Liberal Theology in the Churches: Part 2 :: By Ron Ferguson

Section 3: The Elements of Liberalism

(I am presenting some thoughts on this subject, helped by some excellent material by Matt Slick, 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.)

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 generalized 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 their 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.]

Now just A FEW OF THEIR SPEAKERS at a recent England conference: (I did this about 6 years ago, so it is slightly dated but indicates what the Liberal concentration is.)

>Geoffrey Rowell. Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell is Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe. He is the author of several books, including Hell and the Victorians.

>Brian Smith. Rt Revd Brian Smith is Bishop of Edinburgh. He studied theology at Cambridge, focusing on the philosophy of religion, and held a number of posts in the Diocese of Oxford, including that of Senior Tutor at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He keenly pursues the subject, “Liberating the church for today and tomorrow.”

>Helen-Ann Hartley. Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley is New Testament Tutor at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. She is a consultant to BBC television in the development of program ideas in Religion and Ethics. She believes in “Liberating Scripture: holding on to fundamentals without being fundamentalist.”

>Gary Dorrien. Gary Dorrien is Reinhold Niebuhr, Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, Professor of Religion at Columbia University, and an Episcopal priest. He wrote a trilogy called, The Making of American Liberal Theology, and it has been accepted as a major work in promoting Liberal Theology. He speaks all over the place on the great necessity of Liberal Theology.

>Lucy Winkett. Lucy Winkett is Precentor and Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, with responsibility for music and liturgy at the Cathedral. She is a founder adviser to Theos, a think tank launched in 2006.

>Jonathan Clatworthy. Jonathan Clatworthy is General Secretary of the Modern Church people’s Union. He has worked as a parish priest, university chaplain, and lecturer in Ethics. His latest book is Liberal Faith in a Divided Church.

2. DENIAL OF THE HISTORIC ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE

(1). Denying that Adam, Eve, Moses, Jesus, etc., were real people. (2). Denying that the Exodus happened. (3). Denying that there was an actual Garden of Eden, etc. [Denial is one of the lies of Satan, so it’s no wonder his followers do the same. Wolves in sheep clothing.]

3. DENIAL OF PARTICULAR PARTS OF THE BIBLE AS BEING AUTHENTIC

(1). Denying that Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. (2). Denying Paul’s letters as authentic. (3). Denying that the Gospels are accurate, etc. (4). Claiming someone wrote under the name of the Apostle John. [A lot of this higher criticism came from Germany and insidiously worked its way through the churches.]

4. DENIAL OF SOME OF THE BASIC CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES

(1). Denying the Trinity, deity of Christ, resurrection, the virgin birth, etc. (2). Denying Salvation by grace. (3). Denying that Jesus is the only way to salvation, the doctrine of hell, etc. [We used to place these wicked teachings in the realm of the cults, but they are now evident in the thinking of church attendees. In fact, some of the surveys done are utterly surprising.]

5. DENIAL OF THE HISTORIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURE AND SUBSTITUTING NEW ONES

(1). Redefining salvation as self-deliverance from oppression. (2). Saying that Jesus didn’t literally rise from the dead and that it is a metaphor for rising up in success over trials. (3). Claiming Homosexuality is not a sin; it is an alternative lifestyle. [Modernist thought predominates thinking among people, and these processes seep into the churches, especially where ministers are themselves uncertain about the Christian faith and can’t, and don’t, and won’t teach it.]

6. AFFIRMING EXPERIENCE OVER SCRIPTURE

(1). A person’s feelings supersede biblical revelation. (2). “Feeling” that Jesus isn’t the only way to God. (3). As long as you are sincere, God will let you go to heaven. [This is more commonplace than people believe. When the absolute authority of the Bible is rejected, people wash around like jellyfish in the tide, and their feelings become their way of life.]

7. USING OUTSIDE SOURCES TO INTERPRET SCRIPTURE

(1). Use of psychology manuals (people are basically good – ways to improve your life), self-help books (power of positive thinking), science books (the ascent of man and evolution), etc., and THEN subjecting the Bible to their teaching. [Again, this all hinges on the one and only ultimate authority, the Bible, but when other authorities are placed on the same plane, then anything is believable, and liberals do.]

8. SAYING THE BIBLE IS OUTDATED, PATRIARCHAL

(1). This is an attempt to invalidate scripture by dismissing it as ancient and, therefore, not true. (2). It also negates the inspiration of Scripture because it implies the patriarchal structure is due to cultural influence and not scriptural revelation. [This type of thing is more common among those who consider themselves to be intellectual. It is the University approach. Remember, Jesus did not call those inflated with their own intelligence. He called those who knew their need.]

9. IMPOSING SECULAR IDEALS UPON SCRIPTURE

(1). Women ordination. (2). Pro-homosexuality. (3). Denying moral absolutes. (4). Upholding evolution as how mankind arrived on earth. (5). Defending “abortion rights” from scripture. [A considerable number of people in churches may not like the pointers in this ninth statement against liberalism, but the bottom line is each of the points can’t be defended by scripture, but is the opposite. With that dilemma, one must decide if it is God’s way or man’s way. Man’s way must never replace God’s way, as His statutes are eternal and do not change over the course of time like socialist thinking does.]

