Liberal Christianity: Difference between revisions

'''Liberal Christianity''', also known as '''Liberalliberal Theologytheology''' and historically as '''Christian Modernism''' (see [[Catholic modernism]] and [[Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy]]),<ref name="thearda" /> is a movement that interprets [[Christianity|Christian]] teaching by taking into considerationprioritizing modern knowledge, science and ethics. It emphasizes the importance of reason and experience over doctrinal authority. Liberal Christians view their theology as an alternative to both atheistic [[rationalism]] and theologies based on traditional interpretations of external authority, such as the [[Bible]] or [[sacred tradition]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Dorrien|2001|pp=xiii,xxiii}}: "Liberal Christian theology is a tradition that derives from the late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Protestant attempt to reconceptualize the meaning of traditional Christian teaching in the light of modern knowledge and modern ethical values. It is not revolutionary but reformist in spirit and substance. Fundamentally it is the idea of a genuine Christianity not based on external authority. Liberal theology seeks to reinterpret the symbols of traditional Christianity in a way that creates a progressive religious alternative to atheistic rationalism and to theologies based on external authority."</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|"Theological Liberalism"}}: "Theological liberalism, a form of religious thought that establishes religious inquiry on the basis of a norm other than the authority of tradition. It was an important influence in Protestantism from about the mid-17th century through the 1920s."</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|McGrath|2013|p=196}}: "Liberalism's program required a significant degree of flexibility in relation to traditional Christian theology. Its leading writers argued that reconstruction of belief was essential if Christianity were to remain a serious intellectual option in the modern world. For this reason, they demanded a degree of freedom in relation to the doctrinal inheritance of Christianity on the one hand, and traditional methods of biblical interpretation on the other. Where traditional ways of interpreting Scripture, or traditional beliefs, seemed to be compromised by developments in human knowledge, it was imperative that they should be discarded or reinterpreted to bring them into line with what was now known about the world."</ref>

Liberal theology grew out of [[the Enlightenment]]'s rationalism and the [[Romanticism]] of the 18th and 19th centuries. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was characterized by an acceptance of [[Darwinian evolution]], a utilizationuse of modern [[biblical criticism]], and participation in the [[Social Gospel]] movement.{{Sfn|Dorrien|2001|p=xviii}} This was also the period when liberal theology was most dominant within the [[Protestant]] churches. Liberal theology's influence declined with the rise of [[neo-orthodoxy]] in the 1930s and with [[liberation theology]] in the 1960s.{{Sfn|Dorrien|2001|p=xv}} [[Catholic]] forms of liberal theology emerged in the late 19th century. By the 21st century, liberal Christianity had become an [[ecumenical]] tradition, including both Protestants and Catholics.{{Sfn|Dorrien|2001|p=xx}}

In the context of theology, ''liberal'' does not refer to [[political liberalism]], and it should also be distinguished from [[progressive Christianity]].<ref name="thearda">{{cite web | url = http://www.thearda.com/timeline/movements/movement_56.asp | title = Christian Modernism | last = Gurrentz | first = Benjamin T. | website = The Arda | publisher = [[Association of Religion Data Archives]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190731065525/http://www.thearda.com/timeline/movements/movement_56.asp | archive-date = July 31, 2019 | url-status = live}}</ref>

r'''Liberal Protestantism'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> developed in the 19th century out of a perceived need to adapt Christianity to a modern intellectual context. With the acceptance of [[Charles Darwin]]'s theory of [[natural selection]], some traditional Christian beliefs, such as parts of the [[Genesis creation narrative]], became difficult to defend. Unable to ground faith exclusively in an appeal to [[scripture]] or the person of [[Jesus Christ]], liberals, according to theologian and intellectual historian [[Alister McGrath]], "sought to anchor that faith in common human experience, and interpret it in ways that made sense within the modern worldview."{{Sfn|McGrath|2013|p=196}} Beginning in Germany, liberal theology was influenced by several strands of thought, including the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]'s high view of human reason and [[Pietism]]'s emphasis on [[religious experience]] and [[interdenominational]] tolerance.{{Sfn|Campbell|1996|p=128}}

The sources of religious authority recognized by liberal Protestants differed from conservative Protestants. Traditional Protestants understood the [[Bible]] to be uniquely authoritative (''[[sola scriptura]]''); all doctrine, teaching and the church itself derive authority from it.{{Sfn|Ogden|1976|pp=405–406}} A traditional Protestant could therefore affirm that "what Scripture says, God says."{{Sfn|Ogden|1976|p=408}} Liberal Christians rejected the doctrine of [[biblical inerrancy]] or [[biblical infallibility|infallibility]],<ref name="Chryssides 2010 p. 21"/> which they saw as the [[Idolatry|idolatry]] ([[Fetishism|fetishism]]) of the Bible.<ref name="Dorrien 2000 p. 112">{{cite book | last=Dorrien | first=Garry J. | title=The Barthian Revolt in Modern Theology: Theology Without Weapons | publisher=Westminster John Knox Press | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-664-22151-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2l0sc8wekwC&pg=PA112 | access-date=30 August 2020 | page=112}}</ref> Instead, liberals sought to understand the Bible through modern [[biblical criticism]], such as [[historical criticism]], that began to be used in the late 1700s to ask if biblical accounts were based on older texts or whether the [[Gospels]] recorded the actual words of Jesus.{{Sfn|Campbell|1996|p=128}} The use of these methods of biblical interpretation led liberals to conclude that "none of the [[New Testament]] writings can be said to be [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostolic]] in the sense in which it has been traditionally held to be so".{{Sfn|Ogden|1976|pp=408–409}} This conclusion made ''sola scriptura'' an untenable position. In its place, liberals identified the [[historical Jesus]] as the "real [[Biblical canon|canon]] of the Christian church".{{Sfn|Ogden|1976|p=409}}

