You know, most of the "liberal" Christians around don't subscribe to a "demythologized" Christianity...So this "liberalism" narrative seems to be either outdated or simply off in some way. On the other hand I can't count the number of self-identified "conservative" Christians who don't believe what Christianity has taught. So if we are going purely by anecdotal evidence, that's mine.
But if we are going to go by
survey after survey, it is Catholics and mainline Prots who tend to be the most liberal in Biblical and moral views.
94.4% of Evangelical Protestants and 84.9% of Catholics and 72.2% of Mainline Protestants [classifications based on denominational affiliation in this study] believe that Jesus is the son of God. 42.1% of the former and 46.1% of the latter say they pray once a day or more.
6.5% of Evangelical Protestants and 19.8% of Catholics and 22.0% of Mainline Protestants believe the Bible is a ancient book of history and
legends, versus literally true.
42.1% of Evangelical Protestants and 7.1% of Catholics and 16.0% of Mainline Protestants read Scripture weekly or more. (
http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf)
9.3% of Evangelical Protestants, 33.1% of Catholics and 21.9% of Mainline Protestants never read Scripture.
Catholics and Mainline Protestants also tend towards more belief in a more Distant God, not active in the world does not “do” things in the world and does not hold clear opinions about our activities or world events, versus the Authoritarian God held byEvangelical Protestants and Black Protestants who tend to believe that God is highly involved in their daily lives and world affairs.
The latter overall strongly hold to conservative moral views (abortion, adultery, cohabitation, fornication, sodomy) versus Distant Deists, who hold to liberal moral views. However, both are fairly close in belief in the importance of such things as taking care of the sick and needy.
(
http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf)
73% (highest) of Pentecostal/Foursquare believers strongly affirm that Christ was sinless on earth, with Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists being tied at 33%, and the lowest being among Episcopalians with just 28%. (
http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/53[FONT=Arial, sans-serif])[/FONT]
Further, if you want to ask me what the biggest threat to Christianity today is, perhaps look to those religio-political movements which have sought to claim for themselves the mantle Christianity; the Moral Majority, the Christian Right, Christian Reconstructionism, and the New Apostolic Reformation. Want to talk about bad theology? There you go.
That's a wide brush, and while there are many aberrations so also do we find the strongest contentions for our basic core believes and values within what i presume you deride as evangelical-type "Bible Christians."
Want to talk about being an internal threat to the Church in America? There you go.
The pot that boils over get more attention than the aberrant one that barely simmers. It is the latter than represents Mainline denoms, and which members tend to support liberal moral views.
The small corner Episcopalian church that preaches the Gospel every Sunday and then helps hand out blankets and coats to the homeless, and who also happens to think being gay shouldn't exclude someone from participating in the life of the Church isn't what I'm worried about.
It seems you are you are presenting a evangelical - too broadly defined - vs Episcopalian comparison, and misrepresenting both, as for the former are also committed to helping the needy, while Episcopalians tend to not simply affirm being gay but actually sanctions homosexual relations and marriage, which is
manifestly contrary to Scripture.
The massive light show mega church that spends every Sunday telling people to be afraid of people who are different, who preaches a false gospel of health, wealth, success, and works-based righteousness; which has embraced the heresy of American Exceptionalism, and is incapable of separating the City of God from the City of Man--that's the kind of church I'm worried about.
-CryptoLutheran
As i am, and on the question “Is wealth a sign of God’s favor?” (it can be, but not necessarily) asked of 1,000 American adult respondents who describe themselves as either “born-again” or as an evangelical Christian, 9 percent of white, 34 percent of blacks, and 24 percent of Hispanic evangelical Christians said “definitely” or “probably” (wealth is a sign of God’s favor). (
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/...ngelicals-more-favorable-toward-the-prosperit)
Yet 90% of evangelical leadersworldwide, reject the so-called prosperity gospel, the notion that God will grant wealth and good health to those who have enough faith. 52% (75% in the “Global South”) believe drinking alcohol is incompatible with being a good evangelical, 97% likewise reject astrology, 96% reject reincarnation, 95% reject denying Jesus is the only way to salvation, 92% reject yoga. (
http://www.pewforum.org/2011/06/22/global-survey-of-evangelical-protestant-leaders)