---
title: 'Happy Birthday to J. Gresham Machen!'
type: post
author: 'R. Andrew Myers'
date: 2018-07-28
url: https://confessional.org/blog/2018-happy-birthday-to-j-gresham-machen
---

# Happy Birthday to J. Gresham Machen!

It was on July 28, 1881, that [John Gresham Machen](/authors/j-gresham-machen) entered the world. The baby born that day in Baltimore, Maryland to Arthur and Mary Jones Gresham Machen would go on to become a Professor of New Testament studies at Princeton Seminary. Furthermore, in the crucible of denominational apostasy, Machen was led to help found three major institutions: the Independent Board for Foreign Presbyterian Missions, Westminster Theological Seminary, and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC).

Known to his students as ["Das,"](https://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2002/henry-w-coray-on-j-gresham-machen/) he is often considered the last or one of the last great Princeton men. Just before he died in Bismarck, North Dakota, on January 1, 1937, he dictated a final telegram to his friend and college, Professor John Murray, in which he stated the famous words: ["I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it."](https://www.opc.org/nh.html?article_id=383)

We give tribute to this man today, by inviting you to check out [works by him](/authors/j-gresham-machen), and [works about him](/store) (including biographies of Machen by D.G. Hart, William Masselink, Steven J. Nichols, and Ned B. Stonehouse) at Log College Press. Happy birthday Mr. Machen!