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Introduction
Liberal Christianity, Progressive Christianity or Liberalism is a movement within Christianity that is often characterized by the following features:
- internal diversity of opinion
- an embracing of higher criticism of the Bible with a corresponding willingness to question supernatural elements of biblical stories (e.g., the virgin birth)
- the rejection of biblical literalism and the inerrancy of the Bible
- the freedom to construct one's own personal view of God
- broader views on salvation than those held by conservative Christians, including universalist beliefs
- an emphasis on inclusive fellowship and community, often applied in recent years to homosexuals
- a willingness to consider and adopt viewpoints which have their roots outside of Christianity (e.g. other faith/philosophical traditions)
- a willingness to combine theology with modern scientific theories
Difficulties in definition
Diversity of opinion is a central characteristic of liberal Christianity, and one which makes it difficult to define with precision. Liberal Christianity exists within many denominations throughout the Christian world, and is often described as 'modernism', though it would be more accurate to describe modernism as a movement within liberal Christianity, since not all liberal Christians are modernists. The American 'Christian Right' might describe it as the 'Christian Left', which is also something of a misnomer: such labels are readily applied by opponents of liberal Christianity, but its adherents see it as a much broader and more inclusive movement. Because of its relations to progressive thinking, liberal Christianity is often described as Progressive Christianity in an attempt to redefine it in a way that does not associate it with modernism, since postmodernist views are increasingly becoming part and parcel of liberal Christian discourse. It is even problematic to draw a distinction along theological lines, at least in terms of the individual, since many who would accept the label liberal Christian hold to a mix of conservative and liberal theological positions, so there is really a continuum of views. Thus among theological liberals, some would be more liberal than others. For example, Karl Barth was more conservative theologically than Rudolf Bultmann. Even among conservatives there is a continuum. Evangelicals, for instance, are more "liberal" than fundamentalists. There is also a distinction to be made between liberal Christianity and Christian liberalism: the former usually implies a liberal theological outlook, the latter a liberal political outlook to which some theologically conservative Christians adhere. It is quite possible for someone to be liberal in their politics while at the same time holding strongly orthodox theological views. The reverse is also true, although few liberal Christians would in practice be likely to support the Religious Right.
Ultimately, the word liberal connotes a more progressive attitude towards Christianity based on individualism, in its emphasis on individual subjective experience, and liberalism, in its respect for the freedom of the individual to hold and express views which fall outside the boundaries of conservative orthodoxy and tradition. Disagreements between conservative and liberal Christians arise most frequently when the latter perceive that the former are exhibiting a lack of compassion, mercy, love and inclusiveness, and when the former perceive the latter to be abandoning essential Christian doctrines.
History
Certain of these principles have always formed a major tradition carrying through the early church, the monastic movement, the ministry of healing, the Catholic and Protestant churches, to the Progressive Movement in the 19th-century United States and the Social Gospel -- the basis for FDR's New Deal; and the Civil Rights Movement for racial justice in the American South, and Liberation Theology for justice to the poor in South America.
Since the 1900s Progressive Christianity has formed a major portion of Americans' traditions for what constitutes the values by which a good society is run. Christian Progressives were among the first to advocate equal treatment of Jews and Catholics from within the Protestant establishment, basing their understanding of human rights on a faith in the worth of other human beings, derived from the gospel. Progressive Christianity stresses fairness, justice, responsibility, and compassion, and condemns the forms of governance that wage wanton war, rely on corruption for continued power, deprive the poor of facilities, or exclude particular racial or sexual groups from fair participation in national liberties.
Progressive Christians have continued to be active in the peace movement, anti-racism, soup-kitchen activism, homeless shelters, various denominational committees on relief, Habitat for Humanity, and a wide variety of other outreach programs extremely familiar to the towns and cities of America, both the blue and the red states alike.
Characteristics of Liberal Christianity
Different and varied views are encouraged in liberal Christianity as part of the goal of experiencing Christianity on a personal level. A less hardline approach towards doctrine is taken than in conservative Christianity: unique ways of approaching God and talking about Christianity are encouraged. With this sense of personal freedom and emphasis on individual experience, dogmatic statements and claims of absolute truth on fine doctrinal points are not part of liberal Christian discourse. Liberal Christians can and not infrequently do hold to conservative postions: the contrast between liberal and conservative Christianity is that appeals to history, tradition or authority carry substantially less weight among liberal Christians. The search for truth is an ongoing task rather than something that has been completed. The Apostle Paul's statement sums up this attitude that prevails in liberal Christian thinking,
- "For now we see through a glass, darkly;"1 Corinthians 13:12
A non-literal view of Scripture is common amongst liberal Christians. Many view the Bible as a book written by men who were inspired by God, rather than endorsing an inerrantist view of the Bible as a book written by men who were directly guided by God. Historical contexts and scholarly criticism of the Bible play an important part in how they relate their faith and beliefs to the modern world.
The freedom to construct one's personal view of God is another hallmark of liberal Christianity. Each person comes to their own understanding of the who, what, how and why questions relating to the nature and purpose of God. Each person has their own perception of how God moves and works in their life.
Liberal Christianity tends to have a wider scope in their views on salvation (including universalist beliefs). This inclusiveness characteristically extends to those outside of mainstream Christianity who do not declare themselves as 'Christians' in the orthodox sense of the word. Right action generally takes precedence over right belief: integrity and love are regarded as more important than assent to a particular set of theological propositions.
Many non-traditional views on heaven and hell are prevalent amongst liberal Christians. These range from ideas about separation from God or temporal punishment to the belief that there is no hell. Views on heaven are similarly diverse.
