Download or read book Faith Without Certainty written by and published by Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. This book was released on with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book lays out the basic characteristics of liberal theology, delving into historical and philosophical sources as well as social and intellectual roots. Ideal for readers who want a better understanding of liberal theology, a religious tradition that is rooted not in authority but in one's own experience and conscience.
Download or read book Against Liberal Theology written by Roger E. Olson and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberal Christian theology is a big topic in today's churches and seminaries. But what does liberal theology really mean and why is it so controversial? What does it actually believe about truth, Scripture, and Jesus Christ? And where does it lead? The term "liberal theology" is often misinterpreted, confused with a set of loose ideologies within the Christian faith and sometimes rallied behind by genuine Christians who are simply concerned about modern social justice issues. It's also been wrongly leveled against churches and even entire denominations that don't adhere to the tradition of liberal theology. Against Liberal Theology, is written in a direct and conversational tone that makes sense of this theological movement by: Defining liberal theology and explaining its beliefs about central Christian doctrines. Giving its history and progression—beginning with 18th century German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher and leading up to today. Making distinctions between liberal theology and simple moderate or progressive Christian thought, much of which is still biblically committed and doctrinally orthodox. Discussing the arguments of specific liberal theologians and what their words mean in regard to everyday Christian living and faith. Sincere and to the point, professor and theologian Roger E. Olson is not interested in grinding axes. He openly admits to frustration with fundamentalist Christianity and explains why. But he warns that true liberal theology—more concerned with making Christianity palatable to the modern mind than it is committed to biblical integrity—isn't the right alternative to the cultic tendencies of fundamentalism and has little in common with classical, biblical Christianity. Against Liberal Theology is perfect for Christians on any side of a cultural debate—for those who consider themselves progressive or conservative or something in between. It's always unpopular to be against anything. But in order for Christianity to be anything, it has to stand against some things. If Christianity is compatible with anything and everything, it is nothing.
Download or read book Kissing Fish written by Roger Wolsey and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-01-10 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity receives a lot of attention in the media, but the most frequently discussed version represents a type of Christianity that sometimes turns people away from the Church. Kissing Fish presents a postmodern systematic theology of progressive Christianity, a growing movement that reclaims the radical message of the Gospel. This informative, contemplative, and entertaining book will guide you through the beliefs that inspire us to love one another in the transformative way that Jesus proclaimed, including practices that will take your faith to a new level. Kissing Fish is a scholarly yet thoroughly accessible introduction to progressive Christianity. While the intended target audience for this work would seem to be those who have either left the Christian faith or never adopted it at all; the work is filled with pearls of wisdom for all of us, whether associated with Christianity or not. Kissing Fish is a truly remarkable work, serving both as a reminder of the beauty and grace that form the central tenets of the faith, while offering a graceful yet prophetic rebuttal to its more exclusionary tendencies. Kissing Fish is part theological text and part tell-all personal spiritual journey. Imagine a down-to-earth combination of the works of Marcus Borg, Anne Lamott, Jim Wallis, Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Diana Butler-Bass, Brian McLaren, Walter Wink, Wes Howard-Brook, and Donald Miller. A profound romp that informs and inspires.
Download or read book Theology for Liberal Protestants written by Douglas F. Ottati and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-06 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A two-volume work by Douglas Ottati, Theology for Liberal Protestants presents a comprehensive theology for Christians who are willing to rethink and revise traditional doctrines in face of contemporary challenges. It is Augustinian, claiming that we belong to the God of grace who creates, judges, and renews. It is Protestant, affirming the priority of the Bible and the fallibility of church teaching. It is liberal, recognizing the importance of critical arguments and scientific inquiries, a deeply historical consciousness, and a commitment to social criticism and engagement. This first volume contains sections on method and creation. Ottati's method envisions the world and ourselves in relation to God as Creator, Judge, and Redeemer. The bulk of the book offers an in-depth discussion of God as Creator, the world as creation, and humans as good, capable, and limited creatures.