German theologian [[William Wrede]] wrote that "Like every other real science, New Testament Theology has its goal simply in itself, and is totally indifferent to all dogma and Systematic Theology". Theologian [[Hermann Gunkel]] affirmed that "the spirit of historical investigation has now taken the place of a traditional doctrine of inspiration".<ref name="Lyons2002">{{cite book|first=William John|last=Lyons|title=Canon and Exegesis: Canonical Praxis and the Sodom Narrative|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVqvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|date=1 July 2002|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-567-40343-8|page=17|quote=On the relationship between the results of his work and the task of Christian theology, Wrede writes that how the 'systematic theologian gets on with its results and deals with them—that is his own affair. Like every other real science, New Testament Theology's has its goal simply in itself, and is totally indifferent to all dogma and Systematic Theology' (1973: 69).16 In the 1920s H. Gunkel would summarize the arguments against Biblical Theology in Old Testament study thus: 'The recently experienced phenomenon of biblical theology being replaced by the history of Israelite religion is to be explained from the fact that the spirit of historical investigation has now taken the place of a traditional doctrine of inspiration' (1927-311927–31: 1090-911090–91; as quoted by Childs 1992a: 6).}}</ref> Episcopal bishop [[John Shelby Spong]] decladeclared that the literal interpretation of the Bible is [[heresy]].<ref name="Chellew-Hodge 2016">{{cite web | last=Chellew-Hodge | first=Candace | title=Why It Is Heresy to Read the Bible Literally: An Interview with John Shelby Spong | website=Religion Dispatches | date=24 February 2016 | url=https://religiondispatches.org/why-it-is-heresy-to-read-the-bible-literally-an-interview-with-john-shelby-spong/ | access-date=19 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Spong2016">{{cite book|first=John Shelby|last=Spong|title=Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy: A Journey into a New Christianity Through the Doorway of Matthew's Gospel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wuH1CQAAQBAJ|date=16 February 2016|publisher=HarperOne|isbn=978-0-06-236233-9|page=22|chapter=Stating the Problem, Setting the Stage|quote=To read the gospels properly, I now believe, requires a knowledge of Jewish culture, Jewish symbols, Jewish icons and the tradition of Jewish storytelling. It requires an understanding of what the Jews call 'midrash.' Only those people who were completely unaware of these things could ever have come to think that the gospels were meant to be read literally.}}</ref>

Liberal Christians sought to elevate Jesus' [[Humanity (virtue)|humane teachings]] as a standard for a world civilization freed from [[Cult (religious practice)|cultic traditions]] and traces of [[Hellenistic polytheism|traditionally pagan types of belief]] in the [[supernatural]].{{Sfn|Mack|1993|p=29}} As a result, liberal Christians placed less emphasis on miraculous events associated with the life of Jesus than on his teachings.{{Sfn|Woodhead|2002|pp=186, 193}} The debate over whether a belief in miracles was mere [[superstition#Superstition and religion|superstition]] or essential to accepting the [[Christology|divinity of Christ]] constituted a crisis within the 19th-century church, for which theological compromises were sought.<ref>''The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion 1805–1900'', edited by Gary J. Dorrien (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), ''passim'', search [https://archive.org/details/makingofamerican0000dorr <!-- quote=miracles "liberal christians" jesus OR christ. --> miracles.]</ref>{{pages needed|date=March 2019}} ManySome liberals prefer to read Jesus' miracles as [[metaphor]]ical narratives for understanding the power of God.{{Sfn|Brandom|2000|p=76}}{{better source needed|reason=This is a very generalized resource for teaching religions in high school. It would be better to have a source more closely tied to the topic.|date=March 2019}} Not all theologians with liberal inclinations reject the possibility of miracles, but many reject the [[polemic]]ism that denial or affirmation entails.{{Sfn|Dorrien|2003|pp=233, 413, 436}}

