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Liberal theology is a theological perspective that reinterprets Scripture according to modern science and ethics. It emphasizes reason and experience over strict adherence to doctrinal authority, positioning itself as an alternative to conservative theology. Liberal theologians view conservative theology as “old,” “outdated,” or, worse, “oppressive.” Liberal theology takes the position that Christians must “get with the times.”
Liberal theology rose to prominence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with its acceptance of Darwinian evolution, application of modern biblical criticism, and involvement in the social gospel movement. During this period, liberal theology witnessed its greatest influence within Protestantism, though it experienced a decline with the rise of neo-orthodoxy in the 1930s and liberation theology in the 1960s. Despite the decline, liberal theology persisted into the twenty-first century as a movement within both Protestantism and Catholicism.
In the nineteenth century, liberal theology developed as a reaction to the prevailing intellectual milieu; most notably, the theory of evolution and natural selection. The acceptance of Darwinian evolution made it difficult to defend traditional interpretations of the creation account in Genesis. Influenced by the Enlightenment, liberal theologians grounded faith not in Scripture or the person of Jesus Christ, but in reason and human experience. A reasonable faith, they concluded, is one that fits a modern worldview.
For conservative theologians, Scripture is the authoritative Word of God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV). Scripture is not the product of human imagination; it is the inspired Word of God. As such, it is authoritative and true (John 8:31; 14:15).
Liberal theologians rejected the doctrines of biblical infallibility and inerrancy, opting instead to apply higher criticism to the biblical text. In doing so, they concluded that Scripture is not the first and final authority on matters of faith and practice. In its place liberal theologians set human reason and religious experience.
Once the authority of Scripture has been undermined, every essential Christian doctrine crumbles as well. For instance, liberal theologians rejected the doctrine of original sin (Romans 5:12), the virgin birth of Christ (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23), the Trinity (Luke 3:22), the deity of Christ (John 1:1, 14), the bodily resurrection of Christ (Luke 24:39), and so on. For liberal theologians, Jesus was nothing more than an exemplary moral teacher who taught us how to love God and our neighbors.
Jesus was an exemplary teacher precisely because He was the eternal and pre-existent Word of God made flesh (John 1:1, 14). As such, He perfectly obeyed the Father’s will, including death on a cross for the sins of humanity (Philippians 2:5–11). After His death, He physically rose from the grave, defeating the powers of Satan, sin, and death. In Christ, there is forgiveness for sins and the hope of eternal life. This is biblical doctrine. This is apostolic doctrine. Liberal theology is neither of these things; it is the product of Satan, who is “the father of lies” (John 8:44, ESV).
