What does it mean to be a Moderate Christian?

hedrick said:

In fact it probably means mostly people who are willing to be friends with the whole spectrum of Christians. The problem with "between liberal and conservative" is knowing what it means. I can characterize liberal and conservative, but where the boundaries are is much harder. I accept the Trinity, Jesus as Son of God, the Resurrection. But not verbal inerrancy, and other evangelical beliefs. In the UK I'd probably be conservative. Most CF posters consider me liberal. Many posters in what should be my home forum (Presbyterian) consider me apostate. A more workable definition of moderate is probably that they understand both perspectives and are happy to see both in the Church.

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Percivale said:

That is odd. Then it would seem that this forum section could be renamed "for people who obey forum rules." I would think moderate means 'between liberal and conservative.'

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Albion said:

I understand why you'd think that way, but it goes back to when the forum was created. That was a time when liberals and conservatives were sparring in a number of religious forums, and it was argued by some people that a forum should exist for people who would politely discuss different ideas without calling names or fighting over everything.

The name of the forum was changed several times. "Bridge Builders" is original and remains part of the name still. It suggests a conciliatory approach to issues, one that bridges the differences between some of the contentious groups. But since some people didn't get the point, "moderate" was added. This word, of course, can mean "Centrist." That's the way you saw it. But it can also mean "temperate" or restrained, and that's the way it was intended.

The first use (Centrist) would make it a political forum, and it doesn't have any parallel to that when we discuss religious positions. That is to say, we hear of religious liberals and religious traditionalists or conservatives, but there really is not much use of any term for people in the middle, if that's even possible.

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Percivale said:

That makes sense, but I think many people don't notice that, as i didn't. It certainly is possible for people to be in the middle doctrinally.

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I certainly feel that's where I am. In my community each church is either more conservative or more liberal than me. Which is ok; I don't mind fellowshipping with people I sometimes disagree with. I try to be always respectful and calm too, but like lively debate.

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Albion said:

As I said before, it's not often that anyone is described as a religious moderate although the term, when used in a political context, is often prized. But you disagree, so I hope you'll give us some examples of a person, or a profile of beliefs, fitting the description in a religious context.


OK, but what marks you as a religious moderate? Being respectful and calm wouldn't do it. It would take what you said at the top--"in the middle doctrinally." So what doctrinal profile would that be?

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Percivale said:

I don't know whether or not it's common for people to consider themselves religious moderates, I was just saying its certainly possible, since I do, and a few people I know. A moderate is one who is between conservative and liberal, as I said above. That can vary by country and culture, but in my experience, while there are many things that go into it, a belief in biblical inerrancy is the primary mark of a conservative, while doubt that any quantifiable, physical miracles (such as the virgin birth or resurrection) have occurred, is the mark of a liberal. Holding neither the former belief nor the latter doubt is one major reason I call myself a moderate. There are other issues that define which camp someone is in, such as one's stance on homosexuality, or whether all religions have equal or similar value, where holding an intermediate position would be a reason to call oneself a moderate. The degree of respect for those of differing views is an important part of it too. It's really not a big deal though, people can call themselves moderate if they want to.

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Albion said:

I appreciate that you gave me an answer, but I also hope that my point is understood. It's not common to refer to people as religious moderates, and that's because there's no definition for that classification. Even though you call yourself a religious moderate, you do so only because you disagree with some doctrines from each side.

However, it's a commonly-used term in politics. Anyway, the idea behind creating this forum was to have a place where people would discuss things temperately. I always thought that using the term "Moderate" in there would confuse the matter, but that's what was chosen.

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Percivale said:

I understand now; but I hope that changes over time, since we do often refer to religious conservatives and liberals, and lacking a middle term makes the issue appear more black and white than it is.

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Albion said:

I'm still trying to figure what would DEFINE anyone as a religious moderate.

Selecting one doctrine from traditional theology and pairing it with one from liberal theology wouldn't seem to make a religious moderate, and if it somehow were the case, the next person could select a different belief from each side. You and he would not necessarily have anything in common.

If this were the situation, it would mean that the term would signal NO particular theology, but just an assortment of unrelated doctrines. But with political moderates, it's normally the case that the belief system of the person who claims to be a moderate is rather predictable. This is genuinely a compromise between the positions of Left and Right--what is otherwise called "Centrism."

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