Liberal Theology In The Churches – Address Number 2 Series

LIBERAL THEOLOGY IN THE CHURCHES – ADDRESS NUMBER 2

SECTION 3: THE ELEMENTS OF LIBERALISM

(I am presenting some thoughts on this subject helped by some excellent material by Matt Slick who is founder of CARM, the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry. I have used some wide quotations from Matt Slick, one of the best logical thinkers I have found on this subject.)

I want to acknowledge the assistance from an article by Matt Slick that was written on Liberalism.

In the context of Christianity, liberalism is the moving away from traditional, historical interpretation of Scripture into "new" interpretations that are more consistent with secular views. Let me give you a case in point. A century ago no church would have promoted homosexuality, but today a number of them do. Why has this changed? It is because the church has moved away from the foundational truths of Scripture and is adopting the world’s values. The feminist movement has made the same sort of inroads into the foundation of Scripture.

Liberalism occurs in different forms and intensities. Some liberals deny that Jesus even existed or say that the Bible is a good book full of moral teachings or that Adam and Eve were metaphors, etc. On the other hand, there are liberals who hold to the essentials of the Christian faith but depart from its literalness in historic understanding in areas such as male only elders, which is what Paul set out in Timothy and Titus quite clearly. So, since liberalism is a constant threat to Christian teaching, it would be a good thing if we are aware of it and what it stands for.

I have here a list of basic principles and examples that reveal some aspects of liberalism. Of course, not all liberals hold to all the points, but all liberals accept a mixture of these. If you can make a generalised statement about them then it is this - they do not believe the entirety of the Bible for what it says. Let us now look at a fairly precise summary of the position Liberal Theology accepts (there are a lot more and many shades of them):-

1. DENIAL OF INSPIRATION, INERRANCY, AND/OR AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE

Saying that the Bible has errors, or is "written by man," or is only a guide, is absolutely not true. When the Uniting Church of Australia formed the union a few decades ago from the Methodists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians (who later pulled out), it tried to be all things to all men. It did not want to upset the evangelicals by saying the Bible is NOT the word of God. It did not want to upset the liberals by saying that ALL scripture is inspired by God, so they wrote in their Constitution, “The bible contains the word of God.” Once they weakened the very foundational truth of the faith, it was not that difficult to move to the next step and now in the Constitution and supporting documents, the Bible is not even mentioned. (At least I could not find it any longer)

MODERN CHURCH

“Modern Church” is the main proponent of liberal theology in the British churches, especially among the Anglicans. In explaining their own position, they set out their guidelines –

•• By “liberal theology” we mean that religious beliefs can, and should develop in the light of new insights. [[This means that the bible must be adapted to the new socialist ideas of the world. I suppose that means WOKE and sexuality also.]]

•• Divine revelation has not come to an end. God invites us to believe in ways appropriate to the 21st Century. Science is used to interpret the Bible and modern society will adapt the Bible in line with changing values. [[The position adopted here is not evaluating science in biblical light, but trying to make the bible subservient to science so called. Liberals want science to define the bible. It should be the opposite.]]

•• New ideas should be judged on their merits. They may be true today even if they have not been officially accepted by church leaders in the past. [[This excuse is a platform for approving homosexual marriage – not accepted in the past but can be now.]]

In their writing on Liberal theology called, "WHAT IS LIBERAL THEOLOGY, AND WHY THE CHURCH NEEDS IT”, in an article named, "Appeals to authority”, this is said – {{“Some argue that true believers acknowledge a single supreme authority, usually the Bible, which overrides all human reason. On this view, instead of a spectrum there is a simple division between conservatives who accept God's word in its entirety, and liberals who can doubt any part of it.”}} These liberals promote the modern acceptance of General Theology, Christianity and Society, Women Bishops, Marriage, Sexuality and Gender Issues, Science & Religion, Interfaith Dialogue, Worship, and a list of other items. [[In the past 6 years no doubt many other things have come into being in their acceptance.]]