Download or read book The End of Liberal Theology written by Peter Toon and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern theology is a maze of conflicting beliefs. In fact, the shape of contemporary theology has changed so much in this century— and especially since the 1960s— that it’ s hard to make sense of it all. Of not only what the various belief systems mean, but how we came to be where we are within those systems. In The End of Liberal Theology, respected theological lecturer and author Peter Toon introduces evangelicals to modern forms of doctrine and theology— both Protestant and Roman Catholic. He does so by discussing the basics of orthodoxy, by speaking to the various points of accomodation that have resulted in new forms of theology, and by dissecting liberalism and its effect on evangelicalism. This book is thus a “ family tree” of modern theology, showing how the various contemporary forms, and those that preceded them, are related to each other. With its comprehensive analysis, The End of Liberal Theology is destined to be a yardstick by which critical evaluations of current doctrines— both old and new, liberal and conservative— will be made.
Download or read book The Tradition of Liberal Theology written by Michael Langford and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-20 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes and defends a long-standing tradition that maintains a proper balance between religious faith and human rationality Many of the early apologists, including Justin Martyr and Origen, presented a defense of the Christian faith that sought to combine the message of the Gospels with respect for the kind of rationality associated with Socrates and his followers. Michael Langford argues that, despite many misunderstandings, the term "liberal theology" can properly be used to describe this tradition. Langford's Tradition of Liberal Theology begins with a historical and contemporary definition of "liberal theology" and identifies eleven typical characteristics, such as a nonliteralist approach to interpreting Scripture, a rejection of original guilt, and the joint need for faith and works. Langford then gives vignettes of thirteen historical Christian figures who personify the liberal tradition. Finally, he explores some contemporary alternatives to liberal theology -- fundamentalism, the Catholic magisterium, Karl Barth's theology -- and presents a rational defense of the tradition of liberal theology.
Download or read book The Making of American Liberal Theology written by Gary J. Dorrien and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text identifies the indigenous roots of American liberal theology and uncovers a wider, longer-running tradition than has been thought. Taking a narrative approach the text provides a biographical reading of important religious thinkers of the time.
Download or read book The Rise of Liberal Religion written by Matthew Hedstrom and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Best First Book Prize of the American Society of Church History Named a Society for U. S. Intellectual History Notable Title in American Intellectual History The story of liberal religion in the twentieth century, Matthew S. Hedstrom contends, is a story of cultural ascendency. This may come as a surprise-most scholarship in American religious history, after all, equates the numerical decline of the Protestant mainline with the failure of religious liberalism. Yet a look beyond the pews, into the wider culture, reveals a more complex and fascinating story, one Hedstrom tells in The Rise of Liberal Religion. Hedstrom attends especially to the critically important yet little-studied arena of religious book culture-particularly the religious middlebrow of mid-century-as the site where religious liberalism was most effectively popularized. By looking at book weeks, book clubs, public libraries, new publishing enterprises, key authors and bestsellers, wartime reading programs, and fan mail, among other sources, Hedstrom is able to provide a rich, on-the-ground account of the men, women, and organizations that drove religious liberalism's cultural rise in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Critically, by the post-WWII period the religious middlebrow had expanded beyond its Protestant roots, using mystical and psychological spirituality as a platform for interreligious exchange. This compelling history of religion and book culture not only shows how reading and book buying were critical twentieth-century religious practices, but also provides a model for thinking about the relationship of religion to consumer culture more broadly. In this way, The Rise of Liberal Religion offers both innovative cultural history and new ways of seeing the imprint of liberal religion in our own times.
Download or read book Reinventing Liberal Christianity written by Theo Hobson and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In past years liberal Christianity challenged centuries of authoritarian tradition and had great political influence. Today it is widely dismissed as a watering-down of the faith, and more conservative forms of Christianity are increasingly dominant. Can the liberal Christian tradition recover its influence? Hobson argues that a simple revival is not possible, because liberal Christianity consists of two traditions. He aims to transform liberal Christianity through the rediscovery of faith and ritual.
