The Making of American Liberal Theology

The Making of American Liberal Theology PDF Author: Gary J. Dorrien
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664223540
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description
This text identifies the indigenous roots of American liberal theology and uncovers a wider, longer-running tradition than has been thought. Taking a narrative approach the text provides a biographical reading of important religious thinkers of the time.

The Tradition of Liberal Theology

The Tradition of Liberal Theology PDF Author: Michael Langford
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802869815
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Describes and defends a long-standing tradition that maintains a proper balance between religious faith and human rationality Many of the early apologists, including Justin Martyr and Origen, presented a defense of the Christian faith that sought to combine the message of the Gospels with respect for the kind of rationality associated with Socrates and his followers. Michael Langford argues that, despite many misunderstandings, the term "liberal theology" can properly be used to describe this tradition. Langford's Tradition of Liberal Theology begins with a historical and contemporary definition of "liberal theology" and identifies eleven typical characteristics, such as a nonliteralist approach to interpreting Scripture, a rejection of original guilt, and the joint need for faith and works. Langford then gives vignettes of thirteen historical Christian figures who personify the liberal tradition. Finally, he explores some contemporary alternatives to liberal theology -- fundamentalism, the Catholic magisterium, Karl Barth's theology -- and presents a rational defense of the tradition of liberal theology.

Faith Without Certainty

Faith Without Certainty PDF Author:
Publisher: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
ISBN: 9781558965997
Category : Liberalism (Religion)
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This book lays out the basic characteristics of liberal theology, delving into historical and philosophical sources as well as social and intellectual roots. Ideal for readers who want a better understanding of liberal theology, a religious tradition that is rooted not in authority but in one's own experience and conscience.

The Making of American Liberal Theology

The Making of American Liberal Theology PDF Author: Gary J. Dorrien
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664223540
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description
This text identifies the indigenous roots of American liberal theology and uncovers a wider, longer-running tradition than has been thought. Taking a narrative approach the text provides a biographical reading of important religious thinkers of the time.

Theology for Liberal Protestants

Theology for Liberal Protestants PDF Author: Douglas F. Ottati
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467439134
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
A two-volume work by Douglas Ottati, Theology for Liberal Protestants presents a comprehensive theology for Christians who are willing to rethink and revise traditional doctrines in face of contemporary challenges. It is Augustinian, claiming that we belong to the God of grace who creates, judges, and renews. It is Protestant, affirming the priority of the Bible and the fallibility of church teaching. It is liberal, recognizing the importance of critical arguments and scientific inquiries, a deeply historical consciousness, and a commitment to social criticism and engagement. This first volume contains sections on method and creation. Ottati's method envisions the world and ourselves in relation to God as Creator, Judge, and Redeemer. The bulk of the book offers an in-depth discussion of God as Creator, the world as creation, and humans as good, capable, and limited creatures.

A Liberal Theology for the Twenty-first Century

A Liberal Theology for the Twenty-first Century PDF Author: Michael J. Langford
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
ISBN: 9780754605041
Category : Anglican Communion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Liberal theology, in its typical form, represents the attempt to approach religion from a rational perspective without denying or belittling the importance of religious experience and religious commitment. Versions of liberal theology can be found in all the great religions.This book is primarily concerned with a Christian tradition that goes back to the second century and reached a high point in the seventeenth. This tradition includes a method of inquiry which, when re-evaluated in the light of recent discussions on the nature of rationality and applied to contemporary issues, reveals that there are versions of materialism, monism and theism that can accord with rationality. When the liberal tradition is taken at its best, it can support a version of Christianity which continues to refer to God as a transcendent 'reality', and which can continue to support recognizable doctrines of incarnation, redemption and Trinity.The liberal theology introduced and advanced in this book can be contrasted with many recent 'radical theologies', and could be called 'liberal orthodoxy'. Students of philosophy, theology and religious studies, as well as clergy and interested lay readers, will find this an accessible insight into liberal theology and to current debates on materialism, atheism and inter-faith dialogue.

