Liberal Theology
| On God as a product of human mind |
|---|
| "Look here, a God who would allow himself to be insulted by you in such a way would be completely ridiculous. Let me tell you that such a God does not exist, except in your imagination. A God who could be called to account, a God who would stand before you as an accused before his judge - oh no! such a God could exist only in a sick mind. And I can only say this, 'Let's get rid of such a God. Let's put an end to him once and for all!'" "But you are a minister, aren't you?" he stammered in surprise. — Wilhelm Busch[1]
|
Liberal Theology is the one maintaining that mankind created God.[note 1] Such a position is exactly opposed to Classical or Orthodox Theology that, based on testimony and revelation in Scripture[note 2], has the proposition that God created mankind among its central tenets. In consequence of this difference, the scriptural texts are believed in Liberal theology to be purely a sort of legends and/or philosophical treatises considered as containing at the best some moral values worth of teaching, but do not make mankind accountable to Living God who created the World and them.[2] Liberal Theology reinforces the secular caricature that Christianity and reality occupy two separate zones. Christian faith is thought to be only ‘in your head’, some emotional crutch that might ‘work for you’, but has nothing to do with hard facts. As the god of Liberal Theology is just product of human mind, followers of this school of thought search for non-Biblical explanations of the origin of world and life where God plays no role whatsoever and they regard the Biblical passages on origins for being solely metaphorical, usually referred to as a 'creation myth'.
According to Wilhelm Busch, a Lutheran priest persecuted by Nazis, such god as conceived by Liberal Theology, existing only in people's imagination as a construct of our time, who could be called and dismissed at one's discretion, would be completely ridiculous.[1] The Bible calls a god created by humans an idol and compares it to ‘a scarecrow in a cucumber field’.[3] It portrays worshiping such god as worthless and makes distinction from the living God who made the earth by his power[note 3] and founded the world by his wisdom.[note 4]
Contents
Semantic Gymnastics in Liberal Theology
Since liberal theologians are paid to defend doctrines they do not believe, they redifine them instead in their ramblings. Thus, they can pretend they are not violating their ordination vows. For them, God is not the Creator, but the 'ultimate concern'; ‘Jesus is Risen’ means that His influence continued after His death; ‘Christian faith’ need not consist of holding any doctrines, although the New Testament states otherwise.[5]
Decline of theological liberalism
While theologically conservative, evangelical Christianity has remained steady in the United States, mainline Protestant denominations, which strongly tend to be theologically liberal and compromised, are in large decline.[6]
Additionally, according to a five-year study published in late-2016 by David Millard Haskell from Wilfrid Laurier University, "conservative Protestant theology, with its more literal view of the Bible, is a significant predictor of church growth while liberal theology leads to decline.”[7]
Notes
- ↑ cf. Immanuel Kant:Philosopher of Protestantism vs. of Evolutionary thought
- ↑ cf. Genesis 1:27
- ↑ As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. Max Planck, Das Wesen der Materie [The Nature of Matter], speech at Florence, Italy (1944); from Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Abt. Va, Rep. 11 Planck, Nr. 1797, quoted in [4] (Emphasis Conservapedia)
- ↑ cf. Intelligent design
See Also
- Godless: The Church of Liberalism
- Spread of anti-God philosophies in First cause
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wilhelm Busch (2001). Jesus our destiny. Brunen Publishing. ISBN 0-86347-024-6.
- ↑ Henry A. Virkler and K.G. Ayayo (2007). Hermeneutics: Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation. Baker Publishing Group, 126. ISBN 9781441200457. “Liberal theologians, as mentioned in earlier chapters, typically view Scripture as a product of the evolutionary development of Israel's religion. ...Rather than viewing the Bible as God's truth revealed by God to humanity, they believe Scripture to be humanity's thoughts about God.”
- ↑ God and Idols, Jeremiah 10, New International Version (NIV). Bible Gateway, Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.
- ↑ Gregg Braden (2010). The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief. ReadHowYouWant.com. ISBN 9781458771957.
- ↑ Jonathan D. Sarfati (August 1998). "Loving God with all your mind: logic and creation". Journal of Creation (CMI) 12 (2): 142–151. https://creation.com/loving-god-with-all-your-mind-logic-and-creation. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ↑ Stetzer, Ed (May 16, 2015). No, American Christianity is not dead. CNN. Retrieved Janaury 17, 2017.
- ↑ Foley, Avery (February 2, 2017). New Study: Liberal Theology Doesn’t Save Shrinking Congregations. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
