Our readings in this series are from the book, The Church Captive. Here is a brief excerpt from page 51:
“[Early 20th century liberal Christians] had little use for the idea of sin, except as an inevitable condition common to all, which they thought ought to be tolerated without too much fuss. [J. Gresham] Machen reminded his readers that ‘According to the Bible, man is a sinner under the just condemnation of God; according to modern liberalism, there is really no such thing as sin. At the very root of the modern liberal movement is the loss of the consciousness of sin.’
“By allowing people to think they were good enough, or at least, not as bad as they might be, liberals undermined both their agenda and the orthodox proclamation of the faith: ‘The fundamental fault of the modern Church is that…preachers are trying to bring men into the Church without requiring them to relinquish their pride; they are trying to help men avoid the conviction of sin…Even our Lord did not call the righteous to repentance, and probably we shall be no more successful than He.’”
Now, and for a limited time, you can order The Church Captive together with the next book in our Read Moore series, Revived!, at no cost. Order copies for yourself and for a study group or companion. A free discussion guide is available as well.
T. M. Moore.
