Liberal Christianity?

[Yuckstine]

I have heard a lot about this and I was wondering is this form of Christianity, correct?
I mean it seems like an easy to digest and lack of any substance. Can someone explain this to me ?

 

[hedrick]

You might have better luck asking this in the liberal section.

Here's my answer to what it is: http://www.christianforums.com/xfa-blog-entry/what-is-liberal-christianity-an-faq.199420/

Part of the problem is that "liberal" is used in two different ways. I use it for a form of Christianity that is the real successor to the Reformation. But the term also gets used for people who just don't care that much about beliefs and standards. I don't think they're liberal, just lax and uncommitted.

 

[ValleyGal]

Hedrick makes a good point, that liberal can be used in different ways.

Personally, I used to get called "liberal" by conservatives and "conservative" by liberals. I finally figured out why. I have conservative beliefs for the way I live my own life, but I am an advocate for those who want to live the way they want to live. After all, if God gives me free will, he extends that to everyone else as well, and who am I to trump God and tell people they have to live by my conservative values. I also believe in some really liberal life concepts like harm reduction rather than abstinence for addiction recovery, legal abortion (as a matter of harm reduction), etc. It's all part of the free will parcel, as far as I am concerned.

I also do not expect that as Christians we "deserve" rights that other religions don't have, like praying "Our Father" in the public school system, when the school has children of all kinds of religions or no religious beliefs at all. I will not force my conservative beliefs on others, just as I would hope no other religion tries to force theirs on me.

 

[Goodbook]

Is there a liberal section? I've heard of 'liberation theology' but not liberal christianity.

I think it mostly has to do with social justice for the poor. Which can be part of christianity if its the way Jesus taught but often it means that at the expense of the gospel. Jesus said we will have the poor always - its not possible to completely eradicate poverty because of sin - on this life on earth anyway.

 

[hedrick]

There is a liberal section here, “Whosoever Will, May Come - Liberal” in the faith groups section.

That group is ambiguous as to whether it represents liberal politics or liberal theology. Many of its members are interested in social justice, but are traditional in theology. That’s not a surprise, since Catholic positions have precisely that mix, particularly if you look at actual American Catholic views on issues of sex and gender, rather than official Vatican positions.

I’m one of the most vocal champion in the group for mainline / liberal theology. But even with me you’re not getting a full presentation of mainline theology, because of CF rules.

 

[Albion]

I have heard a lot about this and I was wondering is this form of Christianity, correct?
I mean it seems like an easy to digest and lack of any substance. Can someone explain this to me ?

Generally speaking, "Liberal Christianity" is taken to mean a less conventional or less strict approach to religious belief and practice.

There is a willingness to re-think the standard doctrines most churches have. To critics of religious liberalism, this is to 'water down' the faith and make it be whatever the individual wants. To supporters, it's a more open minded way of looking at religious concepts and emphasizing the way we treat each other instead of being true to creeds and doctrines.

 

[hedrick]

I agree with Albion that it's based on rethinking. But when you rethink, you're not watering down traditional theology and ethics, but replacing parts of it with new approaches that you think are more consistent with the Bible and human experience.

This sounds like the KJV only folks who accuse modern translators of removing parts of the Bible, when in fact those parts weren't there originally.

 

[Albion]

I agree with Albion that it's based on rethinking. But when you rethink, you're not watering down traditional theology and ethics, but replacing parts of it with new approaches that you think are more consistent with the Bible and human experience.

That's why I said "To critics of religious liberalism...." Like so many other things in life, different groups can look at the same ideas and then reach totally opposite conclusions about them.

 

[Greg J.]

I suspect I am liberal in some ways and conservative in others. However, one valuable test for oneself is whether the road you are on is narrow or not.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14, 1984 NIV) This passage is about people who call themselves Christians, not those not even trying to enter through the gate.

Another one is to examine in what ways your actions (which are a good indication of your heart condition) reflect that Jesus is your Lord—the One who has a right to tell you how to live and what is right and what is wrong. If Jesus is not your Lord, he is the Savior, but not your Savior. If a Christian is living as he or she pleases without regard to Jesus' commands because they are forgiven ("free"), then Jesus is not their Lord.

In light of how hard remaining faithful to Christ can be, it is helpful to occasionally ponder the fact that you (and we) never earned God's salvation. You never deserved God's grace or salvation. And now that you have it, you can never, ever pay back what you were given. Genuine thankfulness is a sign of faith in the Lord.

