Presbycast on Mencken and Machen

PCA Ruling Elder Brad Isbell has edited Presbycast Pravda for about five years. His podcasts and posts cover diverse topics from a fine memorial for Queen Elizabeth II, to analysis of issues faced by the PCA, and on to fond memories of his childhood and how things change. Most recently he has found the thought of J. Gresham Machen an interesting endeavor. An item in my inbox today from the office of Presbycast Pravda which is hidden deep in the hollers of eastern Tennessee to avoid detection by New School Presbyterians is titled “Mencken Muses on Machen, Part 1”. Since D. G. Hart brought to light Mencken on Machen in Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America, 1994, the renowned columist of the Baltimore Sun has been receiving positive reviews because he respected Machen. I think Mencken’s perspective is helpful, however, his positive assessment was often at the expense of William Jennings Bryan, a fundamentalist Presbyterian (i.e. little understanding of Reformed theology if any at all) who I think deserves a fairer analysis for his work opposing modernism. Check out Presbycast at the article linked above. [Posted 4/4/2025]