Question

[ohhcuppycakee]

What exactly does it mean to be a conservative Christian...?

 

[1watchman]

The term Conservative Christian actually was coined by denominations wishing to not be associated with the so-called "high churches", which pattern their liturgy and ceremonies after the Roman Catholic Religion. Fundamental Christians is a term adopted by those who prefer a Bible-based interpretation of Christian meaning, though which is often an interpretation of certain church associations. I hope this will help some. It is the meaning stated by those various Christian systems.

 

[Knee V]

For me, it means adhering to the historic Christian faith, as it has been historically understood, without wavering.

 

[a pilgrim]

What exactly does it mean to be a conservative Christian...?

أهلا صديقي
(Hello, Friend!)

Both prior posts are accurate and I'd like to add some from another point of view. These are what I'd call, "positional" descriptions, or "theological." There is, however, the practical aspect to consider, also. For me and my family, "conservative," is a way we interpret scripture and how it applies to our daily life. I DO NOT insist that all my brothers and sister of the faith see things the same, it is, to the best of our ability, the way we see God the Father leading us.

For example, my wife and daughters only wear dresses at all times. We don't disdain our Christian sisters who do otherwise, but this is a way in which we take a "conservative" view on ladies attire. By the way, we men, (me and my son,) dress in a conservative way, also.

My wife and girls wear the Christian sisters head covering as described in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, kind of like you do.

We are careful about the kind of entertainment media that comes into our home, like music, video, etc. Because we want to live our lives in a "conservative" manner, we want to re-enforce that lifestyle with things that support that view.

We believe in large families, (as large as God permits with wisdom,) and wives/moms staying at home, and homeschooling the children. We teach our children instead of having the "State" do it with their philosophies that we GREATLY disagree with.

So you see, "conservative" has different ways of manifesting itself in the lives of bible-believers.

Bro. Ben

 

[ohhcuppycakee]

أهلا صديقي
(Hello, Friend!)

Both prior posts are accurate and I'd like to add some from another point of view. These are what I'd call, "positional" descriptions, or "theological." There is, however, the practical aspect to consider, also. For me and my family, "conservative," is a way we interpret scripture and how it applies to our daily life. I DO NOT insist that all my brothers and sister of the faith see things the same, it is, to the best of our ability, the way we see God the Father leading us.

For example, my wife and daughters only wear dresses at all times. We don't disdain our Christian sisters who do otherwise, but this is a way in which we take a "conservative" view on ladies attire. By the way, we men, (me and my son,) dress in a conservative way, also.

My wife and girls wear the Christian sisters head covering as described in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, kind of like you do.

We are careful about the kind of entertainment media that comes into our home, like music, video, etc. Because we want to live our lives in a "conservative" manner, we want to re-enforce that lifestyle with things that support that view.

We believe in large families, (as large as God permits with wisdom,) and wives/moms staying at home, and homeschooling the children. We teach our children instead of having the "State" do it with their philosophies that we GREATLY disagree with.

So you see, "conservative" has different ways of manifesting itself in the lives of bible-believers.

Bro. Ben

Very nice. That is an admirable lifestyle to live.

 

[a pilgrim]

 

[good brother]

Hi there!

You asked what a "conservative Christian" looks like. As you can see from just the few above posts that there are varying ideas of what conserativism is. I agree with all of them while not subscribing to every aspect that another might. I like it how Knee-v said it.

For myself it means that I must adhere to the words of the Bible as God's truth. I understand that some of it was meant to be understood as poetic or symbollic, but there are places that are meant to be understood as history. Some people (we like to label them as liberal) like to relabel historical parts as poetic parts so they don't have to compromise with the world's view on certain things. Take for example Creation week. The plain text of the Bible would leave anyone reading it that it was meant to mean a literal six day week made of 24 hour days respectively. People who have "bowed down" to man's wisdom claim that the Bible doesn't mean what it says because their worldview has been skewed by the idea that evolution is true, and therefore the Bible must be mistaken. That's just one example.

Another example might be premarital sex. The Bible says that premarital sex is wrong (some versions might have the term "fornication"). Those who are sympathizers of premarital sex say that the Bible was just talking about "not having sex with temple prostitutes". Which since there aren't any temple prostitutes these days they feel as though they have found the perfect loophole.

These of course are just examples, and not the problem itself. The problem is all about compromising what the Bible teaches with what today's culture is teaching.

I hope this helps. May God bless you.

In Christ, GB

 

[nChrist]

There's a pretty good description under the Statement of Purpose for this area - first page near the top.

 

[Izdaari Eristikon]

When I say I'm a conservative Christian, I mean I identify with the historic Christian faith, as expressed in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and with such distinguished scholars as C.S. Lewis, N.T. Wright and Gordon D. Fee, who are generally regarded as belonging to the conservative wing of the faith.

That doesn't mean I agree with everything other people who identify as conservative Christians say. And it doesn't mean "Religious Right" politics; I am a libertarian and a Libertarian (i.e., actual member of the Libertarian Party), not a social conservative. If people's morals need help (and for sure they often do), I believe in leaving that to their parents and their pastors, not to Uncle Sam.