[[Albrecht Ritschl]] (1822–1889) disagreed with Schleiermacher's emphasis on feeling. He thought that religious belief should be based on history, specifically the historical events of the New Testament.{{Sfn|"Modernism: Christian Modernism"}} When studied as history without regard to miraculous events, Ritschl believed the New Testament affirmed Jesus' divine mission. He rejected doctrines such as the [[virgin birth of Jesus]] and the [[Trinity]].{{Sfn|Frei|2018}} The Christian life for Ritschl was devoted to ethical activity and development, so he understood doctrines to be value judgments rather than assertions of facts.{{Sfn|"Modernism: Christian Modernism"}} Influenced by the philosophy of [[Immanuel Kant]], Ritschl viewed "religion as the triumph of the spirit (or moral agent) over humanity’shumanity's natural origins and environment."{{Sfn|Frei|2018}} Ritschl's ideas would be taken up by others, and Ritschlianism would remain an important theological school within German Protestantism until World War I. Prominent followers of Ritschl include [[Wilhelm Herrmann]], [[Julius Kaftan]] and [[Adolf von Harnack]].{{Sfn|"Modernism: Christian Modernism"}}

Catholic forms of theological liberalism have existed since the 19th century in England, France and Italy.{{Sfn|Dorrien|2002|p=203}} In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a liberal theological movement developed within the [[Catholic Church]] known as [[Modernism in the Catholic Church|Catholic modernism]].{{Sfn|Campbell|1996|p=74}} Like liberal Protestantism, Catholic modernism was an attempt to bring Catholicism in line with the Enlightenment. Modernist theologians approved of radical biblical criticism and were willing to question traditional Christian doctrines, especially Christology. They also emphasized the ethical aspects of Christianity over its theological ones. Important modernist writers include [[Alfred Loisy]] and [[George Tyrrell]].{{Sfn|McGrath|2013|p=198}} Modernism was condemned as [[heretical]] by the leadership of the Catholic Church.{{Sfn|Campbell|1996|p=74}}

*[[John Shelby Spong]] (1931-20211931–2021), [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] bishop and very prolific author of books such as ''[[A New Christianity for a New World]]'', in which he wrote of his rejection of historical religious and Christian beliefs such as [[Theism]] (a traditional conception of God as an existent being), the [[afterlife]], [[miracles]], and the [[Resurrection]].

*[[Michael Dowd]] (b. 1958-2023) [[Religious Naturalist]] theologian, evidential evangelist, and promoter of [[Big History]] and the [[Epic of Evolution]].

*[[Hans Küng]] (1928-20211928–2021), Swiss theologian. Had his license to teach [[Catholic theology]] revoked in 1979 because of his vocal rejection of the doctrine of the [[Papal infallibility|infallibility of the Pope]], but remained a priest in good standing.

*[[Fundamentalist–ModernistFundamentalist-Modernist controversy]]

* {{Citation | last = Brandom | first = Ann-Marie | contribution = The Role of Language in Religious Education | year = 2000 | title = Learning to Teach Religious Education in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience | editor-last1 = Barnes | editor-first1 = L. Philip | editor-last2 = Wright | editor-first2 = Andrew | editor-last3 = Brandom | editor-first3 = Ann-Marie | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 9780415194365978-0-415-19436-5 }}.

* {{cite book | last = Dorrien | first = Gary | author-link = Gary Dorrien | title = The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, 1805-1900 | volume = 1 | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press | year = 2001 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=L50mveyi6WoC | isbn = 9780664223540978-0-664-22354-0 }}

* {{cite book | last = Dorrien | first = Gary | author-link = Gary Dorrien | title = The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, and Modernity, 1900-1950 | volume = 2 | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press | year = 2003 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rfV6FmMFzdoC | isbn = 9780664223557978-0-664-22355-7 | author-mask = 3 }}

* {{cite book | last = Mack | first = Burton L. | author-link = Burton L. Mack | title = The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins | publisher = Harper Collins | year = 1993 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hxHQQt6oELMC | isbn = 9780062275684978-0-06-227568-4 }}

* {{cite encyclopedia | last = Tamilio | first = John, III | title = Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1768-1834): Progenitor of Practical Theology | encyclopedia = The Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Modern Western Theology | date = 2002 | url = http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/bce/mwt_themes_470_schleiermacher.htm#Friedrich%20Daniel%20Ernst%20Schleiermacher%20(1768-1834):%20Progenitor%20of%20Practical%20Theology }}

* {{Citation | last = Woodhead | first = Linda | contribution = Christianity | year = 2002 | title = Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations | editor-last1 = Woodhead | editor-first1 = Linda | editor-last2 = Fletcher | editor-first2 = Paul | pages = 177–209 | publisher = Routledge | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rwqFGUKUb58C | isbn = 9780415217835978-0-415-21783-5 }}.

*[http://www.lmu.de/liberaltheology2018 "Liberal Theology Today" -– International Conference, Munich 2018]

*[httphttps://www.progressivechristianalliance.org/ The Progressive Christian Alliance]

*[httphttps://www.pcnbritain.org.uk/ Progressive Christian Network Britain]

*[httphttps://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=177article/liberalism Liberalism By M. James Sawyer, Th.M., Ph.D.]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050206222300/http://biblebelievers.com/machen/index.html Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen (1881-19371881–1937)]

*[httphttps://www.thechristianleft.org/ The Christian Left --– ''An Open Fellowship of Progressive Christians'']