10. GENDER-NEUTRAL WORDING IN REFERENCE TO GOD, PEOPLE, MANKIND, ETC. (CALLED GENDER INCLUSIVE)

(1). Referring to God as Mother God or Father-Mother God. (2). Referring to various references of male leaders as people. [There is a separate handout on the 2011 NIV, which is an erroneous translation. The whole gender issue has been turned upside down in the past two years by Governments following the hard left of humanism and WOKE.]

You may have come across some of those views, or you have heard of them. They are evil and are numbered among the tares or weeds Satan has sown among the good seed of the infallible word of God. I know of many theological colleges in Australia that teach liberalism or have on staff someone who is liberal. We have an enemy who wants to destroy the credibility of God’s word, and we must be on our guard. I find it lamentable that people in churches have such a shallow knowledge of the Bible. That is not always their fault because they have been subjected to false teachers and such shallowness. Trace it all back to theological training colleges, the laziness of ministers, and the ethos of the so-called Christian community.

There needs to be a resolve in these dark days to dedicate one’s time to God and His word. All around the walls are crumbling and difficult times, growing in intensity. Only a foundation in God will endure. All who read this or hear this, be connected to God by the strongest link. Give Him your time and commitment.

IS LIBERALISM DANGEROUS?

(Some of this below – and some above – comes from Matt Slick, who is disturbed about his own particular denomination in the USA). Yes, liberalism is dangerous because it leads to a denial of biblical truth, and denial of biblical truth usually means that things contrary to Scripture are often affirmed. Consider this quote which comes from the USA: [“If we look at the denominations that approved women’s ordination from 1956-1976, we find that several of them, such as the United Methodist Church and the United Presbyterian Church (now called the Presbyterian Church USA), have large contingents pressing for (a) the endorsement of homosexual conduct as morally valid and (b) the approval of homosexual ordination.”]

Those who have spearheaded women’s ordination and other inaccuracies are now turning to other errors, namely, supporting abortion, affirming homosexuality, and a denial of the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. It is rare that heresies are singular. They come in clusters.

Since Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh (John 8:24) and said that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), then we must make a decision. Either what Jesus said is true, or it is false. Either Jesus was crazy, or he was telling us something so profound that we had better listen carefully. Which is it? If you hold to biblical authority and inspiration, you will believe what Christ said. If you hold to liberalism, why should you?

Since Jesus rose from the dead, walked on water, raised others from the dead, performed miracles, healed people, etc., He has demonstrated His right to speak authoritatively. Therefore, we must consider His words carefully. When He warned people about eternal damnation, are we to consider His words as metaphor, or as absolute truth? Did He really rise from the dead, or is that just an illustration of how we can have victory over our problems?

Either what the Bible tells us in its totality is true, or it is to be dismissed as fable, and we can discount anything we want to. Eternity is too long of a time to be wrong, and we cannot dismiss the words of Christ as being fabrications. I trust in the absolute inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility, and authority of the Bible. It stands or falls on every single line. When Paul wrote that all scripture is given through the inspiration of God (breathed through the Holy Spirit), then one error, just one, will cut down the inspiration for all of scripture. The credibility of the whole Bible depends on each single part. The Bible is like an unbroken, linked chain that stretches from God to man with – just for purpose of illustration – say, 10 trillion links. Just one single link anywhere along that chain, if it is faulty and gives way, it demolishes the entire connection.

Liberalism leads away from biblical fidelity, and it compromises Scriptural truth. It only needs the door to be open a crack in order to push its way through. The only guarantee against the liberal influence on the church is to set our minds and eyes upon the word of God, study it diligently, and believe what it says. Be immersed in the word of God.

That will end Part 2 of this small Series.

Part 3 will follow.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au

 

We’re going to take time to consider what God’s Word says about sexuality, marriage, and the nature of men and women.

The church initiative to teach on Biblical sexuality annually on the third week of January was birthed out of what happened in Canada last year when Bill C4 was brought into law on January 8. It’s known as the anti-conversion therapy law.

Bill C4, I would say, is this: It’s the next in the latest slide of a long dissent our nation has been on. It’s the next step by a nation that generally rejects God and His moral law, His eternal nature, and His divine power.

The tragic thing about Bill C4 is that it was voted into law in Canada without a single dissenting vote. The opposition and the government together unanimously voted into law Bill C4 that would say that the Biblical view on human sexuality “is based on and propagates myths and stereotypes about sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, including the myth that heterosexuality, cisgender gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are preferred over other sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.”

The Bill goes on, if you’re to read it for yourself, to essentially criminalize the preaching, teaching, and counseling of the Biblical sexual ethic that would call men and women to conform to God’s design for human sexuality.

It’s shocking, when you think about it, that not a single member in the House of Commons’ 338 members of parliament voted to defend the Biblical ethic of sexuality.

Not a single MP, across all party lines, voted to defend Biblical morality.

