Biblical truths are supernatural at their core and are essential to the Christian gospel. Naturalism, on the other hand, is opposed to supernaturalism, because it asserts that all reality can be explained in purely natural categories without any appeal to the supernatural. The fundamental idea at the root of religious liberalism was the influence of the philosophy of naturalism. This brand of Christianity, which calls itself Christian, is not only a counterfeit Christianity, it is anti-Christian.
What is theological liberalism
There’s a difference in meaning between liberalism and religious liberalism. The suffix “ism” at the end of liberal denotes the idea that there is a group of beliefs that make up a life and world view.
Generally speaking, liberal implies a “free thinker”, someone who is free from the trappings of all human thinking and traditions. As long as our thinking is under the authority of God, we should be free to pursue truth. In this respect, liberalism is commendable. However, if liberalism is taken to the extreme, it could mean that the liberal is completely open to any novel idea and never comes to any convictions. This, of course, would set it apart from Christianity, which is a religion built on the foundation of convictions and affirmations. Take away assertions and you take away Christianity.
In theology, however, liberalism has a much narrower definition than the way the term is normally used. It refers to a specific movement that has a specific agenda and a defined theology that surfaced in Europe in the nineteenth century.
How theological liberalism got started
Influence of the Enlightenment period.
J. Gresham Machen wrote that Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religion, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology.1J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, First published 1923, New edition published 2009, p. 2 He argues that the modern scientific methods have been applied broadly to the other areas of knowledge, which has led to a searching investigation of every inheritance from the past. This has led to so many convictions being abandoned that sometimes men have concluded that all convictions must go. And no institution is faced by a stronger hostile presumption than the institution of the Christian religion.2ibid, p.3
As technology increased, following the late Enlightenment period, advances in transportation seemed to shrink the size of the world. Ready exposure to different cultures from around the world opened up a new avenue of investigation–The science of comparative religion.
Opposition to the supernatural
This whole movement in German theology had certain basic commitments philosophically and theologically. The one that is the most obvious and evident is that it was fundamentally anti-supernatural in its orientation. It was seeking to get beyond the myths and legends that are contained in religious stories of various faiths so they could identify the common theme among the various religions of the world.
The conclusion was that at the core of all religions was basically a concern for ethics. They considered prayer, symbols of redemption, and the precepts of salvation to be the externals–the negotiable peripheral matters that are not of the essence.
Redefining Christianity
The work of Adolph von Hornack (1851-1930) illustrates this new “modernism” approach to theology. Hornack was a German theologian and prominent church historian. His book, What is Christianity, is a history of early Christian literature. Harnack called on Christians to question the authenticity of doctrines that arose in the early Christian church. He rejected the historicity of the gospel of John in favor of the synoptic gospels, criticized the Apostles’ Creed, and promoted the Social Gospel.
Christianity, at its core, was said to be reducible to two foundational concepts, according to Hornack: The universal Fatherhood of God; and the universal brotherhood of man. What’s striking about this conclusion is that neither concept is biblical. Only those who belong to Christ by faith are members of His household. And the New Testament sees the brotherhood as something that is restricted to those who are “in Christ”. As the Parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates, the Bible teaches the universal “neighborhood” of man, not the universal “brotherhood” of man.
Biblical truths are supernatural at their core
The Fundamentalists’ reaction to liberalism
There was a strenuous reaction in church history to this 19th century liberalism, especially in the United States. The reaction was called fundamentalism. The original debate recognized that there can be differences among Christians on some matters of doctrine, but there are certain foundational precepts that are so fundamental to historic Christianity that if you deny those, you have denied the very essence of the faith.
At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, fundamentalism sought to identify certain cardinal precepts and principles that are the non-negotiables of Christianity. For example, if you deny the resurrection of Jesus, you have denied Christianity.
Forms of theology
There are three basic forms of theology according to church historians:
- Pelagianism. A belief that denies the view of original sin and the necessity of grace, asserting that man is capable of achieving salvation by his own efforts.
- Semi Pelagianism. A belief that humanity is tainted by sin, but not to the extent that we cannot cooperate with God’s grace on our own. Semi-Pelagianism is, in essence, partial depravity as opposed to total depravity. We are sinful, but we can still recognize the truth, cooperate with God’s grace, and choose to seek Christ. Semi-Pelagianism was promulgated in the fifth century AD by John Cassian and some other church leaders in France.
