Questions for liberal Christians

[Lainey]

1. Do you believe in Hell? If so, what do you think it is like? If not, do you believe in Heaven? For those who say Hell is "eternal separation from God," what does this mean?

2. What do you think happens to unbelievers when they die?

3. Do you believe that Jesus was literally the son of God, and was literally resurrected?

4. Do you believe in sin? If so, where did it come from?

5. Do you believe humans need "saving?" If so, from what?

Thanks!

[Shadow Fusion]

1. Do you believe in Hell? If so, what do you think it is like? If not, do you believe in Heaven? For those who say Hell is "eternal separation from God," what does this mean?

2. What do you think happens to unbelievers when they die?

3. Do you believe that Jesus was literally the son of God, and was literally resurrected?

4. Do you believe in sin? If so, where did it come from?

5. Do you believe humans need "saving?" If so, from what?

Thanks!

1) Yes, it's the worst possible place you could be .

Eternal separation from God means you are separated from what ever God is. God is defined as love in the Bible, so hell is the opposite of love. God is everything as good, hell is everything bad.

2) I think they go to hell (but that's up to God)

3) Yes absolutely.

4) Sin is anything that goes against God. It was created when freewill was created, the ability to go against God (the ability to sin).

5) Yes, from themselves. We are naturally bad people. very bad. And nothing we can do can possibly save us.

If you disagree with any of that, let me know and I'll help to explain it

Cheers

[Lainey]

Shadow Fusion, do you consider your self a liberal Christian? If so, why? What do you see as liberal about your beliefs?

[Shadow Fusion]

Shadow Fusion, do you consider your self a liberal Christian? If so, why? What do you see as liberal about your beliefs?

I'm speaking in terms of the word liberal, I'm not sure if there's a different meaning to "liberal Christians".

I guess it's down to opinion but I'll give you the following:

• * I'm non-denominational. I do my best to accurately understand the Bible, but do not blindly follow a certain denomination. Though I'm currently most similar to Australian Anglicanism (which is quite different to American/British Anglicanism as I understand it).
  * I wasn't born into religion, my parents were Atheists.
  * My faith is based on facts (i.e. historical, scientific evidence etc.) and not religious dogma.

It might be better if you told me what a liberal Christian is meant to look like

[Lainey]

So, do you believe in evolution?

I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out. The liberal Christians I know of here are Micatala and MagusYanam, so far.

Do you think your parents went to Hell (or, if they're still alive, do you think they're going to Hell?).

[Shadow Fusion]

So, do you believe in evolution?

I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out. The liberal Christians I know of here are Micatala and MagusYanam, so far.

Do you think your parents went to Hell (or, if they're still alive, do you think they're going to Hell?).

Micro evolution yes, macro no. I don't believe that evolution can account for all life on earth.

BUT: I don't believe it affects Christianity either. So I have no problem believing in evolution, but I don't believe in macro-evolution at this time.

My mum became a Christian after I did, but my Dad would probably go to hell yes.

[Intrepidman]

1. Do you believe in Hell? If so, what do you think it is like? If not, do you believe in Heaven? For those who say Hell is "eternal separation from God," what does this mean?

2. What do you think happens to unbelievers when they die?

3. Do you believe that Jesus was literally the son of God, and was literally resurrected?

4. Do you believe in sin? If so, where did it come from?

5. Do you believe humans need "saving?" If so, from what?

Thanks!

1) Yes. I think it's the worst place imaginable. Where God has removed all His love, and has placed all His wrath.

2) They go to Hell. Which really sucks, I wish this wasn't so.

3) Indeed

4) Yes. Are you referring to the deed, or the concept? The first act of sin was committed by Satan. The concept of sin is eternal and predates the existence of the universe. (God knew there would be sin before He made anything)


5) Yes, from the affronts they have knowingly committed against man and God.

[Zzyzx]

.
Lainey,

The responses you have received do not represent "Liberal Christian" viewpoint as I understand the meaning of the term.

I do NOT respond as a Theist at all – but as a concerned individual. A quick Internet search yielded the following:

Liberal Christianity, broadly speaking, is a method of biblical hermeneutics, an individualistic method of understanding God through the use of scripture by applying the same modern hermeneutics used to understand any ancient writings. Liberal Christianity does not claim to be a belief structure, and as such is not dependent upon any Church dogma or creedal statements. Unlike conservative varieties of Christianity, it has no unified set of propositional beliefs. The word liberal in liberal Christianity denotes a characteristic willingness to interpret scripture without any preconceived notion of inerrancy of scripture or the correctness of Church dogma.[2] A liberal Christian, however, may hold certain beliefs in common with traditional, orthodox, or even conservative Christianity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Christianity

Bold added

From Beliefnet

What Liberal Protestants Believe

Also sometimes referred to as secular, modern, or humanistic. This is an umbrella term for Protestant denominations, or churches within denominations, that view the Bible as the witness of God rather than the word of God, to be interpreted in its historical context through critical analysis. Examples include some churches within Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ. There are more than 2,000 Protestant denominations offering a wide range of beliefs from extremely liberal to mainline to ultra-conservative and those that include characteristics on both ends.

Belief in Deity
Trinity of the Father (God), the Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit that comprises one God Almighty. Many believe God is incorporeal.

Incarnations
Beliefs vary from the literal to the symbolic belief in Jesus Christ as God's incarnation. Some believe we are all sons and daughters of God and that Christ was exemplary, but not God.

Origin of Universe and Life
The Bible's account is symbolic. God created and controls the processes that account for the universe and life (e.g. evolution), as continually revealed by modern science.

After Death
Goodness will somehow be rewarded and evil punished after death, but what is most important is how you show your faith and conduct your life on earth.