Download or read book A Liberal Theology for the Twenty first Century written by Michael J. Langford and published by Ashgate Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberal theology, in its typical form, represents the attempt to approach religion from a rational perspective without denying or belittling the importance of religious experience and religious commitment. Versions of liberal theology can be found in all the great religions.This book is primarily concerned with a Christian tradition that goes back to the second century and reached a high point in the seventeenth. This tradition includes a method of inquiry which, when re-evaluated in the light of recent discussions on the nature of rationality and applied to contemporary issues, reveals that there are versions of materialism, monism and theism that can accord with rationality. When the liberal tradition is taken at its best, it can support a version of Christianity which continues to refer to God as a transcendent 'reality', and which can continue to support recognizable doctrines of incarnation, redemption and Trinity.The liberal theology introduced and advanced in this book can be contrasted with many recent 'radical theologies', and could be called 'liberal orthodoxy'. Students of philosophy, theology and religious studies, as well as clergy and interested lay readers, will find this an accessible insight into liberal theology and to current debates on materialism, atheism and inter-faith dialogue.
Download or read book The Mosaic of Christian Belief written by Roger E. Olson and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2016-03-21 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this second edition of Roger E. Olson's classic work, he thematically traces the contours of Christian belief down through the ages, revealing a pattern of both unity and diversity. He finds a consensus of teaching that is both unitive and able to incorporate a faithful diversity when not forced into the molds of false either-or alternatives.
Download or read book Theology and the Soul of the Liberal State written by Leonard V. Kaplan and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2010 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rising calls in both the United States and abroad for theologizing national agendas have renewed examinations about whether liberal states can accommodate such programs without either endangering citizens' rights or trivializing religious concerns. Conventional wisdom suggests that theology is necessarily unfriendly to the liberal state, but neither philosophical analysis nor empirical argument has convincingly established that conclusion. Examining the problem from a variety of perspectives including law, philosophy, history, political theory, and religious studies, the essays in Theology and the Soul of the Liberal State suggest the possibilities for and limits on what theological reflection might contribute to liberal polities across the globe. Theology and the Soul of the Liberal State develops these issues under five headings. Part One explores 'The Nature of Religious Argument' as it can inflect discussions of public policy, political theory, jurisprudence, and education. Part Two, 'Theologies of the Marketplace,' notes that theology can by turns be highly critical, neutral, or even inordinately supportive of market operations. Part Three, 'European Perspectives,' reviews and develops arguments from Abraham Kuyper, Karl Barth, and French post-modernists concerning how one might integrate theological discourse into the public sphere. Part Four offers Israel, Pakistan and Tibet as 'Asian Perspectives' on how theology may comport with liberalism in recently created states (or, in the last case, a diasporic government-in-exile) where powerful religious constituencies make 'secular' civil action extremely problematic. Finally, Part V, 'Religion and Terror,' probes the vexed relationship between conceptions of divine and human justice, where the imperatives of theology and state confront each other most nakedly. Collectively, Theology and the Soul of the Liberal State suggests that the liberal state cannot keep theology out of public discourse and may even benefit from its intervention, but that their intersection, if potentially beneficial, is always fraught.
Download or read book The History and Theology of Calvinism written by Curt Daniel and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-02 with total page 912 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With forewords by both Joel Beeke and John MacArthur, you would be right to expect something special from this book. It is the result of decades of study and teaching. It provides a comprehensive overview of Calvinism in two sections: the "History" surveys the Reformed theologians and preachers, the development of the theology and the major controversies. The "Theology" section discusses doctrines related to the sovereignty of God, the five points of Calvinism and the distinctive contributions of Calvinism in other areas.
