Tag Archives: J. Gresham Machen

TOC: Machen, Person of Jesus

by therev2011

1.The Triune God- knowings vs feeling God; doctrine; communicable attributes; incommunicable attributes;

2. What Is the Deity of Christ?- the concept of deity; Classical Christian concept of deity

3. Does the Bible Teach the Deity of Christ?- proofs for the deity of Christ;

4. The Sermon on the Mount- The Sermon on the Mount also gives proof of Jesus’ deity

5. What Jesus Said about Himself- Son of Man;

6. The Supernatural Christ- natural and supernatural; miracles

7. Did Christ Rise from the Dead? – proofs for the resurrection of Christ.

Self-Attesting Scripture

by therev2011

“Modern skeptical historians are saying we must leave it. All our information about Jesus is supernaturalistic, they are saying; therefore, all our information about Jesus is uncertain. We can never disentangle the real Jesus from the beliefs of his earliest followers. The only Christ we really know is the supernatural Christ of Jesus’s earliest followers. We can never rediscover the portrait of the real Jesus. Are you afraid of skepticism like that? I am not afraid of it a bit. It is easily refuted by a mere reading of the Gospels. I beg you just to read the Gospels for yourselves, my friends, and then ask yourselves whether the person here presented to you is not a living, breathing person. The extreme skepticism of the day will always be refuted by common sense.” -J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior

The Trinity Was Not an Earth-Shattering Revelation to the NT Writers

by therev2011

“Dr. Warfield rightly calls attention also to the matter-of-course way in which this identity of the triune God of the New Testament with the covenant God of Israel appears in the New Testament books. The New Testament writers are apparently not conscious of saying anything revolutionary. They assume the doctrine of the deity of Christ more than they expressly teach it. Why do they assume it? Dr. Warfield gives the answer. They assume it because it had already been established by the fact of the coming of the Son of God in the flesh. The doctrine was established by the fact of the incarnation before it was set forth in words. When the eternal Son of God became man in order to redeem sinners on the cross, and when the Holy Spirit was sent to apply that redeeming work of the Son of God to those who should be saved, then the doctrine of the Trinity was made known to men.” -J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior

Why the Deity of Christ Matters

by therev2011

“We have trusted in Jesus. But how far can we trust him? Just in this transitory life? Just in this little speck that we call the earth? If we can trust him only thus far we are of all men most miserable. We are surrounded by stupendous forces; we are surrounded by the immensity of the unknown. After our little span of life there is a shelving brink with the infinite beyond. And still we are subject to fear—not only fear of destruction but a more dreadful fear of meeting with the infinite and holy God. So we should be if we had but a human Christ. But now is Christ our Savior, the one who says, “Your sins are forgiven,” revealed as very God. And we believe. Such a faith is a mystery to us who possess it; it seems folly to those who have it not. But if possessed it delivers us forever from fear. The world to us is all unknown; it is engulfed in an ocean of infinity. But it contains no mysteries to our Savior. He is on the throne. He pervades the remotest bounds. He inhabits infinity. With such a Savior we are safe.” -J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior

What Communicable Attributes May or May Not Mean

by therev2011

If we think of God as having some attributes which we also possess, we may conceivably be doing it for one or the other of two reasons. In the first place, we may be doing it because we are making God in our own image. But, in the second place, we may be doing it because God has made us in his image.” -J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior

Time Has No Meaning (For God)

by therev2011

“If the word “infinity” is related, by way of contrast, to the notion of space, so the word “eternity” is related, by way of contrast, to the notion of time. When we say that God is eternal, we mean that he had no beginning and that he will have no end. But we really mean more than that. We mean that time has no meaning for him, save as it has meaning to the creatures whom he has made. He created time when he created finite creatures. He himself is beyond time.” -J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior

Mind Boggling Infinity

by therev2011

“What is meant by saying that he is infinite? Well, the word “infinite” means without an end or a limit. Other beings are limited; God is unlimited. I suppose it is easy for us to fall into our ordinary spatial conceptions in trying to think of God. We may imagine ourselves passing from the earth to the remotest star known to modern astronomy—many, many light-years away. Well, when we have got there, we are not one slightest fraction of an inch nearer to fathoming infinity than we were when we started. We might imagine ourselves traveling ten million times ten million times farther still, and still we would not be any nearer to infinity than when we started. We cannot conceive a limit to space, but neither can we conceive of infinite space. Our mind faints in the presence of infinity.” -J. Gresham Machen, The Person of Jesus: Radio Addresses on the Deity of the Savior