# rise of liberalism



## rmwilliamsjr (Jun 24, 2005)

I'm trying to make the case that liberalism in the Presbyterian Church starts its rise in the aftermath of the Civil War. What i am particularly curious about is the relationship of political progressivism and theological liberalism. They both seem to have a secularized version of an optimistic if not post-millennialism. Based on the enormous success of science and technology their hopefulness that this curve of success was transferable to the social and political spheres, especially in the wake of the destructiveness of the Civil War.

i can see the notion of progressiveness, the optimism in changing the world, ideas that changing institutions change people (vs the evangelical notion that changing hearts changes institutions). But what i don't see is the connection between these ideas and the challenge of German higher criticism against the unity of Scripture, the liberalizing principle that inspiration was not at the textual level but at the principle/meaning level, and the attack on the authority of Scripture by seeing it as man's record of contact with God rather than God's reaching down to mankind. It looks like a key idea is progressive revelation extended to history, that is the Bible was fine for its time but now we are more advanced than that and we know better what it really is, a human record of man reaching for God. 

anyone read something along this line that i could follow up on?
tia.

i have Ministers of Reform and Metaphysical Club for a start.


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## New wine skin (Jun 24, 2005)

Both Machen: Christianity and Liberalism and the bio on Machen written by DG Hart would be great resources.


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## New wine skin (Jun 24, 2005)

Liberalism was not imported from Germany, the US theologians just used them in their footnotes...


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## rmwilliamsjr (Jun 24, 2005)

> _Originally posted by New wine skin_
> Both Machen: Christianity and Liberalism and the bio on Machen written by DG Hart would be great resources.



Hart is excellent and a good read to boot.
cheap if you order from the OPC historian's office.
http://www.opc.org/books/Machen_Hart.html
these are online resources:

Machen's Christianity and Liberalism is at:
http://www.reformed.org/books/chr_and_lib/

machen's virgin birth is at:
http://www.biblecentre.net/theology/books/mach/vb/vb-Index.html

randy oliver on machen at:
http://www.thirdmill.org/files/english/html/ch/CH.h.Oliver.Machen.1.html

the presbyterian conflict by rian
http://www.americanpresbyterianchurch.org/presbyterian_conflict.htm

the root of this page is at:
http://www.americanpresbyterianchurch.org/pres__hist__books.htm
which has several other interesting books
The Death of a Church
Carl McIntire
The New Neutralism II
John E. Ashbrook


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