What is a "Moderate Christian" theologically?

How is your theology "moderate"... or is it?

I'm a liberal, but I think I can answer how I see moderates.

I think a moderate is someone who blends liberal acceptance and conservative beliefs.

But that's just my view . . .

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Well, the slated objective of the forum wasn't moderate theology, it was moderate behavior - i.e. acting civil without the sorts of flare-ups the liberal and conservative forums would have.

Not to say many here don't actually see themselves as more-or-less centrist, but some of the early polls showed a tendency toward traditional belief anyway.

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Originally Posted by DeanM

I'm a liberal, but I think I can answer how I see moderates.

I think a moderate is someone who blends liberal acceptance and conservative beliefs.

But that's just my view . . .

That at least approximately describes me.

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Originally Posted by Qyöt27

Well, the slated objective of the forum wasn't moderate theology, it was moderate behavior - i.e. acting civil without the sorts of flare-ups the liberal and conservative forums would have.

Not to say many here don't actually see themselves as more-or-less centrist, but some of the early polls showed a tendency toward traditional belief anyway.

That's true too. When this forum was founded, most of us were conservatives who weren't as militant as the ones in the conservative forum, and who placed a higher value on civility. And we welcomed anyone with the same attitude, regardless of theology or politics.

Myself, I'm a blend of Anglican conservative (a la C.S. Lewis and N.T. Wright) and post-charismatic Pentecostal with "emerging church" insights. Politically I'm libertarian, which can be thought of as conservative in some ways and liberal in others.

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I find myself to be pretty much centrist. Certain areas of my theology and politics are conservative, but certain areas are not. And even then I try to take as balanced a view as possible.

All things in moderation.

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I guess where I find "moderation" is that in terms of what I personally believe and how I choose to live my life I consider myself conservative according to "God's law." However, I respect the U.S. Constitution and the concept of free will, and it does not force people to live under God's law or my set of beliefs, so politically I tend toward libertarianism where "man's law" is concerned.

In other words, under man's law I support the right of individuals do things that are not compatible with God's law even as my own conservative values impose a higher and more rigid moral standard on myself and others who profess their faith in Christ. Did that make sense?

Yes, that makes sense.

So a moderate Christian is one who can be traditional in belief, but are open as to how to apply that faith in everyday life. Moderate Christians prefer to show their faith by example and to not impose that faith on others by legal means.

Is that statement correct?

Correct for me, but I suspect there are plenty of different ways one can be relatively moderate Christians. Some may find both conservative and liberal guidance in Scripture. Some may believe in following both some literal and some contemporarily interpreted passages of Scripture.

Consider, say, the recent ELCA vote to allow ordination of non-celibate gay clergy. A literal interpretation of Scripture (many on the "sola Scriptura" side of the argument against it as we Lutherans might say) is quite clear about the condemnation of the act of homosexuality. (Note I say the act, not the people who engage in it themselves; like all of God's children they are forgiven with repentance.)

Yet the other side can "interpret" Scripture to view the life and acts of Jesus Christ, and come to a reasoning that Jesus would not have had us shutting out a certain group of sinners from preaching the Word; after all, we are all sinners, not just those engaging in homosexual activities.

In terms of the Bible itself, the more liturgically "conservative" Christian may reject modern human interpretations of the Bible; the more liberal ones may believe that we are on a never-ending quest to better understand Scripture and not just accept how it has been interpreted and understood for centuries -- that is, there is room for interpretation based on modern cultural sensibilities. (These are obviously generalizations I usually observe them, and they don't fit all.)

So it doesn't have to be what you described (which does apply to me), but it could also be a moderate view of reading the Bible itself apart from any consideration of "man's law."

Originally Posted by FreeinChrist

Yes, that makes sense.

So a moderate Christian is one who can be traditional in belief, but are open as to how to apply that faith in everyday life. Moderate Christians prefer to show their faith by example and to not impose that faith on others by legal means.

Is that statement correct?

That basically describes a moderately conservative but libertarian Christian, and that would be me. I'd be happy to go with that.

As ziggy says of some of us, I am open to reading the Bible in both liberal and conservative ways, guided by the principles of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. And there could be other kinds of moderate Christians.

I have seen several threads asking if moderates are lukewarm Christians... and every time I've answered that one emphatically in the negative. In my observation, moderate Christians don't seem to be any less zealous for the faith as they understand it than liberals or conservatives.

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