Hi and What...?

[Poptop]

Hi, Glad to be here.  I'm interested to know what everyone here thinks about liberal religion, liberal christianity.  I've spent lots of time on the internet trying to find some kind of refutation of it but nothing comes up.

I have a friend that has the same progressive social views that I have and it's kind of baffling me because I'm used to the fundie approach to Christianity.
He believes in the resurrection of Jesus but seems to take other parts of the Bible metaphorically.  This doesn't fit for me.  He and I are discussing it but I have no logic to back up my view that picking and choosing makes the Bible no more accurate than any other religion.  That statement doesn't seem to bother him.  Any thoughts (logical evidence) are appreciated. Thanks.

[Whitney]

I was a liberal Christian, so I guess I should know what's wrong with it.

First, even fundamentalist Christians will agree that Jesus frequently spoke in parables.  So, this means that at least some parts of the bible are intended to be metaphor.

Second, unless your friend is arguing that he has some way to tell which parts are metaphor when it is not obviously written that way, then all he is doing is cherry picking the parts of the bible he likes as being litteral and the parts he doesn't like or that don't make sense as metaphor.  Even if the Bible had inherent truth this would not be the way to find it.

Third, how the bible is written either straight forward or in metaphor does not affect how accurate it is compared to other religions; so I don't see why you'd want to argue that.  What does matter is if it contains any truth and if so is that truth from man or God.

Fourth..if he doesn't mind that the Bible may be just as truthful as any other religion then he's probably a pluralist and thinks all religions are a potential path to God.  Every liberal christian I have met has had a least a hint of pluralist thinking when asked about good people going to hell just because they don't believe.

In short, liberal Christianity is practically a whole different religion from fundamentalist Christianity....they mainly just share a belief in Jesus/God.

[Tank]

Welcome to HAF.

Never been a Christian (except via cultural coincidence) or a believer, so not much to add to Whitney.

Regards
Chris

[The Magic Pudding]

Hello
Some christians are probably loath to concede any points lest the whole faith thing falls apart.  A more easy going approach in England doesn't seem to have aided it's popularity.

[xSilverPhinx]

Welcome :brick:

I'm also an accommodationist, even when it comes to the bible, which means that I think it's excellent that they cherry-pick the passages they feel validate a modern christian worldview and don't hold it against them. Between that and going all medieval or bronze age...I prefer the cherry-picking.

[Poptop]

Thanks for the welcome.   I appreciate all the responses.

Lately my friend and I have been discussing whether science and religion 'get along'.  
I'm at the point where I'd say that a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible and science do not 'get along'. I also think that if you take a liberal view of the Bible, then anything is possible, you just need to keep an eye on science and make sure you change your religion to conform to it.  In any case there are lots of smart scientists that still have their faith.  My explanation for this is simply that everyone has areas where they excel.  Other areas may lag.   One could be great at nurturing children but horrible at math or interacting with adults. I still find it astonishing that a famous scientist can quit his scientific position and become a priest such as John Polkinhorne.  Maybe they rely so much on their belief that they won't apply the scientific methods they use in their daily life to their beliefs for fear that they will lose their belief.  So some believers must feel that rationality doesn't need to be used to find truth.  Some areas, something else can be used to know truth according to that view.  Faith? that their belief is true?  That's simply just believing the things you want to be true to be true.  Like the dieter who knows it's healthy to be trim but can't seem to get there because it feels so good to eat and so uncomfortable to exercise.  Maybe that's a bad analogy.

If this sounds accurate to anyone then I'd like to move on to my next goal which is to clearly articulate in as few words or questions as possible (get to the very heart of the matter)  to get my friend questioning his belief from an objective point of view rather than presupposing his god exists.  Ultimately I'd like to help him to see what I'm seeing. We've been discussing this for years and we are both willing to learn and examine new ideas, so far.  So what's the magical question I could ask?  What's the magical formula that will convert with certainty? With those two questions, I'm looking for a serious answer even though I was trying to also be funny.  I'll enjoy any critique or further discussion on anything from my posts.  Thanks.

[terranus]

Bonvenon al la Forumo!
[spoiler:7p7jnmj9]Welcome to the Forum![/spoiler:7p7jnmj9]

Perhaps I can break this down for you from a Fundie perspective, as explained to me by my extreme Fundie Christian godfather.

Liberal Christians = Heretics
Agnostics = Satan's Minions
Atheists = Satan's Demons
Asmodean = Satan Himself.

[Poptop]

he he thanks for clearing that up.