The Appeal of Theological Liberalism

The title of my book that I am updating and slightly revising this year is The Limits of Liberalism: A Historical, Theological, and Personal Appraisal of Christian Liberalism. In Chapter Three, I highlight the appeal of theological liberalism before writing in the next chapter—and in the rest of the book—about my many misgivings regarding liberalism. 

The Psychological Appeal

Perhaps the primary psychological appeal of liberalism is found in its attitude of tolerance and broadmindedness.

For most college-educated young adults, this is an attractive characteristic, indeed. Many contemporary people seem to consider religious beliefs to be narrow and divisive, and especially so in fundamentalist expressions of religion, Christianity or otherwise.

By and large, though, liberal Christianity is “politically correct” and can be discussed at dinner parties or other social gatherings without ruffling anyone’s feathers, to use an old rural expression.

The appeal of liberalism is not just to young adults, though. Across the age spectrum, liberalism has a strong psychological appeal for many people who are fed up with the divisiveness, strife, and conflicts perpetuated in the name of religion.

From ancient times until the present, many wars have been waged in the name of some religious commitment. It seems, sadly, that Pascal’s words are true: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

Furthermore, in contrast to its condemnation of many “social sins” such as war, discrimination, exploitation, and the like, on an individual level liberal Christianity tends to be non-judgmental and is seldom critical of the personal lifestyles of others.

Yes, for many people there is an attractive psychological appeal in Christian liberalism.

The Political Appeal

It is important to differentiate between theological liberalism and social/political liberalism. Despite some overlapping characteristics, there are also distinct differences and one does not necessarily imply the other.

Nevertheless, there does seem to be a close alliance between many aspects of theological liberalism and liberal politics—and most theological liberals have embraced political/social liberalism also, to varying degrees.

Among younger voters in the U.S., for decades now there has been a growing percentage of people who do not claim any religious affiliations. They are often referred to as the Nones.

An October 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 84% of U.S. adults in the “silent generation” (those born from 1928 to 1945) identified as Christians and only 10% were “unaffiliated.” By contrast, only 49% of Millennials (1981~96) self-identified as Christian and 40% were unaffiliated.

Fundamentalism as preserved and expanded by the Religious Right is a major reason for the growth of the Nones, and currently the Democratic Party, which embraces liberal Christianity far more than the Republican Party, is clearly more appealing to that segment of the population.

The Religious Appeal

In addition to the psychological and political appeals, there are also, of course, many religious appeals of Christian liberalism. These are attractive especially to those who are well-educated, sophisticated, and urbane.

Many who were reared in homes where traditional religious beliefs were highly valued have a positive feeling toward religion in general. But their broadened worldview and years of academic study made/make it difficult to hold on to the old theological views that were so much a part of their rearing.

Theological liberalism gave/gives many such persons the opportunity to hold a modern, scientific worldview and to be religious at the same time.

In Chapter Four, which I will highlight next month, we will look at the other side of the matter. Despite the various appeals of theological liberalism elucidated in Chapter Three, there are also some basic problems with Christian liberalism that call for careful attention.