To honor and mark the thirtieth anniversary of the seminary where police do enforce jaywalking laws, to offer some encouragement to the faculty and staff who labor and the students who study there, and to remind readers about the point of Westminster Seminary come the following paragraphs from the institution’s first convocation. Of course, J. Gresham Machen was the author and speaker, the date was September 25, 1929, and the place was downtown Philadelphia (woot!). The ceremonies took place at the Witherspoon Building on Walnut Street, which was the home of the Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work (one of downtown Philadelphia’s more ornate facades). The school itself was located at 1528 Pine Street.
Westminster Theological Seminary, which opens its doors today, will hardly be attended by those who seek the plaudits of the world or the plaudits of a worldly church. It can offer for the present no magnificent buildings, no long-established standing in the ecclesiastical or academic world. Why, then, does it open its doors; why does it appeal to the support of Christian men?
The answer is plain. Our new institution is devoted to an unpopular cause; it is devoted to the service of one who is despised and rejected by the world and increasingly belittled by the visible church, the majestic Lord and Savior who is presented to us in the Word of God. From him men are turning away one by one. His sayings are too hard, his deeds of power too strange, his atoning death too great an offense to human pride. But to him, despite all, we hold. No Christ of our own imaginings can ever take his place for us, no mystic Christ whom we seek merely in the hidden depths of our own souls. From all such we turn away ever anew to the blessed written Word and say to the Christ there set forth, the Christ with whom then we have living communion: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal lifeâ€. . . .
[The] pathway of sacrifice is the pathway which students and supporters of Westminster Seminary are called upon to tread. For that we can thank God. Because of the sacrifices involved, no doubt many have been deterred from coming to us; they have feared the opposition of the machinery of the church; some of them may have feared, perhaps, to bear fully the reproach of Christ. We do not judge them. But whatever may be said about the students who have come to us, one thing can certainly be said about those who have come – they are real men.
No, my friends, though Princeton Seminary is dead, the noble tradition of Princeton Seminary is alive. Westminster Seminary will endeavor by God’s grace to continue that tradition unimpaired; it will endeavor, not on a foundation of equivocation and compromise, but on an honest foundation of devotion to God’s Word, to maintain the same principles that the old Princeton maintained. We believe, first, that the Christian religion, as it is set forth in the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian church, is true; we believe, second, that the Christian religion welcomes and is capable of scholarly defense; and we believe, third, that the Christian religion should be proclaimed without fear or favor, and in clear opposition to whatever opposes it, whether within or without the church, as the only way of salvation for lost mankind. On that platform, brethren, we stand. Pray that we may be enabled by God’s Spirit to stand firm. Pray that the students who go forth from Westminster Seminary may know Christ as their own Savior and may proclaim to others the gospel of his love.
Old Life 
I see you have imbibed the WSCal advertising! Would you say the same for WTS? What is your opinion of the current direction of WTS? Care to comment?
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No advertizing, all observation (of WSC) and research (on JGM).
I might be willing to comment if I didn’t see having to issue another apology in Oldlife’s future.
Let me say this, Machen believed in the priority of justification because he thought Paul did.
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Fair enough 🙂 I found it more than coincidental that your title comes verbatim from WSC’s audio advertising.
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DGH speaks from a position of knowledge and authority as a Machen scholar and a historian, not from advertising materials. How insulting. He served as Academic Dean for 3 years at WTS CA, and continues to teach there on a regular basis. He is a reliable and trustworthy commentator on this subject.
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No insult taken. I know I’m sounding boosterish. I want both Westminsters to follow Machen’s vision.
Have a nice day everyone!
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As I understand WTS/Philadelphia, they too believe in justification. But, Machen’s vision goes beyond justification to include defending Orthodox Christianity in its Reformed expression.
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It is plain, it is not suitable to the holiness of God to cultivate a friendship with the sinner, so long as he continues such. But before sanctification he is nothing but a sinner, nay, he is sin itself. Nor can a greater instance of friendship be given to man than that by which he is sanctified. And therefore it is not consistent with the holiness of God, without any satisfacion, to grant so great a favour to the sinner, who is most worthy of his wrath. If it be still urged, that though God cannot, consistent with his holiness, love the sinner with a love of complacency, yet nothing hinders him from loving him with a love of benevolence, which may so transform him as to render him a fit object of the love of complacency: I answer, that this is spoken at random: for those effects of the love of benevolence, by which we are regenerated, are proposed to us in scripture, as consequences of the engagement and satisfaction of Christ, and of our reconciliation with God.
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Darryl insulted by that comment? Now he might find that insulting!
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ljones: I’m not questioning Darryl’s credentials. I consider him a friend – indeed my elder who is to be visiting my home in two weeks. I was taking a friendly jab at him in jest over his apparent agenda as it were. He can take it up with me then 🙂
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Since we are comparing WSC and Machen, I wonder if Machen taught, like Horton, that holiness is the indispensable condition of glorification.
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If you mean in the sense that justification is prior to sanctification (which the OPC GA also teaches), sure.
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I’m interested to get more familiar with Machen. Which biography or book of his would you recommend that I start with. Thanks for the help.
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I have heard that Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America is a decent book on Machen. Better is to read Machen straight. The Selected Shorter Writings of Machen are a fairly accessible way to read him in bite-sized portions. Both books are published by P&R Publishing.
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Christianity and Liberalism is sound, clear, and short. The trifecta! (also legally available online)
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I know multiple people who have received jaywalking tickets in Escondido. Machen’s spirit may live here, but I doubt that he would. I guess his spirit can jaywalk wherever it wants.
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Gnostic jaywalking works for me.
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Buy Raptors jersey for kids
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Bj, no thanks.
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