Liberal Christianity: Its Psychological and Theological Limitations

In Theological Crossfire: An Evangelical and Liberal Dialogue, Clark Pinnock writes:

All theologians find themselves constantly struggling with two poles or horizons that define their work. They strive to correlate the Christian message with human existence. Theology needs to wrestle with both to be worth much. Evangelicals are relatively more preoccupied with the message pole and liberals relatively more with the pole of human existence.

From the perspective of compass theory, progressive Christians rightly affirm that God is immanently present in creation, and that God enables people to actualize their human potential. However, the here and now quest for relevancy to contemporary culture can disconnect persons from essential orthodox doctrines derived from the authority of Scripture, definitive creeds, and valuable church traditions. This is one of the consequences of holding an "Aristotelian mind-set," noted in my book, Compass Psychotheology: Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet.

Loath to being judged as naive in the modern world where faith without reason is perceived as foolish, liberals are discomfited by fundamentalist/evangelical fervor that regards the Bible as God’s Word and Christ as humanity’s Savior from sin. The progressive wants to make Christianity respectable by bringing it under the auspices of reason. To be seen as intelligent and perhaps even avant-garde, one rejects doctrines or scriptural assertions that seem irrational or implausible.   

Christian Doctrine

Up-to-date knowledge from the sciences, the humanities, and cultural analysis can give liberals the sense of being Christianity’s intelligentsia who move beyond simple biblical faith. This philosophical sophistication and outward focus on improving society makes it difficult for the progressive Christian to admit personal foibles like rigid personality patterns or blind spots in one’s human nature.       

Even though one perceives one’s self as open-minded, a reaction formation often develops against historically orthodox tenets of faith. A certain skittishness prevails regarding supernatural intervention and particular answers to prayer, coupled with an aversion to seeking personal redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is marginalized as a vague and irrational aspect of Trinitarian theology who is functionally irrelevant to the improvement of society. The idea of a deepening personal encounter with the Holy Spirit is judged as lacking empirical evidence and too mystical for modern life. One bypasses pressing into spiritual transformation in favor of pressing for social action through the church and one’s own resolve. 

Social Action

There is an unconscious fear of surrendering to an emotional encounter with God, or being guided in directions that smack of loss of control. God’s guidance is sought in terms of what seems the most rational way to proceed, whether in daily life or in choosing one’s calling.

The call from liberal and progressive pulpits is not for evangelization but for active involvement in solving society’s problems. The progressive Christian is often left with two options in response: one can mobilize one’s will to unselfishly serve others or one can quietly withdraw into apathy, feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of transforming the world through heroic human willpower. A person who becomes inwardly apathetic is outwardly present in church attendance, but before long may even withdraw from that.

Moreover, there is a price to pay for dissociation from orthodox Christian roots and estrangement from the biblical worldview: the loss of absolute points of reference. An indiscriminate pluralism results. By losing sight of doctrinal clarity, apostolic teaching, and the inspired continuity of Scripture, an individual can, in effect, lose one’s Christian identity. A person’s life can drift in a sea of relativity.

The overall result is identity diffusion: a lack of commitment to absolutes that would firm up a self-identity in intimacy with God and others. 

As a consequence, the very community and communion so ardently sought in this world can elude the liberal Christian, since the Aristotelian mind-set unconsciously excludes the transcendent Trinity who makes such community possible.

Transcendent Trinity

For more, read:

COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY:

Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet