Theological Liberalism is not a coherent theological system, like Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, or Calvinism. There is no set of doctrines constituting “Theological Liberalism”. There is no church body built on it. What there are, are free thinking individuals who write books and develop theories questioning many traditional orthodox teachings of Christianity, and church bodies that allow, to a greater or lesser extent, theologically liberal ideas and teachings to be taught in their congregations and seminaries.
Liberal teachings are found across denominations, and come in many forms. Some of these forms are fairly innocuous. They may question the historicity of this or that Biblical narrative. For example, they may question whether Jonah was really swallowed by a great fish, or whether perhaps the story of Jonah is really a kind of parable. On the other hand, Theological Liberalism sometimes devolves into positively heretical positions which undermine Christianity at its core. Was Jesus really born of a virgin? Did He actually rise bodily from the dead? Was He truly Divine? The Virgin Birth, the Bodily Resurrection, and the Divinity of Jesus are core dogmas which no traditional Christian denomination has ever questioned, but Theological Liberalism sometimes does. Theological Liberalism also sometimes, but not always, questions traditional moral norms, especially sexual norms. This has caused a great deal of controversy in many church bodies, and contributed a great deal to the confusion of our society at large.
Theological Liberalism is built on two closely related things: First, a desire to be free (hence, “liberal”, as in “liberty”, as in “freedom”) from the traditions and orthodoxies of the past, in order to pursue “truth” without constraints artificially imposed by prior generations. The second is a desire to update, in a way, classical Christian teachings with modern philosophical ideas and concepts. The idea is to integrate these systems of thought and so make Christianity more compatible with a modern scientific and naturalistic view of reality. The result is often more modern than Christian. All Theological Liberalism is not alike, but in any of its forms it questions the authority and reliability of Scripture to some degree or another.
What are these modern ideas that Theological Liberalism is attempting to integrate with Christianity? Very briefly: One of the most influential philosophies of the modern age is Metaphysical Naturalism. Metaphysical Naturalism is a philosophy which holds that reality consists solely of space, time, matter and energy, and that this reality at all times strictly conforms to natural laws and processes. In short, naturalism denies the “supernatural”. Modern thought is decidedly naturalistic. Traditional Christianity, on the other hand, embraces the existence of an immaterial reality that can and many times has broken into and affected the course of nature and history in a supernatural way.
The influence of Theological Liberalism is often detected in a tendency of churches and Christians to water down, and in some instances to repudiate entirely, certain classical teachings of traditional, orthodox Christianity. Among the most important of these classical Christian teachings that Theological Liberalism often challenges are the following:
- Moral Absolutism, especially in matters of human sexuality. Christianity teaches that moral law comes from God and as such is absolutely binding on all human beings at all times. Modern thought understands moral laws as having a human origin, arising, as almost all other physical or behavioral attributes of human beings, as an evolutionary response to the needs of the human species to survive and propagate. This is especially the case in matters of human sexuality, which modern thought views mostly in biological and evolutionary, rather than moral terms. Liberal Theology has provided a theological justification for some Christians for the acceptance of abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, and other practices that have traditionally been considered sinful.
- The Exclusivity of Christianity. Christianity has always claimed to be the sole true religion, and Jesus as the sole Savior of all humanity. Any other religion or philosophy, insofar as it deviates from Christianity, is simply wrong, and apart from faith in Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, there is no salvation. Modern thought denies any such idea of an objective, metaphysical (that is, non-physical, or religious) truth which can be known among humans and that must be believed. It sees all religions as having a human origin and as essentially similar to one another. Some version of the idea that “all religions lead to the same God”, or that any religion has value to bring a person to God, may have an origin in Liberal Theology.
- The True Divinity of Jesus Christ. It is a central teaching of traditional, orthodox Christianity that Jesus of Nazareth is truly God and truly human. Modern thought understands Jesus of Nazareth as a human being only. It may recognize Him as a particularly exemplary human being, but nevertheless He is a human being like the rest of us, no more, and no less. The view that Jesus was merely a “great moral teacher” would be at home in some versions of Theological Liberalism.
- The Historical, Bodily Resurrection of Jesus. Christianity has always taught that Jesus rose bodily from the dead three days after He died by crucifixion. The tomb in which His dead body had been lain was empty on Easter morning because Jesus had risen. Modern thought denies the possibility of such a supernatural event. It attributes the accounts of the Resurrection to various naturally explainable things instead–a conspiracy among His followers, for example, or a mistaken identification of the tomb, or some kind of a hallucination, or that Jesus was not actually dead. Some forms of Theological Liberalism, not wanting to accept a purely supernatural explanation of the Resurrection, might speak of a “spiritual” resurrection instead.
The basic impulse in Theological Liberalism is to try to interpret the Scriptures in a way that appeals to a rationally minded person who, to a greater or lesser extent, finds Metaphysical Naturalism persuasive. In its more extreme forms, Theological Liberalism amounts to a complete denial of Christian Truth and of Jesus of Nazareth as the Savior of the World.
A final point should be made here. Although some church bodies have made their peace with some form of Theological Liberalism to a rather significant degree (for example, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopalian Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and other so called “Main Line” Protestant Churches), that does not mean that every congregation in such a denomination, or even less, every Christian that counts himself a member of it, holds much views. There are many orthodox, traditional Christians within church bodies that embrace tenets of Theological Liberalism.