In Volume 15 of Ordained Servant¹, D. G. Hart and John R. Muether point out an interesting piece of Presbyterian history. In 1926, J. Gresham Machen was nominated to be Princeton Seminary’s professor of apologetics - a routine measure that raised an unusual amount of opposition. The opposition was not related to Machen’s abilities in the field of apologetics, but to his position on Prohibition.

Machen opposed Presbyterian support for Prohibition, however, not because he approved of drunkenness or preferred unpopularity. Rather he did so for important theological - even Reformed - reasons. [...] Machen argued that the church had no legitimate rationale taking a side in this political question. Aside from the question of the relations between church and state, he believed that the church was bound by the Word of God and so all of its declarations and resolutions had to have clear Scriptural warrant. The Bible did not, however, provide support for Prohibition. It taught the idea of temperance, that is, moderate consumption of alcohol and the other good things of God’s creation. This meant that Scripture forbade inebriation. But even here the Bible did not give directions to government officials for abolishing drunkenness.

Since the Bible did not answer the questions surrounding this issue, Machen was unwilling to give his support along with many in the denomination. Hart and Muether helpfully observe the extension of the Regulative Principle in this episode. Typically we think of the principle solely in public worship terms, however

just as important is what it teaches about liberty of conscience and the Lordship of Christ. As the Confession of Faith teaches (20.2), “God alone is Lord of the conscience.” To bind the consciences of believers only on the basis of teaching of Scripture is to recognize and extend Christ’s Lordship. But to do so only on the basis of human wisdom or preference is to usurp his rule.

The journal is available from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I also refer you to Hart and Muether’s

• With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship

as well as Hart’s books

• Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America
• A Secular Faith: Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State

for related discussions.

1. The Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Ordained Servant, Volume 15, 2006.↩