Why Talk About Progressive Christianity

For the past two weeks I've been talking about my experiences with progressive Christianity in Massachusetts. This web site and blog are written for Christians. AS Christians we ted to live in an insulated world with little exposure to non-Christian thinking. I wrote about progressive Christianity because it provides an excellent example of how the meaning of the Bible can be twisted to serve man's desires instead of being the Word of God.

One of the things I found interesting are progressive Christian's attitudes toward learning something new about scripture. For example, the pastor I met said, "I understand you and I have very different views. Don't expect that you are going to change my views."

In other words, she was telling me that no matter what I said or showed her, she was closed to any possibilities other than what she already believed. I've encountered this attitude on a regular basis when talking with liberal (progressive) "Christians".

What type of attitude do I typically see in a Christian?

A Christian might say, "I have solid beliefs and I don't expect they will change. However, if it can be shown from scripture where I am wrong, I will change what I believe." In other words, a Christian puts God's word above their own ability to understand scripture, instead of putting their beliefs above God's word. We are imperfect and only God and God's word is perfect.

This does not mean we change direction every time we learn something new about the Bible. Sometimes it is easy to see an error in how we were thinking. Sometimes a new understanding of a passage of scripture must be carefully considered, prayed about and studied before we change what we believe. Often times the new view of scripture that was presented to us is invalid.

I've even heard well-known theologians say this. In spite of a lifetime of studying, teaching and learning about the Bible, they still put themselves under the authority of scripture. They are willing to change their beliefs if they are shown from scripture they are wrong.

My point is that scripture is always in authority over us.

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