The Life I Now Live: Continuing Machen's Historic Battle for the Gospel

Rich S. Brown III

May 2023 · Rich S. Brown III

About this ebook

The Life I Now Live recounts the life and ministry of J. Gresham Machen, the founder of Westminster Theological Seminary (1929), the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1936), and the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions (1933). This book takes you on a journey back to the early twentieth century when historic, Evangelical Christianity was met with intense opposition by the Theological Liberals known as Modernists. The Presbyterian Church (USA) in the North split over the "Fundamentalist-Modernist divide," and the leading institutions of the day did the same, including Princeton Theological Seminary. Many key leaders in the Protestant Church theologically criticized the person and redeeming work of Jesus Christ and the Bible, which is the inerrant, inspired, and authoritative word of God.

J. Gresham Machen led the Evangelical Church amidst much turmoil, confusion, and deconstruction with absolute integrity and a steadfast spirit. Though he was well known and beloved within the Evangelical Church in his own day, the story of how he defended the historic Christian Faith has been largely forgotten a century later.

The Life I Now Live explores Machen's defense of the gospel, his teaching and preaching ministry, and his evangelistic zeal. It is also written in commemoration of his classic work Christianity and Liberalism (1923). But it is so much more than just a biography! This book encourages "ordinary" Christians to see themselves as those who can indeed defend the Truth in today's age of Postliberalism (Postmodernism), unbiblical Gender Ideology, Critical Race Theory, and Deconstructionism. The Evangelical Church is now in a moment of crisis in which we must choose today whom we will serve. Will you serve the Lord God? And if so, how will you defend the Faith in today's culture? Read this book to find out how!

About the author

Rich Brown serves as a pastor and church planter in the Presbyterian Church in America. Since 2013, he has devoted his academic career to becoming a leading expert on J. Gresham Machen’s life and influence, studying at both Westminster Theological Seminary (DMin, in progress; ThM, ABD) and Liberty University (MDiv; BS). A former Seattleite, Rich now spends his time hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with his chocolate lab, Baxter, hanging out with close friends and family, preaching at local ARP and EPC churches, listening to alternative-rock, and desperately seeking out quality coffee on the East Coast.