Liberal Theology

[Jeff]

I’ve been trying to find examples on the web of liberal theology for Adam so that, if he is interested, he could check out another Christian point of view. If you guys know of sites that fit this theme, please post them here. I am looking for generally positive projects in this area, but some critical websites would be welcome. Just be sure to mark them as criticisms. I don’t want this thread to degenerate into an evangelical vs liberal theology debate. We can certainly pursue that, but let’s do that in another thread.

Last thing: I don’t think anyone posting on our board agrees with all the ideas of liberal theology; I certainly don’t. But it is a voice that I find interesting, challenging, and spiritual.

Here are my first links:

1. A very nice philosophy of religion blog: prosblogion.ektopos.com/

2. An article on the relevance of liberal theology: www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1214

3. Unitarian Universalist website: www.uuworld.org/index.shtml

4. Not an altogether terrible introduction to the idea: www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Liberal_Christianity

5. A free course on Christianity with a liberal emphasis. I think it is very cool, though I haven’t worked through all the lectures: www.suite101.com/course.cfm/18861/seminar

6. A pretty good history of Christian liberalism: www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=177

7. The Center for Progressive Christianity: www.tcpc.org/

8. A lesser history of liberal interpretations of Christianity, not entirely even-handed, and written from the standpoint of ongoing research:

a. ezinearticles.com/?Development-of-Liberal-Theology:-An-Overview--(Part-1)&id=45394

b. ezinearticles.com/?Development-of-Liberal-Theology:-An-Overview-(Part-2)&id=45442

c. ezinearticles.com/?Development-of-Liberal-Theology:-An-Overview-(Part-3)&id=45557

[mj]

Should this be relocated to the Christianity board so it doesn't get buried?

[Jeff]

Prolly. Thanks for the suggestion. I try to make any change that is requested. I can always say: It was someone else's idea.

[CaptAdam]

Thanks Jeff, I will try to make some time to check out each site even the critic ones, I believe it is only wise to know what the other side of the fense is thinking so that you can have a more defined debate or discussion.

[Jeff]

Liberal theology is just one source of information that we should consider. For example, many of the mid-century existential theologians (Rudolf Bultmann, Friedrich Gogarten, Fritz Buri, Paul Tillich, et al) think of themselves as reacting to liberal theology. Further, today Amanda and I like the theological stylings of Jack Miles. Miles is struggling to see the bible in almost a completely new way: as an aesthetically pleasing sustained revelation of the character of God. I don't think we will ever be finished with interpretations of the bible, but as I say in my post, I've learned a great deal from liberal theology.

Jeff