Download or read book Evangelical Vs Liberal written by James K. Wellman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cultural conflict that increasingly divides American society is particularly evident within Protestant Christianity. Liberals and evangelicals clash in bitter competition for the future of their respective subcultures. In this book, James Wellman examines this conflict as it is played out in the American Northwest. Drawing on an in-depth study of twenty-four of the area's fastest-growing evangelical churches and ten vital liberal Protestant congregations, Wellman captures the leading trends of each group and their interaction with the wider American culture. He finds a remarkable depth of disagreement between the two groups on almost every front. Where evangelicals are willing to draw sharp lines on gay marriage and abortion, liberals complain about evangelical self-righteousness and disregard for personal freedoms. Liberals prefer the moral power of inclusiveness, while evangelicals frame their moral stances as part of a metaphysical struggle between good and evil. The entrepreneurial nature of evangelicalism translates into support of laissez-faire capitalism and democratic political advocacy. Liberals view both policies with varying degrees of apprehension. Such differences are significant on a national scale, with implications for the future of American Protestantism in particular and American culture in general. Both groups act in good faith and with good intentions, and each maintains a moral core that furthers its own identity, ideology, ritual, mission, and politics. In some situations, they share similar attitudes despite having different beliefs. Attending church services and interviewing senior pastors, lay leaders and new members, Wellman is able to provide new insights into the convenient categories of "liberal" and "evangelical," the nature of the conflict, and the myriad ways both groups affect and are affected by American culture.
Download or read book The Rise of Theological Liberalism and the Decline of American Methodism written by James V. Heidinger (II) and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Once a strong, vital, and growing denomination, the United Methodist Church is now barely recognizable after more than four decades of demoralization and membership decline. What has gone wrong? In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the American church saw the rise of "theological liberalism," a religious system that intended to respond to new scientific and intellectual currents that were sweeping across the culture. Instead, liberalism not only challenged, but often displaced the substance of the church's doctrine and teaching, accommodating it to the new intellectual milieu of secularism and rationalism. In The Rise of Theological Liberalism and the Decline of American Methodism, James Heidinger discusses the rise of liberalism in America, its anti-supernatural focuses, and the resulting transition in Wesleyan theology. While there are undoubtedly many dimensions to the decline of a denomination, Heidinger suggests we look no further than theological liberalism as the driving force behind the fall of the once-mighty United Methodist Church"--
Download or read book Liberal Theology written by Peter Crafts Hodgson and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this incisive work, distinguished theologian Peter Hodgsonreflects on the precarious yet vital role of theology today andits nearly lost and sometimes discredited tradition of liberalthought, especially liberal theology. Liberal theology has beenthe main thread of Christian thinking over the last 200 years, butit threatens to be obscured by a rising tide of conservative andeven fundamentalist Christianity, on the one hand, and a secularmaterialism, on the other. Hodgson's sure-footed work offers a way of seeing our religiousand political situations together. He calls for liberal theology toreinvent itself and to fulfill its crucial historical roles as a mediatorbetween Christian commitment and the cultural situation andas a critical lens through which to retrieve and reconstrue keyChristian doctrines. The heart or root of Christian commitment, Hodgson finds,lies in its radical vision of freedom – God's, nature's, and ourown. In the end, Hodgson's proposal embraces not only theologybut Christianity itself and its relevance to today's mostpressing problems.
Download or read book The End of Liberal Theology written by Peter Toon and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern theology is a maze of conflicting beliefs. In fact, the shape of contemporary theology has changed so much in this century--and especially since the 1960s-- that it's hard to make sense of it all. Of not only what the various belief systems mean, but how we came to be where we are within those systems. In The End of Liberal Theology, respected theological lecturer and author Peter Toon introduces evangelicals to modern forms of doctrine and theology--both Protestant and Roman Catholic. He does so by discussing the basics of orthodoxy, by speaking to the various points of accommodation that have resulted in new forms of theology, and by dissecting liberalism and its effect on evangelicalism. This book is thus a family tree of modern theology, showing how the various contemporary forms, and those that preceded them, are related to each other. With its comprehensive analysis, The End of Liberal Theology is destined to be a yardstick by which critical evaluations of current doctrines--both old and new, liberal and conservative--will be made.