There is an emphasis on inclusive fellowship and community amongst liberal Christians. With their more inclusive views on God, anthropology, salvation, women, homosexuality, Scripture, and creation, emphasis is placed on community-based life centered around values of compassion, mercy, and affirmation of human dignity; this is seen in contrast to the focus on sinfulness and moral rectitude one is more likely to find in conservative Christian thought.
Criticisms of Liberal Christianity
Traditional Christians define Liberal Christianity as "A movement that seeks to retain religious and spiritual values of Christianity while discounting the infallible authority of the Bible. Its origins are in the German Enlightenment, notably in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and the religious views of Friedrich Schleiermacher. Although it does bear mention that some earlier theologians are used to support liberal ideas, Arius and Peter Abelard, for example. Liberals reject the stated authorship and historical accuracy of many books of the Bible. They are skeptical concerning many or all of the biblical miracles, preferring naturalistic explanations or viewing miracle accounts as legend or myth. They often deny or reinterpret in mythical terms such doctrines of orthodox Christianity as the virgin birth, atoning death, and even the resurrection of Jesus. Liberalism has been most influential in mainline Protestant denominations and is rejected in Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christianity." -Watchman Fellowship's 2001 Index of Cults and Religions. J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) argued in his book Christianity and Liberalism that thorough-going liberalism is an entirely different religion than the historic Christian faith, and so should not be called a form of Christianity.
Liberal theology
Liberal theology is a branch of religious thinking which emerged in the late 18th and early 19th century, in the wake of The Enlightenment. Like political Liberalism that was emerging at the same time, Liberal theology stresses the value and importance of the individual's freedom of thought and expression. Liberal theology became dominant in the mainline churches in the 20th century. Although Fundamentalist Christianity has been rejected by the mainline churches, liberalism's dominance was waning by the late 20th century with the rise of the more moderate alternatives, such as Neo-orthodoxy, Paleo-orthodoxy and Postmodern Christianity, and more conservative movements such as Neo-evangelicalism and the Confessing movement.
The tenets of Liberal theology
- It claims that a religion is a community of individuals united by common intuitions and experiences, and therefore the value of the Church is in providing a supportive framework in which new conceptions of God can be explored, not in issuing decrees, upholding rigid dogmas or in exercising power over the religious community.
- It maintains that, while God remains immutable, theists relationship with, and understanding of God change through history, and therefore that no theological truths are necessarily fixed, as each person's experience can reveal a novel aspect of God.
- Some liberals do not maintain that God is immutable, but instead assert that God changes alongside creation. The rationale being that an immutable God in a changing universe would eventually result in a gulf separating creator from creation. For more on this see Process Theology and Alfred North Whitehead.
Liberal theology and religious language
Liberal theologians view religious language (i.e. descriptions of God, or of religious experience) as inevitably limited. Our language belongs to the world of phenomena, whereas religious experiences exist in the realm of noumena, so no matter how hard we try, our language can never describe God factually, but only in metaphors and analogies, symbols and myths etc.
These myths, analogies etc. are important in forming religious communities and traditions, and can be a useful way of expressing a particular thought or feeling about God, but we cannot hope for them to sum up God's nature (God is non-reducible, non-naturalisable, and essentially ineffable).
One of the original Liberal theologians, Friedrich Schleiermacher argued that theology's place was to describe internal feelings, rather than external truths or facts.
Liberal hermeneutics
The interpretation of the Bible (hermeneutics) within liberal theology is non-propositional. This means that liberal theologians do not take the Bible as an inventory of factual statements such as 'God divided the light from the darkness', but rather interpret the Bible as a document of the human authors' beliefs and feelings about God at the time of its writing, within a historical and cultural context.
Therefore, religious models and concepts must be updated to reflect the class, gender, social and political etc. context from which they emerge, so that they will appear relevant and interesting. Liberal theologians would not make the claim that any particular apostle's account of their religious experiences could be any more true, or more relevant to an individual, than the experience of the individual themself.
Liberal theology has also been the theistic group most prominent in Biblical criticism in the 19th and 20th centuries. It also bears mention that most clergy in mainline Protestant denominations (Methodist, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, etc.) consider themselves to be within this tradition to some degree or another.
Liberal Christian Theologians and Authors
Protestant
- Marcus Borg, New Testament scholar
- Charles Augustus Briggs, Hebrew scholar
- Rudolf Bultmann, Biblical scholar
- Peter Carnley, Anglican Primate of Australia
- William Ellery Channing, pioneering liberal theologian in the USA, who criticized the doctrine of the Trinity and the strength of scriptural authority, in favor of more rationalistic and historical-critical beliefs
- John B. Cobb, author of many texts in the vein of Process Theology. Considered to be (along with philosopher, David Ray Griffin) the founder of Process Theology.
- Harry Emerson Fosdick, Baptist pastor of Riverside Church in New York City
- Karl Heinrich Graf, Old Testament scholar
- Adolf von Harnack, a German theologian who sought to return Christianity's focus to the teachings of Jesus, away from complex structures of thought about Jesus and faith.
- John Hick, Presbyterian Clergyman, Philosopher of Religion, and seminary professor.
- John Robinson, Bishop of Woolwich, author of Honest to God
- Paul Tillich, synthesized Protestant Christian theology with existentialist philosophy
- Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, often called the "father of liberal theology", he claimed that religious experience was introspective, and that the truest understanding of God consisted of 'a sense of absolute dependence'
- Albert Schweitzer, missionary and New Testament scholar
- John Shelby Spong, heterodox Episcopalian bishop.
- Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, Process theologian, author of "God Christ Church," and former professor at Claremont School of Theology.
- Leslie Weatherhead, English preacher, and author of The Will of God and The Christian Agnostic
- Julius Wellhausen, Biblical scholar
- Rowan Williams, theologian and current Archbishop of Canterbury.
Catholic
See also
References
External links
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