What do liberal Christians believe?

[cloudyday2]

When I have talked to liberal Christians, I am confused.
- Some seem like atheists who do not want to label themselves atheists.
- Others seem like normal Christians who do not want to label themselves normal Christians.

My confusion with liberal Christians reminds me of my confusion with neo-pagans. Do they actually believe anything that an atheist doesn't also believe? Sometimes I think the answer is "yes" and sometimes I think the answer is "no".

For example, if Jesus was an ordinary human prophet or teacher, then where are these wise sayings? The sayings preserved in the gospels are few and often underwhelming. If a person identifies as a Christian, he/she should have a better reason than the sayings of Jesus or even the letters of Paul IMO.

 

[RC1970]

They don't believe, but they want you to think they do.

 

[Strathos]

Jesus was and is God incarnate, who was born of a virgin, performed many miracles, died by crucifixion and rose afterwards then ascended to Heaven.

I see no conflict between believing that and being liberal (for certain values of 'liberal').

 

[cloudyday2]

They don't believe, but they want you to think they do.

Jesus was and is God incarnate, who was born of a virgin, performed many miracles, died by crucifixion and rose afterwards then ascended to Heaven.

I see no conflict between believing that and being liberal (for certain values of 'liberal').

I'm not talking about being politically liberal and also Christian, if that is what you understood.

It seems to me that one almost universal feature of liberal Christianity is a willingness to categorize parts of the Bible as out-dated, allegorical, corrupted, etc. Additionally, there is often a willingness to change traditions to meet modern requirements.

Bishop Spong is an example of somebody that I would label a liberal Christian
John Shelby Spong - Wikipedia

 

[David Kent]

I never hear the Archbishop of Canterbury mention anything about the gospel in his public pronouncements, Plenty of politics, though.

A young man who has been attending our church for the last years and had not had any connection with the church since he was a child texted me a couple of days ago after hearing the archbishop's latest ramblings on the news about children's sexual preferences, saying "The Church of England has gone mad. don't they read the bible? Doesn't look to me they do,"

 

[dlamberth]

I'm not talking about being politically liberal and also Christian, if that is what you understood.

It seems to me that one almost universal feature of liberal Christianity is a willingness to categorize parts of the Bible as out-dated, allegorical, corrupted, etc. Additionally, there is often a willingness to change traditions to meet modern requirements.

Bishop Spong is an example of somebody that I would label a liberal Christian
John Shelby Spong - Wikipedia

Liberal Christianity, as I understand it are more focused on things like Social Justice.

 

[bekkilyn]

It's probably most widely used to denote anyone with a different point of view from the person putting the label on that person.

I'd say it's someone who is non-orthodox concerning Christian doctrine as most traditional denominations would define it. As in they don't believe in the Trinity, or that Jesus was only a great teacher and not God, etc.

 

[JackRT]

Liberal, aka Progressive, Christians encompass almost a wide a range of belief as Conservative Christians. The main difference seems to be that when Liberal Christians disagree with you, they do not condemn you to hell.

 

[Mountainmanbob]

It seems to me that one almost universal feature of liberal Christianity is a willingness to categorize parts of the Bible as out-dated, allegorical, corrupted, etc. Additionally, there is often a willingness to change traditions to meet modern requirements.

Those may not understand the Gospel?

I think that the scariest thing that Jesus stated in the Bible was
"I never knew you."
Apparently this was to some that thought they were good to go to Heaven.

One should at least have these three down.

Grace Alone
Faith Alone
Christ Alone

M-Bob

 

[disciple1]

When I have talked to liberal Christians, I am confused.
- Some seem like atheists who do not want to label themselves atheists.
- Others seem like normal Christians who do not want to label themselves normal Christians.

My confusion with liberal Christians reminds me of my confusion with neo-pagans. Do they actually believe anything that an atheist doesn't also believe? Sometimes I think the answer is "yes" and sometimes I think the answer is "no".

For example, if Jesus was an ordinary human prophet or teacher, then where are these wise sayings? The sayings preserved in the gospels are few and often underwhelming. If a person identifies as a Christian, he/she should have a better reason than the sayings of Jesus or even the letters of Paul IMO.

You might want to label me a liberal Christian, but I think it's because very few people have put the time into studying the bible I have, I've been on disability most of my life because of a mental illness, so I've studied the bible 35 years on disability, right now I listen to the old testament 11 times a year and the new testament more.
I don't persecute gays, I don't condemn women who have had abortions, if I die now I gain a lot because god has been the center of my life for many years.

Proverbs chapter 10 verse 12
Love covers all wrongs.

And it's not about sin, everyone sins and continues to.

 

[tulc]

You might want to ask them instead of the people who disagree with them what they believe. Their answers might surprise you.
I suspect this forum might be a better place to ask: Whosoever Will, May Come - Liberal
tulc(just a suggestion)

 

[drjean]

I personally shy away from calling myself "Christian" because the term has been highjacked by liberals who are not following Christ. This includes 70% of those who say they are "Christian" but believe you can get to heaven without Jesus.

