In this article, the contribution of J. Gresham Machen to understanding the relationship between the church and contemporary culture is discussed. His vision of Christian involvement in cultural life was different from the pietistic and revivalistic otherworldliness of many fundamentalists of his time.

The author discusses the difficulties brought to the church in North America by both modernism and postmodernism. While the fundamentalists did well to stand well against modernists, the subsequent generation of fundamentalists and evangelical fundamentalists are giving in to the persuasions of postmodernism in very subtle ways. This has negatively affected the effectiveness of the gospel they preach.

This article evaluates the historical differences that emerged between the fundamentalists and the evangelicals in North American church history. The author notes that it was the uncompromising zeal of the fundamentalists that won them the position of being better able to guard the truths of the Christian faith.