Personally, I used to get called "liberal" by conservatives and "conservative" by liberals. I finally figured out why. I have conservative beliefs for the way I live my own life, but I am an advocate for those who want to live the way they want to live. After all, if God gives me free will, he extends that to everyone else as well, and who am I to trump God and tell people they have to live by my conservative values. I also believe in some really liberal life concepts like harm reduction rather than abstinence for addiction recovery, legal abortion (as a matter of harm reduction), etc. It's all part of the free will parcel, as far as I am concerned.

It can be a fine line sometimes. We are to be thankful for our ability to choose, but not for people living as they want. Our lives should reflect that Jesus IS Lord of all in every way, not just in our own behavior. We are to be examples of Jesus to people. Jesus never indicated or implied that it was up to someone to obey God or not. His message was more along the lines of, "choose to entrust yourself to God or perish."

Otherwise we are hypocrites, people for whom Jesus had harsh words. We are not to be promoters of free will, as in "free to do anything." We are to be promoters of the idea we have the freedom to to yield to Jesus' Lordship (which brings reward), and the alternative is eternal punishment.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. (Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25, 1984 NIV) These verses were condemnations.

 

[ValleyGal]

It can be a fine line sometimes. We are to be thankful for our ability to choose, but not for people living as they want. Our lives should reflect that Jesus IS Lord of all in every way, not just in our own behavior. We are to be examples of Jesus to people. Jesus never indicated or implied that it was up to someone to obey God or not. His message was more along the lines of, "choose to entrust yourself to God or perish."

Otherwise we are hypocrites, people for whom Jesus had harsh words. We are not to be promoters of free will, as in "free to do anything." We are to be promoters of the idea we have the freedom to to yield to Jesus' Lordship (which brings reward), and the alternative is eternal punishment.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. (Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25, 1984 NIV) These verses were condemnations.

I do my best not to judge. If a Christian were to come to me and tell me she is considering something like abortion, I would have a very different answer than if someone were not a believer and told me she is considering abortion. Even still, ultimately, the decision belongs with the person, not with me. It is between them and God, and as long as I am not a stumbling block to others, then I am blameless before God.

I do not mean free will means we are free to do anything when we choose a path of salvation. A nonbeliever has free will to do anything they want and suffer the natural and logical consequences of that. In fact, a believer also has that same free will, but for a believer, I would hope they choose the righteous and blameless way, and I would encourage them to do so.

Keeping all that in mind, though, I still won't judge those who are believers and choose a path that is not necessarily honoring to God. We all fail God. It's why we need Jesus.

 

[Goodbook]

Kjv onlyists are only suspect if they think the scofield bible is the bible. That one has been tampered with by over commentary supporting suspect doctrines.

KJV is a good HOLY bible Because other bibles out there do actually omit scripture.

 

[Goodbook]

I had a look at the liberal section whoseover may come.

Check out the statement of purpose.

It says they welcome anybody, regardless of age, sex, politics..and they allow homosexuals and same sex marriages and do not believe the bible is the truth or that it is free from error.

So there you go. Sounds kinda 'whatever you want it to be' religion.

 

[hedrick]

So there you go. Sounds kinda 'whatever you want it to be' religion.

Or perhaps the religion that rejects unworthy people is what you want it to be and not what Jesus taught.

The problem with these caricatures is that they can cut both ways.

 

[ValleyGal]

And in all fairness, the English translations - ALL of them - are bound to have errors in some respect, as happens with interpreting any literary piece. Nothing will ever translate perfectly well. If we were to accurately interpret everything in the Bible to reflect all the linguistic nuances in the language in which it was written, the English Bible would use up an entire bookshelf just for the OT. So I understand where they are coming from on that. I believe the Bible to be true and free of error in the original languages, though.

I believe the KJV 1611 translator had it right in his preamble, when he admitted being pressured into framing the interpretation with cultural bias.