- Augustinianism. Augustinianism holds that, due to the Fall, mankind is unable to avoid sinning. His nature has been overrun by sin to the extent that man does not truly have freedom of the will; rather, he is in bondage to sin. Only an act of God can release him. Augustinianism also teaches that no one can be saved apart from God’s grace. In fact, grace is necessary for the performance of any righteous act, including the exercise of faith. Without that saving grace, no sinner can ever make a decision for Christ. In agreement with the I of Calvinism’s TULIP, Augustinianism teaches that grace is irresistible and effectual.
The significance of clashing theologies
The debate between semi Pelagianism and Augustinianism has been going on for much of church history and will continue. But it’s a debate within the Christian church between Calvinists and Arminians. These concerns are important, but not generally considered essential matters. However, Pelagianism is fundamentally not Christian. In fact, it is opposed to the central tenets of Christianity. Liberalism belongs to this category.
Differences between theological liberalism & Christianity
The following are some of the core differences between theological liberalism and historic, biblical Christianity:3These are some of the key points included in Machen’s classic book, Christianity and Liberalism.
Doctrine
Christianity is based upon an account of something that happened, and the Christian worker is primarily a witness. Liberalism objects to this and claims teachings are unimportant, unless it happens to be a liberal doctrine, such as the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man.
God and man
Concerning the knowledge of God, liberalism says that we should seek not to know God, but should merely feel His presence. Christianity teaches that the knowledge of God is the very basis of religion. Regarding liberalism’s conception of man, it has lost all sense of the gulf that separates the creature from the Creator. Liberalism has a supreme confidence in human goodness. Christianity, however, is the religion of the broken heart; it is conscious of its guilt before God.
The Bible
According to the Christian view, the Bible contains revelation from God to man, which is found nowhere else. In addition, general revelation is given to all people by the things God has made and by the conscience of man. Within the Bible, there is a way that is revealed by which sinful man can come into communion with the living God. On the other hand, the modern liberal rejects the inspiration of the Bible. The only authority for the liberal is the Christian experience. Therefore, truth can only be that which helps the individual man. Liberalism is founded upon the shifting emotions of sinful men.
Christ
For the apostle Paul, Jesus was primarily the object of faith. He committed the destiny of his soul to Jesus. But modern liberalism regards Jesus in a totally different way. For them, Jesus is an example of faith, not the object of faith. The New Testament presents Jesus as both an historical Person and a supernatural Person, but for modern liberalism a supernatural person is never historical. Since they reject His miracles, they also reject the entirety of the supernatural Person of our Lord. Therefore, Jesus’ deity is denied, which leaves Jesus differing from us only in degree, not in kind.
Salvation
Liberalism finds salvation in man; Christianity finds it in an act of God. For liberals, the death of Jesus is regarded as an example of self-sacrifice for us to emulate. It shows how much God hates sin. Rather than facing the dreadful reality of guilt, liberalism makes a mere persuasion of the will all that is needed for salvation. They ask, “How can one man suffer for the sins of another?” Of course, Jesus could do so because He was not a mere man but the eternal Son of God.
The essence of liberal theology
The Swiss theologian, Emil Brunner, wrote a book entitled The Mediator (1927), in which he canvassed the teaching of liberal theology. He said you could reduce the driving force of 19th and 20th century liberal theology down to just one word–unbelief. Hostility to Scripture and hostility to the core teaching of the New Testament of the Person and work of Jesus Christ cannot be seen as a mere difference of opinion on negotiable issues of biblical Christianity.
The danger of theological liberalism
The supernatural aspects of historic Christianity is the battleground
Benjamin Warfield said that liberals did not reject just peripheral matters but foundational principles such as the incarnation, the atonement, and the resurrection. If you negotiate resurrection, you negotiate Christianity.
Rudolph Bultmann (a neo liberal) typifies the kind of thinking which is commonplace among liberals. He remarked that nobody can live in the 20th century and make use of modern conveniences like electricity, etc. and still believe in a world where angels appear to virgins and talk about babies born without sexual intercourse, and where a corpse goes into the grave and come back three days later.
