Machen Chapter 2

    Christianity has always been a word and term that turns people off to following Jesus. One of the main reasons for that is because of the hypocrisy, hatred, and attitudes that many people who claim to be a Christian have. It is so unfortunate that this is a viewpoint for the world today. We have an issue that pushes many people away from the truth of scripture and they get drawn to a fake gospel. I bring this up because faith in Christ Jesus is vital to life, literally. The liberal thought of Christianity is cancer to real faith. 

    Machen makes a point to ask if we should change the name of Christianity and take it in another direction. I do not have an exact answer on that, but I do believe it was important that he elaborated on the history of the term Christianity. The word started after the death of Jesus. Machen makes that point clear. He mentions how the implication of that name was a thing prior to that, but it would not have made sense for it to be called that. 

    It brings me great joy to think about where the name Christianity comes from. I think that it is often weird that a death of someone would bring us joy, but to understand that context of that death and what it has done for all of eternity is special. I think that is one of the main issues in the false sense of “Christianity”. People do not understand what having a relationship with God truly means. Yes, Christianity is just a word, but it defines what we believe in the scripture. 

    Although my point is not Machen’s reasoning for bringing up Christ’s death, I think it is valid. This book is based on the liberal thinking within Christian circles. We have the duty as believers to spread this to all people in this world. Unfortunately, many have failed. There is this concept of be happy for yourself. Do what makes you happy. That is so wrong. That is the liberal way of thinking now. The real sense of Christianity has been lost in many churches and minds of people. It breaks my heart.

    This whole chapter is on doctrine and that is key to remember when we discuss Christianity. Doctrine can often be lost because we want to be so much like Jesus and love others. But my question to those who want to do that (myself included) would be, do we lose the truth of what the scriptures say in trying to do that by ourselves? We must pursue our own faith in Christ and from there, we show love to others, knowing what true love is. We must look to God and His word to pursue true love and righteousness in His son. 

    In conclusion, the word Christianity has been truly misconstrued and a big reasoning for that is because of the misunderstanding of its history and why we follow. It is a huge issue how liberal thinking has taken what the Bible says and destroyed it in the minds of this world.