In this episode Camden Bucey and Danny Olinger continue their walk through Fighting the Good Fight: A Brief History of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church by D. G. Hart and John Muether. After sharing news about new OPC history publications, they turn to pp. 11–26 of the book and discuss the origins of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church through the lens of J. Gresham Machen and the crisis of Presbyterian identity.
The conversation explores why Machen preferred to be known not simply as a “fundamentalist,” but as a Calvinist and confessional Presbyterian. Rev. Bucey and Rev. Olinger examine the 1920 Philadelphia Plan for Church Union, the distinctives of Presbyterian doctrine, worship, and polity, and the recurring tensions in Presbyterian history between revivalism and confessional precision. They also trace the growing modernist controversy—from Fosdick and the Auburn Affirmation to denominational commissions that denied liberalism was present in the church—and explain why Machen insisted that theological liberalism was not another variety of Christianity, but a different religion altogether.
This episode helps listeners understand that the OPC did not arise merely from a generic culture war, but from a deeply Presbyterian struggle over doctrine, identity, and faithfulness.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Introduction and series update
- 02:21 — New OPC history publications and project updates
- 07:23 — Today’s focus: Machen and the crisis of Presbyterian identity
- 11:58 — The Philadelphia Plan and the question of church union
- 18:53 — What makes Presbyterianism distinct
- 25:50 — Old School, New School, revivalism, and Presbyterian tensions
- 34:26 — Supernatural Christianity versus liberalism
- 41:05 — Fosdick, the Auburn Affirmation, and the denominational crisis
- 45:07 — Machen’s argument: liberalism is a different religion
- 46:15 — Westminster Seminary, the OPC, and closing reflections