That says to us, church, and this is very important that we understand this, that for those who would put their hope in government or in political change, to turn a nation around, we want to declare: put your hope in God.

How Did We Get Here? — Sexual Revolution

As I was considering this and praying about it, I said, “Lord, how did we get here? How did we arrive in this place as a nation? How did we slide this far?” And the Lord reminded me that this has not occurred overnight. This is just the next step in a long line of choices we have made as a nation in the rejection of God and His moral law.

Let’s go back for a moment. A well-celebrated thing in history is the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s.

It was a social movement that challenged traditional values related to sexuality. It was literally a revolution. It wasn’t a revolution in the overthrowing of a nation’s government, but it was a revolution in the sense that the moral order taught by God’s Word was rejected in the sexual ethic.

The sexual revolution rejected the Biblical design of heterosexual marriage. It was a revolution that increased the acceptance of homosexuality, rejected monogamy, and rejected reserving sex for the marriage bed.

Once sex could be separated from the Biblical design of God-ordained marriage between a man and a woman, the next target in our nation became marriage itself.

A Strategic Attack — Crumbling of the Family Order

In the last few decades, Satan has made a strategic attack on the image and the glory of God by his influence in the destruction of the marriage vow and the marriage bed, which was long protected by the laws of our nation.

It was in the 1980s that the Divorce Act was struck down. By the early 2000s, the state government had made itself the authority over the institution of marriage—that God had designed—and the state put itself in the place of God, legalizing homosexual unions. Next, the state set the terms for divorce and made itself the authority in dissolving marriage.

What we’ve watched happen in our nation is the crumbling of the family order. It’s rarer and rarer that children are raised in a family with both of their biological parents or that those parents are living together as husband and wife before God.

The family, which is the foundation of a nation—and exists from God for the health and structure of a nation—has never been in worse shape in Canada.

The state has taken it upon itself to educate children that a family is whatever hodgepodge confused mixture of human relationships that can be assembled.

The Next Un-Natural Step

When you consider all of these things together, all of a sudden, it makes sense that the next unnatural step in our nation would be to escalate the attack on the nature of male and female itself, trying to separate a man or a woman from the biology of their own physical body.

The teaching is: you don’t have to be restricted by the biology of your body, but you can assign to yourself whatever gender and sexual identity you decide.

We know this: the public school has become the grooming ground for the new gender ideology that does not conform to obvious human biology. It’s based on fluid sentimentality, human feelings, and emotion. Seeds of confusion are being planted in the minds of our children and the young people of our nation, who are impressionable.

And there are those in sexual education working in public schools that have dropped the word pedophile from their vocabulary, speaking to our children with the acronym MAP (minor-attracted persons).

The Great Lie of Neutrality

These actions of the state in the education system are not harmless, and they’re not neutral. They are driven by ideologies that are anti-Christ; they are anti-Jesus. The state is not impartial, supporting both sides; it has a clearly weighted moral stance in a specific direction.

The great lie is that the state, the education system, and secularism are morally neutral; they’re not. It is a religious system. They are not religiously neutral; they are religious by nature.

Jesus said this: “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).

There is no soft ground in the middle. The secular state is not neutral in advancing its anti-Christ agendas.

A Path that leads to destruction — Is There Hope?

As we see the culture transforming, these things are not going to stop unless God has mercy on our nation. Political change is not the solution. Protests are not the solution.

As followers of Christ, we don’t put our hope in political powers or in human institutions. As much as we desire them to be reformed, to come to repentance, to be led by Godly men and women, they are not our hope. Jesus Christ is our hope.

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV – “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

These things happening in our nation are not the liberation of man. These are attacks on the nature of God and His Word. This is an assault on Christ in our nation. And these are attacks on God’s creational design. They’re meant to hurt God. They are meant to hurt those whom God is seeking to redeem from sin and its power.

This is a scheme of the devil to kill, steal, and destroy. He’s the father of lies (John 8:44-45). Today, we are calling out these lies.

Satan is making a strategic attack on the image and the glory of God. The Word of God tells us that man is made in the image of God and the purpose of your life is to glorify God. That’s to be your identity found in Jesus.

We, as a people, and as a nation, need to turn to the Word of God to renew our minds, to transform and re-shape our thinking, to form a worldview that is Biblical and is honoring to Christ.

The path being promoted in our nation is one that leads to destruction. But there is hope in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The desire of my heart is to proclaim, to any and all who would listen, that God has an ordained design for human sexuality and gender, and it’s laid out in His Word. My desire is to be a dissenting voice in our culture, one that points people to Christ, and be a church that’s committed to His Word.

Men and women will never understand their value and worth, never understand their identity, never know contentment outside of God’s ordained design and a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Any message contrary to that is a lie.

We talk about these things because we want people to find the path of life and Jesus Christ. Jesus is the power by which God set the heavens and the earth in their place. Jesus is the one who brings chaos into order. Jesus has made known the path of life; in His presence, there is fullness of joy, there is identity, and His Word says there is pleasure forevermore.

This article was originally posted in Harbingers Daily.

Watch the Video: Biblical Sexuality Sunday Service, January 15, 2023