The beginning of “modernism” in the Christian church
So, what caused such a tidal wave of unbelief in historical Christianity in such a short period of time? There was a generation of ministers who were educated in 19th century liberalism. Consequently, they had no gospel to preach. They didn’t believe it themselves. But they had to justify their jobs and their profession, so they tried to substitute the 19th century concept of the universal Fatherhood of God and a social agenda for biblical Christianity. As a result, all we have left are ethical issues. For the liberals, that’s the reason for the church’s existence, not for questions of personal salvation.
Furthermore, the ethical issues that may be raised would be easily settled by the Bible. But instead of trusting what the Bible has to say about such ethics, liberal churches and denominations will wrestle with such basic principles as to whether it is ethical for people to be engaged in sexual activities outside of marriage.
The effects of Liberalism
Liberalism is having the effect of emptying the pews. In Scotland, for example, it’s been reported that only 4% of the people are members of the church, and 95% those people attend liberal churches.
We’re living in what contemporary historians are calling the age of new-liberalism. Now, there’s an outright hostility to historic Christianity. New Testament scholars are saying that 95% of the statements attributed to Jesus are fabrics of the authors’ imagination. Liberalism denies the deity of Jesus, the divine Trinity, an inerrant Scripture, the fall of man, the wrath of God, and the only salvation through the atoning blood of the cross of Christ.
Most of our mainline seminaries are training our youth to go into all the world to undermine the gospel.
Satan appears as an angel of light when he who is the messenger of eternal death pretends to be the way of eternal life.
Responding to theological liberalism
Beliefs of professing Christians
The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University reports their findings from their American Worldview Inventory 2021 about the beliefs of those who call themselves Christian. Here are some of their findings:
- The meaning of “Christian” in America today is far from monolithic, with a number of diverse and often conflicting theological views—even beliefs that are thoroughly unbiblical perspectives—among those who embrace the label.
- The vast majority of American adults (69%) self-identify as “Christian” and embrace many basic tenets of the faith. But a closer look shows that at the same time, many in this group hold views clearly in conflict with traditional teachings and only 9% actually possess a biblical worldview, according to George Barna, CRC Director of Research.
Unbiblical beliefs
While a large share of this population embraces various biblical principles and truths, this large group entertains a wide range of perspectives that are not in harmony with biblical teachings. Among the errant perspectives most widely embraced are:
• The basic nature of man. 72% argue that people are basically good
• Moral authority. 71% consider feelings, experience, or the input of friends and family as their most trusted sources of moral guidance
• Validity of all faith. 66% say that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue
• Inclusivity of faith. 64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value
• Salvation by works. 58% believe that if a person is good enough, they can earn their way into Heaven.
• Denial of the Trinity. 58% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being. He is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity.
• Fate or destiny resulting from one’s previous actions. 57% believe in karma.
• Moral relativity. 52% claim that determining moral truth is up to each individual. There are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time.
Warning the world of false teaching
True Christians must never weary of warning the world of this false teaching. Rather, they should always be trying to win the world to its only Savior. John Gerstner has said, “True Christians must raise an objection against false Christianity. If the world goes on calling that Christianity, the world will go on perishing, but their blood will be on their own head, and ours.” He adds, “There’s got to be an opposition to this phenomenal attack on Christianity in the name of Christianity, wounding Christ in the house of His friends, not his enemies, who are avowed opponents…from people who bear the name of Jesus. We’ve go to be to blame…”4https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/handout-church-history/20th-century-theological-liberalism
Belief in the biblical Christ brings real hope and joy
By its very nature, Christianity is historic. It reveals the love of God, who would send His only Son to the world to save rebellious sinners. It tells us that Jesus, the God-man, brought salvation to us by sacrificing His own life so we can be forgiven and have eternal life. This act of God brings peace, hope and joy to the soul of a repentant sinner. And the Bible warns us that there is no other way to be reconciled to Him other than by faith in His Son.
Don’t miss God’s free gift of grace through unbelief. Liberalism denies all that God has promised. Jesus invites you to come to Him by faith and enter into His rest.
Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
And for crystal clear YouTube presentations of the gospel message from several trusted sources, click here.
References
- 1J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, First published 1923, New edition published 2009, p. 2
- 2ibid, p.3
- 3These are some of the key points included in Machen’s classic book, Christianity and Liberalism.
- 4https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/handout-church-history/20th-century-theological-liberalism
