“The enemy is made the more dangerous because it is found
within, rather than without, the Church. Definite opponents of the Christian
religion could have been more easily met; but now as in ancient times Satan has
preferred to labor for the most part in the dark. The change has come very
quietly and very gradually. There have been few open breaks; there have been
comparatively few open denials; good men, in their ignorance, have often become
emissaries of unbelief. The Gospel has not been openly contradicted, but it has
been quietly pushed aside. It has quietly faded away, as one picture fades away
before another on the screen; and another gospel has assumed its place. Many
men are quite unconscious of the change; they are made very angry by being told
the truth. Others are not so completely blind; they know in their heart of
hearts that all is not well. But they will do nothing unpleasant to preserve
the purity of the Church; they preach the true Gospel themselves, they say, but
let others in the same church preach what they will. God will ultimately honor
the truth, they tell us; God will ultimately destroy error; but meanwhile let
us above all have peace. Thus is Gamaliel cited as though he were a Christian
saint; thus does a worldly urbanity masquerade under the name of love; thus has
a polite optimism been substituted for the dread solemnity and exclusiveness of
the Gospel of Christ.”
J. Gresham Machen, “The
Present Situation in the [Mainline] Presbyterian Church,” Christianity Today
1.1 (1930),
