Can Liberal Christians Take the Bible Seriously?

I came to the conclusion a few years ago that the danger of conservative religion is its potential to be abusive, while the danger in liberal religion is its potential to be neglectful. Psychology tells us that both are damaging, and in very similar ways, interestingly enough. It’s also true that it is usually easier to be aware of the deficiencies in the opposing side, and much more difficult to look at the shortcomings of one’s own position. Too many religious discussions devolve into ineffective mutual criticism that results in little or no healing or growth.

Before I ask you to consider the implications of my observation, let me define my terms. I use a very general definition of abuse: whenever a person is treated as an object. Neglect is a bit more difficult to define, but perhaps it is the failure to provide the resources and structures necessary for healthy growth and development.

Because it is so easy (and, of course, useless) to criticize “the other side”, I will try to confine my remarks to the nature of liberal neglect and try to offer some healing possibilities. When liberals react to the perceived foundation of conservative religion, namely, “Spare the rod and spoil the child”, they tend to go to the other extreme, believing that any structures of containment on children creates harmful suffering in the child. To give an example from religious life, conservative religion practically insists on blind obedience to the strictures of the church: you will attend worship, learn your Bible, tithe, and spend regular times in prayer, and have a “personal relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or else. (I won’t include a list of the obvious “don’ts” that go along with the above.) In reaction to what liberals perceive as threat-based religion, activities like worship, study of the Bible and Christian theology, “sacrificial” giving, and the personalized characteristics of relationship with God become optional and practically unnecessary.

Another way liberal neglect happens is that when liberals reject the concrete thinking and images they perceive in conservative religion, too often they simply cease their theological inquiry. Many of the books written these days that vilify religion have defined all religion in the narrowest (and most concrete) of terms. They never consider the power and legitimacy of the serious study of liberal theology. And part of that phenomenon is the fault of us liberals!

As a minister, it is very sad to me that when people face the crises of life and attempt to find comfort and meaning through religion, too often their available theological ideas turn out to be those of a 10 year old. So many of us learned the basic Biblical stories in childhood, but then never took the next step of developing an adult context for what we had learned. That leaves us with only two choices: Accept the truth of our immature understanding, or reject faith in God entirely. Actually, there is a third option often popular in liberal churches: ignore theology entirely and commit to promoting social justice instead.

I think it is very important for us to excavate the foundations of Christian theology – to find a way to understand our faith so that it can nourish our growth, our communities of faith, and can promote our ministry and mission. We also need to have a mature understanding of faith whenever we face the losses, challenges, and crises of life.

So the real question is not whether we can take the Bible seriously. The real question is how we understand and use it. So I encourage liberal Christians to read the Bible, ask for help in finding a context to understand it, and then participate in the unavoidable personal and social transformation that Jesus advocates.

It is in this spirit that I will be leading a Lenten study based in the book, “The Last Week”, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Attending the class and/or reading the book will likely enrich your Holy Week experience.

That’s my position. What do you think?

Wayne Gustafson

“Our faith is 2000 years old. Our thinking isn’t.”
The United Church___of Christ