I use the term believer (in Christ).

Last year, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a major study on religious affiliation, beliefs and practices in the United States. One of the significant findings was that 70 percent of all Americans believe that many religions can lead to eternal life, including 65 percent of all self-identifying Christians. Perhaps the most surprising finding was that 56 percent of all Evangelical Christians believe that there are many paths, other than faith in Christ, to God and eternal life (See Religion & Public Life - Pew Research Center).

 

[DavidFirth]

Any person that does not believe God's word is a Christian who has been horribly deceived or an unbeliever.

 

[drjean]

I'm also interested to hear what "liberal Christians" believe. If one cannot believe God's Word, then one is not a Christian because it is through His Word that we learn of Him!

 

[JackRT]

Bruce Bawer in his “Stealing Jesus” --- Labels like biblical Christian and Bible-believing Christian, which many conservative Christians attach to themselves, wrongly suggest that there is something unbiblical about the faith of liberal Christians. We might speak of "exclusionists" and "inclusionists," because conservative Christians, unlike liberal Christians, tend to define the word Christian in such a way as to exclude others -- including, in most cases, a large number of their fellow conservative Christians. But it seems to me that the difference between conservative and liberal Christianity may be most succinctly summed up by the difference between two key scriptural concepts: law and love. Simply stated, conservative Christianity focuses primarily on law, doctrine, and authority; liberal Christianity focuses on love, spiritual experience, and what Baptists call the priesthood of the believer. If conservative Christians emphasize the Great Commission -- the resurrected Christ's injunction, at the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, to "go to all nations and make them my disciples" -- liberal Christians place more emphasis on the Great Commandment, which in Luke's Gospel reads as follows: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

* The Church of Law holds that God loves only the "saved” and that they alone are truly his children; the Church of Love holds that God loves all human beings and that all are his children.

* The Church of Law sees Satan as a real creature, a tempter and deceiver from whom true Christians are defended by their faith but by whom atheists, members of other religions, and "false Christians" are deceived, and whose instruments they can become; for the Church of Love Satan is a metaphor for the potential for evil that exists in each person, Christian or otherwise, and that must be recognized and resisted.

* The Church of Law believes that individuals should be wary of trusting their own minds and emotions, for these can be manipulated by Satan, and that questions and doubts are to be resisted as the work of the Devil; the Church of Love believes that the mind is a gift of God and that God wants us to think for ourselves, to follow our consciences, to ask questions, and to listen for his still, small voice.

* The Church of Law sees "truth" as something established in the Bible and known for sure by true Christians; the Church of Love sees truth as something known wholly only by God toward which the belief statements of religions can only attempt to point the way.

* The Church of Law reads the Bible literally and considers it the ultimate source of truth; the Church of Love insists that the Bible must be read critically, intelligently, and with an understanding of its historical and cultural contexts.

* The Church of Law encourages a suspicion of aesthetic values and a literalistic mentality that tends to thwart spiritual experience; the Church of Love encourages a recognition of mystery and beauty as attributes of the holy.

 

[Athanasius377]

I'm not talking about being politically liberal and also Christian, if that is what you understood.

It seems to me that one almost universal feature of liberal Christianity is a willingness to categorize parts of the Bible as out-dated, allegorical, corrupted, etc. Additionally, there is often a willingness to change traditions to meet modern requirements.

Bishop Spong is an example of somebody that I would label a liberal Christian
John Shelby Spong - Wikipedia

Yes, you are correct. In essence, I would say a liberal Christian is someone who says the bible contains the word of God as opposed to an orthodox Christian that say the bible is the word of God. I believe every difference between the two camps can be distilled into that distinction.

You also touched on something GK Chesterton once observed, that is once a person stops believing in Christianity they don't then believe in nothing, they believe in anything. Once a person looses (or perhaps never had) the mooring in the faith they quickly assimilate anything around them. Which is why so many seem so squishy, so insubstantial when it comes to what liberal Christians actually believe.

 

[tulc]

I'd say my post does seem to be spot on if the OP is looking for an answer.
tulc(sometimes hates when he's right)

 

[cloudyday2]

I'd say my post does seem to be spot on if the OP is looking for an answer.
tulc(sometimes hates when he's right)

As you suggested, I created a thread in that sub-forum inviting people to this thread.

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

I personally shy away from calling myself "Christian" because the term has been highjacked by liberals who are not following Christ. This includes 70% of those who say they are "Christian" but believe you can get to heaven without Jesus.

I use the term believer (

Those may not understand the Gospel?

I think that the scariest thing that Jesus stated in the Bible was
"I never knew you."
Apparently this was to some that thought they were good to go to Heaven.

One should at least have these three down.

Grace Alone
Faith Alone
Christ Alone

M-Bob

Way

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

Way to go Bob! Faith in the Blood....simple as that.