Why Evil?
Most do not believe that humanity inherited original sin from Adam and Eve or that Satan actually exists. Most believe that God is good and made people inherently good, but also with free will and imperfect nature, which leads some to immoral behavior.

Salvation
Various beliefs: Some believe all will go to heaven, as God is loving and forgiving. Others believe salvation lies in doing good works and no harm to others, regardless of faith. Some believe baptism is important. Some believe the concept of salvation after death is symbolic or nonexistent.

Undeserved Suffering
Most Liberal Christians do not believe that Satan causes suffering. Some believe suffering is part of God's plan, will, or design, even if we don't immediately understand it. Some don't believe in any spiritual reasons for suffering, and most take a humanistic approach to helping those in need.

Contemporary Issues
Most churches teach that abortion is morally wrong, but many ultimately support a woman's right to choose, usually accompanied by policies to provide counseling on alternatives. Many are accepting of homosexuality and gay rights.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2001/06 ... lieve.aspx

Here is a Conservative Christian view of Liberal Christianity

In “liberal Christian� teaching, which is not Christian at all, man’s reason is stressed and is treated as the final authority. Liberal theologians seek to reconcile Christianity with secular science and “modern thinking.� In doing so, they treat science as all-knowing and the Bible as fable-laden and false. Genesis’ early chapters are reduced to poetry or fantasy, having a message, but not to be taken literally (in spite of Jesus’ having spoken of those early chapters in literal terms). Mankind is not seen as totally depraved, and thus liberal theologians have an optimistic view of the future of mankind. The social gospel is also emphasized, while denying the inability of fallen man to fulfill it. Whether a person is saved from their sin and its penalty in hell is no longer the issue; the main thing is how man treats his fellow man. “Love� of our fellow man becomes the defining issue. As a result of this “reasoning� by liberal theologians, the following doctrines are taught by liberal quasi-Christian theologians:

1) The Bible is not “God-breathed� and has errors. Because of this belief, man (the liberal theologians) must determine which teachings are correct and which are not. To believe that the Bible is “inspired� (in that word’s original meaning) by God is only held by simpletons. This directly contradicts 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.�

2) The virgin birth of Christ is a mythological false teaching. This directly contradicts Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 2.

3) Jesus did not rise again from the grave in bodily form. This contradicts the Resurrection accounts in all four gospels and the entire New Testament.

4) Jesus was a good moral teacher, but His followers and their followers have taken liberties with the history of His life as recorded in Scripture (there were no “supernatural� miracles), with the gospels having been written many years later and merely ascribed to the early disciples in order to give greater weight to their teachings. This contradicts the 2 Timothy passage and the doctrine of the supernatural preservation of the Scriptures by God.

5) Hell is not real. Man is not lost in sin and is not doomed to some future judgment without a relationship with Christ through faith. Man can help himself; no sacrificial death by Christ is necessary since a loving God would not send people to such a place as hell and since man is not born in sin. This contradicts Jesus Himself, who declared Himself to be the Way to God, through His atoning death (John 14:6).

6) Most of the human authors of the Bible are not as traditionally believed. For instance, they believe that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible. The Book of Daniel had two authors because there is no way that the detailed “prophecies� of the later chapters could have been known ahead of time; they must have been written after the fact. The same thinking was carried over to the New Testament books as well. These ideas contradict not only the Scriptures, but historical documents verifying the existence of all the people the liberals deny.

7) The most important thing for man to do is to “love� his neighbor. What is the loving thing to do in any situation is not what the Bible says is good but what the liberal theologians decide is good. This denies the doctrine of total depravity, which states that man is capable to doing nothing good and loving (Jeremiah 17:9) until He has been redeemed by Christ and given a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

There are many pronouncements of Scripture against those who would deny the deity of Christ (2 Peter 2:1) (which liberal Christianity does); who would preach another gospel than that which was preached by the apostles (Galatians 1:8) (which is what the liberal theologians do in denying the necessity of Christ’s atoning death and preach a social gospel in its place). The Bible condemns those who call good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20) (which some liberal churches do by embracing homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle while the Bible repeatedly condemns its practice).

Scripture speaks against those who would cry “peace, peace� when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14) (which liberal theologians do by saying that man can attain peace with God apart from Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and that man need not worry about a future judgment before God). The Word of God speaks of a time when men will have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5) (which is what liberal theology does in that is says that there is some inner goodness in man that does not require a rebirth by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ). And it speaks against those who would serve idols instead of the one true God (1 Chronicles 16:26) (which liberal Christianity does in that it creates a false god according to its own liking rather than worshiping the God as He is described in the whole of the Bible).

http://www.gotquestions.org/liberal-Chr ... ology.html

Perhaps Jester could be helpful if you were to send him a PM.


Z

[Lainey]

Lainey,

The responses you have received do not represent "Liberal Christian" viewpoint as I understand the meaning of the term.

I do NOT respond as a Theist at all – but as a concerned individual. A quick Internet search yielded the following:

Yes, I noticed that. I was surprised at the responses I got so far, because it has been my experience that the very word "liberal" turns conservative Christians off. That's why I asked one of them (forget the name at the moment) why they considered themself a liberal Christian.

Thanks for the info and the suggestion!

[Intrepidman]

Lainey,

The responses you have received do not represent "Liberal Christian" viewpoint as I understand the meaning of the term.

I do NOT respond as a Theist at all – but as a concerned individual. A quick Internet search yielded the following:

Yes, I noticed that. I was surprised at the responses I got so far, because it has been my experience that the very word "liberal" turns conservative Christians off. That's why I asked one of them (forget the name at the moment) why they considered themself a liberal Christian.

Thanks for the info and the suggestion!

I thought you meant

5: broad-minded ; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms

Sorry.