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 - though this should not be confused with the form of Biblical literalism found in fundamentalist and conservative churches - 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Bible, declaring that those passages that they like were intended by God to be followed today, while other parts are outdated or need to be interpreted correctly.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.

Economic and historical aspects

In terms of economics, liberal Christianity grossly oversimplifies New Testament eschatology towards the Kingdom of God into the liberal "law of progress." History does indeed show a growing maturity in technology, thought, and social relations, but there is nothing within the academy's forces of history or its figures of history to suggest that good triumphs over evil. Bombs, NAFTA, and feminism are indeed evidence of the liberal law of progress, but in so far as these things are merely the will of man, their development involves sin, i.e. evil triumphing over good. A quote from the liberal Christian scholar Edgar S. Brightman provides an example of this sort of thinking: "I believe in God because I believe that history represents a steady, moral progress." This was turned around by the neo-orthodox scholar Langdon Gilkey when he stated "I believe in God because to me history precisely does not represent such a progress." Also, liberal Christian economic theories tend to place undue emphasis on selected portions of Scripture, such as the parable of the sheep and the goats and other passages on charity, while ignoring other Scripture passages that do not support economic liberalism.

Liberal Christianity's Anti-Semitism

In American Protestantism and a Jewish State (1973) an Israeli government official Hertzel Fishman analyzed several years (1937-1967) worth of Christian Century and concluded that the magazine is Anti-Semitic, stating (quote taken from Rausch) "Liberal Protestanism consistently and historically opposed a Jewish State in Palestine, obstructed immigration of Jewish refugees, minimized the Holocaust, tried to reduce Israel's boundaries and supported Arab 'rights'." Although Dr. Fishman found instances of the magazine denouncing individual acts of anti-semitism, he found that the magazine was consistent in its intolerance and opposition to collective acts of a Jewish "peoplehood." In this sense and in theological senses, the modern Coptic Church is part of liberal Christianity. The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism is a document written and endorsed by several liberal Christian churches.

A representative example of such liberal Anti-Semitism was found as recently as 1954 in a World Council of Churches report:

“

In view of the grievous guilt of Christian people towards the Jews throughout the history of the Church, we are certain that the Church cannot rest until the title of Christ to the Kingdom is recognized by His own people according to the flesh.

”

Origins of liberal Christianity

Liberal Christian theology is the result of these three 19th century theologians: Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl, and Hegel. Their work and that of others who followed them was a response to 19th century scientific interpretations that seemed to question the validity of many basic Christian doctrines: doctrine of creation, doctrine of Incarnation, doctrine of eternal life, etc. Schleiermacher sought to re-establish the authority of the doctrines using Christian religious experience rather than scientific knowledge. Ritschl rejected Schleirmacher's idea and tried to re-establish their authority using Kant's idea of moral experience and in the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Hegel simply tried to re-establish their authority by basing Christian Faith on rational and philosophical inquiry. Doctrines that couldn't follow one of these three new theological paths—religious experience, moral experience, or philosophical inquiry— tended to disappear. The first-quarter 20th century neo-orthodoxy movement was a renewal of Christian doctrines that had been neglected by liberal Christianity within the American and European academy. At the heart of the neo-orthodox renewal appeals to symbolic and aesthetic interpretations of long forgotten Christian doctrines can be found in the works of Karl Barth, the Niebuhr brothers, and Paul Tillich.

See also

• Shoah
• Gerhard Kittel

External Links

• Modern Theological Liberalism