Liberalism And The Bible

Theological liberalism is accepted by many professing Christians in the United States and around the world.  It it the underlying theological system of many universities and seminaries as well as that of most of the leadership of the so called mainline Protestant denominations.  The mainline denominations include:  the Episcopalian Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, American Baptist Churches, and the United Methodist Church.  Liberalism has even infiltrated evangelical churches to a certain degree.  

The foundation of Liberalism is the rejection of Scripture alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals reject the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Bible.  In Liberalism the Bible is no longer God's revelation to us but merely the opinions of men and their experiences of God.  This is where we see the elevation of personal experience over Scripture as the ultimate authority.  The liberals used to proclaim that Christianity is life and not doctrine.  

According to the liberals many of the Old Testament stories were just fiction and the New Testament miracles never happened.  They denied that Adam and Eve were real people and the doctrine of original sin.  The liberals also denied the virgin birth of Christ, the deity of Christ, his miracles, the substitutionary atonement, the historical/physical resurrection of Christ, and his second coming.  

Liberals rejected the wrath of God, his judgement, and the existence of hell.  Liberals tried to focus only on the love of God.  They rejected the sinfulness of mankind and believed that man was basically good.  Since a savior was no longer needed Jesus was not seen as a savior but merely as an example to follow.  Since people no longer needed to be saved from their sins the social gospel replaced the Biblical gospel.  Personal salvation was no longer needed so the focus was just on relieving suffering and the problems of this world.  

As J. Gresham Machen once said, Liberalism is not Christianity at all.  Liberalism is nothing more than unbelief.  It is simply secularism with Christian language.  Liberals adopted secular philosophies such as Darwinism and naturalism.  They accepted Darwinism and rejected the creation account of the Bible.  They accepted naturalism which denies that miracles can happen, and then concluded that the miracles of the Bible did not happen.  

The liberals rejected the authority of God and his Word and were left with human reason, experience, and imagination as their authority.  The liberals attempted to sit in judgement of God and his Word, when in reality God and his Word stand in judgement of them.  Liberals need to repent of their unbelief and submit to the authority of God and his Word.  They must renounce the teaching of mere men and embrace the Bible alone as the ultimate authority.  Liberals must repent of their sin and trust Christ alone for salvation.  

Friedrich Schleiermacher, The Father Of Liberalism

Theological liberalism emerged in the 1800's heavily influenced by the Enlightenment which began in the 1700's.  The Enlightenment elevated human reason as the ultimate authority and placed man at the center of all things.  Liberalism has had a great influence on the church and society over the last few centuries.  

German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is known as the father of theological liberalism.  Schleiermacher was strongly influenced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).  Kant separated things into the noumenal realm (outside the mind) and the phenomenal realm (inside the mind).  The noumenal realm referred to the thing in itself while the phenomenal realm referred to the thing as it appears.  Kant believed things in the noumenal realm (what exists outside the mind) cannot be known about, we can only know that it exists.  Kant believed we could only know things in the phenomenal realm, that is things as they appear.  

Friedrich Schleiermacher took the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and applied it to theology.  Schleiermacher located God in the noumenal realm where he could not be known.  He believed God could only be known through the phenomenal realm, that is only as he appears to someone.  Schleiermacher believed one could not actually know God, but could only know his experience of God.  

So for Schleiermacher theology was not the study of God but the study of one's experience of God.  It is not God revealing himself to humanity in the Bible but humanity experiencing "God consciousness."  Scripture was no longer the ultimate authority, it was now replaced by human experience.  For Schleiermacher the Bible was no longer the Word of God revealed to us because God could not be known.  Instead the Bible was just men writing down their experiences of God.  

The Bible was no longer the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God.  It was no longer considered truth from God, it was nothing more than the writing of mere men.  The historical accounts and miracle claims of the Bible were now rejected.  In Liberalism the Bible was no longer the ultimate authority.  It was now replaced by human reason, experience, and imagination.