Progressive Christianity is a loosely defined movement within Christianity that seeks to reform or reinterpret traditional Christian beliefs and practices in light of modern circumstances and sensitivities. Some of the key characteristics of Progressive Christianity include:
- A focus on social justice issues like poverty, racism, sexism, etc. Progressives believe the church should be actively engaged in promoting social justice.
- Acceptance of LGBTQ identities and relationships. Progressives support full inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ people in the church.
- Support for female leadership in the church. Progressives support gender equality and women in leadership positions in the church.
- A non-literal, critical approach to interpreting the Bible. Progressives do not take all biblical stories and teachings literally but see them as products of their time that need reinterpretation.
- An emphasis on ethics over doctrine. Progressives care more about how Christians behave than the particulars of theology and doctrine.
- Interfaith openness and dialogue. Progressives are open to learning from other religions and collaborating on shared concerns.
- A focus on God’s immanence over transcendence. Progressives emphasize God’s nearness and presence in the world over classical theism.
Progressive Christianity originated in the late 19th and early 20th century as some Protestant theologians incorporated modern scientific perspectives and sociological analysis into their thinking. Key early figures include Walter Rauschenbusch and Shailer Mathews. In the mid-20th century, progressive Protestantism was influenced by neo-orthodoxy, process theology, and liberation theology. Prominent progressive theologians and leaders in recent decades include John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, Jim Wallis, and many others across mainline Protestant denominations.
Progressives see their approach as reviving an authentic spirit of Christianity that has been distorted by institutional rigidities and reactionary attitudes. They argue that a thoughtful, flexible faith open to new understandings of truth is needed to interact constructively with modern society. Critics, however, argue that Progressive Christianity undermines key tenets of the historic faith and accommodates too much to secular culture. There is significant debate around whether Progressive Christianity represents a necessary reform and revitalization of faith or a compromise and rejection of core truths.
Progressive Views on Key Theological Issues
Here is a brief overview of how Progressive Christianity tends to approach some major theological topics:
Scripture
Progressives argue that the Bible was written by human authors in cultural contexts vastly different from our own. They do not believe scripture is inerrant or literally dictated by God. Therefore, its teachings cannot be applied woodenly but must be interpreted, and at times re-interpreted, in light of modern knowledge and sensibilities. Progressives focus on deriving moral and spiritual insights from the Bible rather than seeing it as a source of inflexible doctrines.
Jesus Christ
Progressives overwhelmingly affirm the importance of Jesus. However, they are unlikely to accept traditional Christological doctrines formulated by the early church councils such as Jesus being fully God and fully human. Progressives are wary of metaphysical claims about Jesus and more focused on following his moral teachings and example. Many progressives see Jesus as human but uniquely intimate with the divine in a way that still sets him apart.
Salvation
Progressives are uncomfortable with the traditional focus on individual salvation through correct belief. They are more likely to see salvation in broader social terms of building a more just world. Many progressives reject the doctrine of hell and emphasis on individual sin, focusing more on systemic evils. The life and teachings of Jesus are important mainly as inspiration for selfless love and social action.
Sexual Ethics
Progressives strongly support full inclusion of LGBTQ people in the church, including acceptance of same-sex relationships and marriage. They argue that the handful of biblical verses often used to condemn homosexuality reflect outdated cultural understandings rather than God’s timeless will. For progressives, sexual ethics should be rooted in loving, just, consensual relationships rather than strict tradition.
Gender Roles
Progressives insist that women should have equal access to all leadership positions and roles within Christianity. They are critical of traditional patriarchal understandings of gender reflected in scripture and church tradition. Progressives argue for reinterpreting the Bible in light of principles of gender equality rather than deferring to ancient cultural assumptions.
Theological Diversity
Progressives are comfortable with significant theological diversity and mystery. They do not seek to impose or prioritize any one understanding of God or Christian teaching. Progressives allow for radically different ideas about God, Jesus, salvation, etc. to co-exist in the church since no one can claim a definitive vision of these matters.
Progressive Christianity and the Bible
One of the defining features of Progressive Christianity is its approach to the Bible. Progressives argue that scripture must be interpreted through the lens of modern critical scholarship, not an unquestioning, literal reading. Some key principles they follow when interpreting the Bible include:
- Recognizing the Human Origins of Scripture – The books of the Bible were written by human authors influenced by their cultural contexts. They do not have divine origins.
- Appreciating Literary Forms – Bible passages reflect ancient storytelling, myths, allegories, etc. These literary forms should shape interpretation.
- Considering Historical Context – Biblical teachings were conditioned by their original ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman settings.
- Accounting for Evolution of Ideas – There is development of theological concepts across the Bible’s different books and time periods.
- Seeing Problems in Transmission – There are translation issues and unknown variations in ancient manuscripts.
- Assuming Fallibility – Scripture contains ethical problems, factual errors, and inconsistencies reflecting human imperfection.
- Prioritizing Ethical Themes – The Bible’s clearest messages relate to morality, justice, and love more than speculative doctrines.
- Accepting Ambiguity – There is uncertainty and mystery in interpreting ancient texts like the Bible.
This means Progressives do not treat the Bible as the inerrant Word of God. They believe readings of scripture must adapt as humanity gains new knowledge and moral sensitivities. Parts of the Bible contradict modern values, so Progressives are willing to discount or re-envision troublesome passages. The overall spirit of the Bible is more important to Progressives than legalistic adherence to every verse.
This view distinguishes Progressives from theological conservatives who stress that scripture is divinely inspired and authoritative in its entirety. Critics argue that Progressives distort the Bible by subordinating it to contemporary assumptions and pick-and-choose only affirming parts to accept. Progressives respond that reading the Bible rigidly and selectively blindly imposes human agendas on scripture. An honest yet nuanced approach is needed to uncover God’s liberating Word in ancient texts.
