Liberal Christianity

Liberal Christianity refers to Protestant denominations, or churches within denominations, that view the Bible as the witness of God rather than the word of God. Strangely the view is supported by a rather literal interpretation of the words of Paul in his second letter to Timothy:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,... 2_Timothy 3:16

Here Paul supports the view that scripture is a direct result of the authors contact with God ("witness") whilst stopping short of claiming actual divine authorship ("word"). Conservative Christians would answer that the Bible records God's promise to preserve His words, not merely His ideas.

As a result Liberal Theologians view the Bible as a text to be interpreted in its historical context through critical analysis. Examples include some churches within Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ churches. The word "liberal" in liberal Christianity does not refer to any political agenda or set of beliefs, although liberal theological beliefs will often form the basis of liberal political beliefs.

As a further result, liberal Christians tend to take a pick-and-choose approach to the Bible, declaring that those passages that they like were intended by God to be followed today, while other parts are outdated or need to be interpreted correctly. Many liberal Christians believe that the Bible was combined from multiple sources or even that certain parts of the Bible that do not agree with liberal theology are later additions that do not belong in the Bible at all. In extreme cases, some liberal Christians even engage in politically correct censorship against those who quote Bible verses that tend to disprove a liberal Christian position.

External Links

• Modern Theological Liberalism