And the other parts of the preamble include homosexuality, etc.... well, do they also include people who have sex before they are married? Or people who get drunk on occasion, or people who use God's name in vain? or people who lie, cheat, or have accessed inappropriate content, or who don't take a weekly day of rest, or who covet other people's riches or belongings? We all struggle with something. We all have our areas of weakness or disbelief. For many years I smoked as a believer. I do not believe smoking would have sent me to hell.... and eventually many years after becoming a believer, I was finally brought to truth through the Spirit and then it became a sin I needed to deal with. Would I have been welcome on that board as a smoker? I should hope so.... just because someone is gay or struggles with a sin does not make them hell-bound. It just means that they have not dealt with certain things yet on their journey. Since we are to "work out" our salvation, it implies a process, starting with a one-time born-again experience/prayer. Some people already live clean lives and so appear to have a leg-up on Christian living, but for those whose starting place is riddled with drugs, crime, sex, and other things the Christian world deems sinful, it takes that much more work on their journey to deal with some of their sins - not because there are more of them, but because they are explicit sins rather than sins of the heart. But believe me when I tell you that there are believers whose hearts are messier than the worst of all sinners. The Bible tells us that we need to come alongside those who are less mature believers and disciple them in love. I try to accept where people are at on their journey.

 

[hedrick]

The OP's question is hard to answer here, because liberal and conservative Christians disagree on the nature of liberal Christianity. I think it's using Scripture as it was intended to be used, and that conservative understandings take passages out of context to get meaning that isn't what the authors intended. Conservatives are convinced that the traditional understanding is correct and anyone who disagrees is rejecting Scripture. Resolving this requires you to look at detailed exegesis for a variety of passages from both sides.

Christian Advice is not an appropriate place to do that, as doctrinal discussions aren't permitted here. You can get a feel of both by reading the appropriate groups. E.g. I've just responded about abortion and homosexuality in a posting in the Liberal group. There's really no group where a battle beteen the two sides is permitted, since only liberals are supposed to post in the Liberal group, and liberal views on key issues aren't accepted elsewhere in CF.

 

[ValleyGal]

Hedrick, I wonder if someone like me is welcome on the liberal board. After all, I have mostly conservative views (things like abortion is wrong, etc) on some things, liberal views (like divorce and remarriage is okay) on other things, and while I only apply my beliefs to myself, I do not expect others to live by them and I don't force my beliefs on others, even though I do engage in discussion about why I believe the way I do. So....where do they draw the line on liberal Christianity? Is the OP allowed to go to the liberal christianity board to ask questions, or are they to not go at all? I think it's a good question in the OP... and one I had to ask myself years ago as an ultra-conservative who would have (back then) picketed abortion clinics and divorce lawyers.

 

[hedrick]

Hedrick, I wonder if someone like me is welcome on the liberal board. After all, I have mostly conservative views (things like abortion is wrong, etc) on some things, liberal views (like divorce and remarriage is okay) on other things, and while I only apply my beliefs to myself, I do not expect others to live by them and I don't force my beliefs on others, even though I do engage in discussion about why I believe the way I do. So....where do they draw the line on liberal Christianity? Is the OP allowed to go to the liberal christianity board to ask questions, or are they to not go at all? I think it's a good question in the OP... and one I had to ask myself years ago as an ultra-conservative who would have (back then) picketed abortion clinics and divorce lawyers.

We're generally accepting. Questions are always OK, and you'll find many people who are liberal in one area and conservative in another. Indeed I think that's the most common.

 

[Goodbook]

Theres also lords table liberal catholics forum.
Statement of purpose says they are catholics who are left wing. So there must be two kinds.

Anyway you learn something new every day.

Both liberals seem to allow discussion of homosexuality on their forums. So if its your thing, or you just want to discuss it you can go there. I dont think they say 'we a gay church'but it seems more shall we say, 'gay friendly. '

I dont have a problem with christians fellowshipping in different groups as long as within those groups they agree with each other. But im not going to fellowship with christians I dont agree with. It doesnt work.

 

[Goodbook]

Jesus didnt reject anyone who believes in Him and follows his commandments. There are only two and they are not grievous.

I just say I thinks its a DIY religion because they seem to claim the Bible has got errors in it. GOds word doesnt have errors. There may be erroneous translations, because men make mistakes copying it but Gods word does not have errors in itself. If you read scripture and pray and ask Him for wisdom he shows you through scripture as well.

So...I do think that in some cases there a kind of cafeteria christianity where people just read bits of the bible they like and ignore the rest. Or they 'edit' it to their liking.

 

[ValleyGal]

Liberal or Conservative, we are one BoC. I think it is good to fellowship with others who disagree, because the Bible says that iron sharpens iron. We can learn from each other.