Progressive Interpretations of Key Biblical Passages
Here are some examples of how Progressives interpret controversial biblical passages very differently from theological conservatives:
- Genesis 1-3 – While fundamentalists read Eden and the Fall literally, progressives see these stories as powerful myths expressing human feelings of alienation and longing for innocence. Their spiritual truth matters more than historical claims.
- Exodus 20 – Progressives do not feel obligated to keep all Ten Commandments literally, like Sabbath observance. They focus on the underlying moral laws around protecting human dignity.
- Leviticus – Strict Levitical codes mandating death penalties or opposing homosexuality are ignored or spiritualized by progressives as outdated cultural practices, not God’s eternal rules.
- John 14:6 – While conservatives see this as declaring Christ the only way to salvation, progressives read it as affirming Jesus’ unique intimacy with God rather than a limitation of God’s grace to Christians alone.
- Acts 4:12 – As with John 14:6, progressives spiritualize this passage rather than feeling it literally condemns non-Christians. Its importance is affirming Christ, not excluding others.
- 1 Corinthians 14:34 – St. Paul’s prohibition against women speaking in church is dismissed by progressives as a historical cultural bias that contradicts the Bible’s overall message of human equality.
- Ephesians 5 – The instructions about wives submitting to husbands are rejected by progressives as patriarchal mores, not teachings that can limit gender equality today.
In cases like these, progressives prioritize broad biblical themes of love, justice and liberation over specific problematical passages. The spirit, not the letter of scripture, is determinative. This reflects their commitment to continual re-interpretation as consciences and understandings evolve. But critics argue it distorts Christianity into just affirming modern values rather than submitting to God’s revelation.
Arguments Supporting the Progressive Approach
Here are some of the biblical reasons and theological rationale progressives use to defend their approach to Christianity:
- A Living Faith – Just as the early church moved beyond strict Jewish biblical literalism, progressives see faith as a living tradition that must adapt rather than ossify.
- Ethical Integrity – Certain biblical verses promote unethical views like genocide, slavery, and misogyny that must be rejected on moral grounds.
- Essence Over Form – The heart of Christianity is loving service and community more than doctrines or rituals.
- Prophetic calling – Just as Old Testament prophets challenged rigid legalism, progressives feel called to recover liberating biblical insights buried under repressive traditions.
- The Spirit – Christians are encouraged to be guided by the Holy Spirit’s wisdom rather than constrained by human constructions like doctrine or the letter of scripture.
- Theological Mystery – Progressives are humble about the limits of human knowledge of God which is always partial and imperfect at best.
- Reason – Human reason and experience provide insights that can enrich scriptural interpretation.
- New Knowledge – Science and the humanities offer new perspectives that should shape biblical hermeneutics.
- Contextual Reading – Appreciating the cultural conditioning of texts prevents distorted literalism.
- Development of Doctrine – Core Christian concepts like Christology have evolved across history, suggesting doctrinal diversity and change are normal.
In general, progressives see faith as a dynamic, experiential process of seeking meaning, not assent to fixed propositions. They believe Christianity must continually renew itself by returning to its roots in the person of Jesus and his gospel of radical love for humanity.
Critiques of Progressive Christianity
Progressive Christianity has provoked significant criticism from more theologically conservative Christians. Some of the main concerns raised are:
- Undermining Biblical Authority – By rejecting biblical inerrancy and viewing scriptures as cultural products rather than divine revelation, progressives undermine the Bible’s normative status for defining Christian faith and morals.
- Subjectivism – Progressives essentially reduce scripture to a resource for supporting their own modern Western values. This collapses Christian discernment into subjective preferences.
- Consistent Hermeneutic Lacking – Progressives arbitrarily pick and choose which parts of the Bible to discard and which to accept rather than having a consistent interpretative approach.
- No Divine Inspiration – Rejecting the Holy Spirit’s role in inspiring scripture reflects secular modernism more than historic orthodox Christianity.
- Christological Reductionism – Progressive views demote the cosmic divine Christ to just a wise teacher or exemplar.
- Doctrinal Relativism – Strong theological pluralism and denying core dogmas effectively empties Christianity of stable meaning.
- Unmoored Morality – With no objective divine revelation to define morality, progressive ethics simply reflects changing cultural trends.
- Social Gospel Focus – Prioritizing progressive political activism diminishes the church’s spiritual mission of saving souls.
- No Evangelism Imperative – If non-Christians are not condemned, progressives lose any urgent missionary mandate to convert and baptize the world.
In summary, critics see progressive theology as fundamentally assimilating Christianity into contemporary secular assumptions. They argue this loses touch with divine truth in scripture and tradition, reducing faith to just humanitarian ethics. Progressives counter that conservatives cling to human distortions of revelation rather than engaging authentically with the Bible’s liberating spirit.
Conclusion
Progressive Christianity seeks to re-interpret traditional doctrines and moral teachings through a modern lens, applying current critical scholarship and ethical perspectives to the Bible. Progressives prioritize the Bible’s overarching messages related to justice, love and community over legalistic readings focused on the details of doctrine. They aim to articulate a thoughtful, flexible faith centered on following Jesus’ radical practice of inclusive love. Critics argue that this dismantles orthodoxy and empties Christianity of stable meaning rooted in divine revelation. There are substantive arguments on both sides that speak to a wider debate within Christianity over discerning spiritual truth and moral authority. Jesus Christ may have been radically inclusive, but he also made uncompromising demands of faith. Navigating between Christian humility and conviction remains an enduring spiritual challenge.