The Rise of Liberal Religion

The Rise of Liberal Religion PDF Author: Matthew Hedstrom
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195374495
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Winner of the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Best First Book Prize of the American Society of Church History Named a Society for U. S. Intellectual History Notable Title in American Intellectual History The story of liberal religion in the twentieth century, Matthew S. Hedstrom contends, is a story of cultural ascendency. This may come as a surprise-most scholarship in American religious history, after all, equates the numerical decline of the Protestant mainline with the failure of religious liberalism. Yet a look beyond the pews, into the wider culture, reveals a more complex and fascinating story, one Hedstrom tells in The Rise of Liberal Religion. Hedstrom attends especially to the critically important yet little-studied arena of religious book culture-particularly the religious middlebrow of mid-century-as the site where religious liberalism was most effectively popularized. By looking at book weeks, book clubs, public libraries, new publishing enterprises, key authors and bestsellers, wartime reading programs, and fan mail, among other sources, Hedstrom is able to provide a rich, on-the-ground account of the men, women, and organizations that drove religious liberalism's cultural rise in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Critically, by the post-WWII period the religious middlebrow had expanded beyond its Protestant roots, using mystical and psychological spirituality as a platform for interreligious exchange. This compelling history of religion and book culture not only shows how reading and book buying were critical twentieth-century religious practices, but also provides a model for thinking about the relationship of religion to consumer culture more broadly. In this way, The Rise of Liberal Religion offers both innovative cultural history and new ways of seeing the imprint of liberal religion in our own times.

Introducing Liberation Theology

Introducing Liberation Theology PDF Author: Leonardo Boff
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1608332942
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 99

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Book Description


Against Liberal Theology

Against Liberal Theology PDF Author: Roger E. Olson
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310139449
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Liberal Christian theology is a big topic in today's churches and seminaries. But what does liberal theology really mean and why is it so controversial? What does it actually believe about truth, Scripture, and Jesus Christ? And where does it lead? The term "liberal theology" is often misinterpreted, confused with a set of loose ideologies within the Christian faith and sometimes rallied behind by genuine Christians who are simply concerned about modern social justice issues. It's also been wrongly leveled against churches and even entire denominations that don't adhere to the tradition of liberal theology. Against Liberal Theology, is written in a direct and conversational tone that makes sense of this theological movement by: Defining liberal theology and explaining its beliefs about central Christian doctrines. Giving its history and progression—beginning with 18th century German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher and leading up to today. Making distinctions between liberal theology and simple moderate or progressive Christian thought, much of which is still biblically committed and doctrinally orthodox. Discussing the arguments of specific liberal theologians and what their words mean in regard to everyday Christian living and faith. Sincere and to the point, professor and theologian Roger E. Olson is not interested in grinding axes. He openly admits to frustration with fundamentalist Christianity and explains why. But he warns that true liberal theology—more concerned with making Christianity palatable to the modern mind than it is committed to biblical integrity—isn't the right alternative to the cultic tendencies of fundamentalism and has little in common with classical, biblical Christianity. Against Liberal Theology is perfect for Christians on any side of a cultural debate—for those who consider themselves progressive or conservative or something in between. It's always unpopular to be against anything. But in order for Christianity to be anything, it has to stand against some things. If Christianity is compatible with anything and everything, it is nothing.

The Spirit of American Liberal Theology

The Spirit of American Liberal Theology PDF Author: Gary Dorrien
Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corp
ISBN: 1646983300
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 661

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Book Description
The Spirit of American Liberal Theology is an interpretation of the entire U.S. American tradition of liberal theology. A highly condensed and far-more-accessible summary of Gary Dorrien’s three-volume trilogy, The Making of American Liberal Theology (Westminster John Knox Press 2001, 2003, and 2006), Dorrien here presses the argument that the most abundant, diverse, and persistent tradition of liberal theology is the one that blossomed in the United States and is still refashioning itself. While discussions of English and German liberalism persist, new material includes expanded treatment of the Black social gospel, the Universalists, developments into early 2020s, and a robust expression of the author’s post-Hegelian liberal-liberationist perspective.

The Future of Liberal Theology

The Future of Liberal Theology PDF Author: Mark D. Chapman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351749536
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This title was first published in 2002: Two hundred years after the publication of Schleiermacher's epoch-making Speeches, The Future of Liberal Theology presents a comprehensive and critical re-assessment of the past, present and future of the liberal tradition in Christian theology. In dialogue with the different forms of liberalism emerging from the Enlightenment, each of which is carefully defined, distinguished international theologians draw on a range of perspectives which represent the diversity of liberal theology. Discussing the criticisms of liberalism offered in the twentieth century, and engaging with contemporary theological debate which is often deeply hostile to liberalism, the conclusions offered for liberal theology range from the deeply pessimistic to the thoroughly optimistic. Students, clergy, and theological educators more broadly will value this critical reflection on the current state of theology and suggestions for its future course, together with the serious engagement with issues in theological education, which this book presents.