his mind formed and how did his scholarship develop? This article seeks to analyze Machen’s intellectual formation in relation to his various connections to the discipline of classical studies. His formal study with several famed American classicists is examined with a view to understanding his classicist orientation. A better grasp of the classical studies influences on Machen will give readers a more thorough comprehension of the scholar and his opposition to liberal Protestantism. This article also reveals the positive response that various classicists had towards Machen’s NT work. This article further reveals many unknown or little known aspects of Machen’s career and thus provides a fuller picture of one of the most brilliant Christian scholars of the 20th century.

Most of J. Gresham Machen’s career was spent as a professional scholar of the NT. Yet, this article will explore Machen’s ties to classical studies, a discipline that he was trained in and influenced by. His relationships with other classicists will be examined as well as his reputation amongst several of America’s leading classicists. Machen’s classicist orientation will be established, and this will lead to a greater understanding of not only his life, but also his scholarship and thought. An analysis of Machen’s connections to classical studies sheds important light on his biblical scholarship, defense of the Bible, and disagreements with modernist scholars.

WTJ 82:1 (Spring 2020) p. 96

I. Classicism In The Late Nineteenth Century

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the study of classical literature and languages—Greek and Latin—shaped American education. Indeed, Americans were deeply fascinated with the study of Ancient Greece and Rome. After Christianity, classical studies were “the central intellectual project” of America prior to the late nineteenth century.1 Knowledge of Greek was a standard requirement for college entrance, and classical literature was taught to help structure “ethical, political, oratorical, artistic, and educational ideals, sometim...