Liberal Christianity

[HammerStone]

I don't want the "L" word to become a necessarily a dirty word, because Liberal Christianity did give us a renewed focus on mission, amongst other positives. However, this exchange between Conservative Catholic Ross Douthat of the New York Times and Diana Butler Bass intrigues me a bit. I am going to post the columns, and if you have 20-30 minutes or so, I really recommend the reads and sharing your thoughts here:

#1 - "Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved" (Douthat) - http://www.nytimes.c...=rssnyt&emc=rss

#2 [Response] "Can Christianity Be Saved? A Response to Ross Douthat" (Bass) - http://www.huffingto...l?utm_hp_ref=tw

#3 [Response] "Is Liberal Christianity Actually the Future?" (Douthat) - http://douthat.blogs...ure/#more-17541

What are your thoughts on this? I have a great appreciation for Douthat because he shows that Christianity can be "intellectual" and yet still humble and graceful. Douthat actually went on Bill Maher's show and defended the faith quite well. I was reminded of Colossians 4:6 in his columns and especially on Maher's show.

I don't want to get entirely over-philosophical here, but our founders (of this nation) understood that the government needed religion in order to work effectively.

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." - George Washington

"The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty, in which all those young Men United, and which had United all Parties in America, in Majorities sufficient to assert and maintain her Independence." - John Adams

"

God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God?" - Thomas Jefferson

I mean you can Google and see countless quotes from the who's who of founders, but they culminate with this quote from Adams:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

This is not an argument for or against America being/not being a Christian nation. However, you can undeniably assert that the founders felt that some form of unifying moral order would be what unites Americans - and this moral order was found in Christianity. It was the orthodoxy that was attractive.

So my question is, has not the Liberal church borne this out? One could argue that Liberal Christianity subsumes the Gospel to the Social Gospel. You have a large number of Liberal congregations/denominations not just assuming the role to tolerate/allow/passively accept, but they are taking an active and involved role in issues like homosexual marriage, abortion rights, gun rights, social welfare, etc.

These congregations have been gutted. The Episcopalian example stands out, because what was once a 3-to-1 ratio with Mormons has now entirely reversed. The SBC, although experiencing some decline, remains the largest after a period of growth. This article does not begin to address nondenominational churches, which do consist of both Liberal and Conservative congregations, but one would be hard pressed to prove that the majority were not Conservative. Take the Association of Related Churches, for instance. A number of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, would be as well.

At the end of the day, these congregations are slipping away. If you begin to unravel core values of the faith, even a hardline stance on the issues that are open-handed within the faith, you're still eating away at a foundation of unifying beliefs. Therefore, pretty soon, you're left with an empty shell that's not much better than no shell at all; it seems a number are opting for this.

I don't think Liberal Christianity is tenable, and I think the Emergent Church movement is the last best gasp of a dying culture. Don't get me wrong, Liberal Christianity won't vanish with the dinosaurs, but it will shrink exponentially. For evidence of that, see the Methodist split, with the African Churches becoming the key vote in them not accepting homosexuality. The liberal elements of the convent swung from the rafters after this, but they don't have the power to overcome the African block, and so you get comments like this:

Delegates from Africa once again proclaimed that their anti-homosexual stand was what U.S. missionaries taught them. I sat there wondering when our African delegates will grow up. It has been 200 years since U.S. Methodist missionaries began their work of evangelization on the continent of Africa; long enough for African Methodists to do their own thinking about this concern and others. Our conservative U.S. United Methodists continue to depend on the conservative vote of African and Filipino delegates to maintain our exclusionary position on homosexuality, a position I believe would be changed for the inclusion of our LGBT sisters and brothers if a U.S. vote for a U.S. context were taken. The manner in which we deal with the concern of homosexuality affects all of ministry in the U.S., and we are the poorer for it. It is time for us to let go of our wrong position and be the church of Christ Jesus, a church that excludes no one.” - United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcano

You can see the frustration.

I'll close up my long-winded post, but I'd love to hear thoughts on the exchange. I've kinda shared mine, though I could talk about this more.​

 

[pompadour]

H.S I have found that most churches are very left ( liberal ) and it is getting to be more prevalent . I personally believe that most of this is caused by the out a balance teaching that Jesus is love and we must forgive every one, and we must be tolerant of every form of deviant behavior to prove we are kind and forgiving .
they never teach about some of the other things Jesus said and done. Peter went around with Jesus for 3 &1/2 yrs carrying a sword and used it to cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Jesus never told Peter to lose the sword.
Where was the love and tolerance when Jesus drove the money changers from the temple.
The liberals want every one to get ride of guns. Jesus said, if you don't have a sword to sell your jacket and buy one.

I believe Christians have been turned in to pacifists. but the Bible teaches that the children of Israel were any thing but pacifists.
Pomp.