tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post2861232549146671286..comments2023-05-07T09:56:23.909-04:00Comments on The Christian Curmudgeon: Would Machen Be A Leader in the PCA?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07146011447109951026noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-17774940686815700792012-04-30T19:00:59.654-04:002012-04-30T19:00:59.654-04:00Thanks, this has been recently on my mind. I have ...Thanks, this has been recently on my mind. I have been a long time admirer of Machen and a two yr long despiser of my local PCA in Western North Carolina. I'm not sure about North's above-mentioned attribution of Morton Smith but Dr. Smith has recently retired from local Presbytery after a lethal battle defending Postmil/Theonomic mixing of the kingdoms of the world and the Kingdom of our God. Moreover, his Greenville seminary defends a version of Theonomy I believe, and North is of course to his mind anyway a titan of the Theonomic faith. My money is on Meridith Kline, 2 kingdoms theology, Wesminster Cal, and the Church as transformers of culture via means of the gospel only. Many others will have sports teams, music groups, hospitals, etc. If we don't preach the gospel no one will. The well-intentioned means always seem to "put a bushel over" the stated end.Todd Mahaffeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14723827618318244615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-30528161071022569712011-08-01T12:18:09.148-04:002011-08-01T12:18:09.148-04:00I guess I have better hopes. In that era, this fro...I guess I have better hopes. In that era, this from BOT's recent reprint of Josiah's Reformation, by Sibbes, certainly proved true:<br /><br />"Where there is a true desire to know the will of God, there God will give men sincere prophets that shall answer them exactly; not according to their own lusts, but for their good...this is God's mercy to those that are true-hearted. He will give them teachers suitable to their desires; but those that are false-hearted shall have suitable teachers, who shall instruct them according to their lusts. If they be like Ahab, they shall have four hundred false prophets to teach falsehood, to please their lusts, I Kgs 22:6; but if they be Davids, they shall have Nathans. If they be Josiahs, they shall have Huldahs and Jeremiahs.Wayne Sparkmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268711715253919117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-78798430752490562702011-08-01T10:35:59.937-04:002011-08-01T10:35:59.937-04:00Thanks for the links, Wayne. I know that Machen wa...Thanks for the links, Wayne. I know that Machen was not the man his critics portrayed him to be. But my guess is that he would perceived as today as the man his critics thought he was - and, given the triumph of the "be nice" and savvy model of leadership he would have less chance of leading today than he did in his own day. Of course, as I suggest, Calvin would also be unable to lead today. Our day is not a day of leadership by men of principle but by the smart men.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07146011447109951026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-12821876435119516502011-08-01T09:28:34.892-04:002011-08-01T09:28:34.892-04:00I'm of the opinion that the view of Machen as ...I'm of the opinion that the view of Machen as disagreeable and difficult was one-sided and prejudicial. Here are some links that show another side of the man. Those who were close to him knew a very winsome Christian.<br /><br />http://continuing.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/machen-as-seen-by-part-i/<br /><br />http://continuing.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/machen-as-seen-by-part-ii/<br /><br />http://continuing.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/machen-as-seen-by-part-iii/<br /><br />http://continuing.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/a-westminster-social-gathering/<br /><br />http://continuing.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/griffiths-memoir-of-machen/Wayne Sparkmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08268711715253919117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-53998388643381076462011-07-28T17:40:20.119-04:002011-07-28T17:40:20.119-04:00"One wonders if he would be invited to speak ..."One wonders if he would be invited to speak at the T4G meetings."<br /><br />I'm new to the OPC. My family is about to join a local OPC congregation. In light of this, although I've personally been Reformed for the past ten years or so, I've begun paying more attention to those OPC personalities who have a presence on the internet(Hart, Trueman, etc., mostly via Reformed Forum), and it appears to me if the present stance of the OPC on tending to shy away from interdenominational coalitions was shared by Machen, then he would not have participated.John D. Chittyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03311105603350739626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-3758970936470287422011-07-27T14:44:46.220-04:002011-07-27T14:44:46.220-04:00Pastorvon: I would suggest you take up these quest...Pastorvon: I would suggest you take up these questions with DG Hart who is far more qualified than I to answer. But, I would hazard that he would have been happy to have had any of the 3 Hodges or Warfield at WTS. The is also an interesting connection between his family and the Woodrow controversy in the South.On the matter of apologetics I am not sure what he would have thought had he lived to interact with Van Til's developed views.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07146011447109951026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934298301663499561.post-30140237165647139882011-07-27T14:24:19.553-04:002011-07-27T14:24:19.553-04:00Curmudgeon I:
I bow to the title simply because I ...Curmudgeon I:<br />I bow to the title simply because I did not think of it first formally, although I frequently describe myself as a curmudgeon.<br />I'd like to see you flesh out the themes in this a bit more because I believe there is both truth and error in your view. In my opinion, Machen did practically repudiate Warfield, Shedd and the Hodges by his hiring of Van Til and company on the one hand and repudiated the New Schoolers such as McIntire and company. North's attribution of Morton Smith in Cross Fingers is not without significance.<br />Curmudgeon II.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com