Liberalism is Destroying Christian Churches
© O. R. Adams Jr. 2010
Reverend John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a renowned writer, teacher, and cleric in the Catholic Church. “On September 19, 2010, during the first state visit a pope has ever paid to Great Britain, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Englishman John Henry Newman, that is, he officially named Newman a Saint with a capital ‘S.’”[1] On liberalism in the church, Rev. Newman said:
Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another…. It teaches that all religions are to be tolerated, for all are a matter of opinion. Revealed religion [biblical Christianity] is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste, not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy.[2]
No truer words were ever spoken. Two of the mainline protestant Christian churches are the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. The National hierarchies of these churches have been extremely liberal and out of touch with their church members for many years. The same is true of the National Council of Churches (NCC). Many members have generally supported socialist and even communist causes – including Cuba and communist regimes and revolutionaries in South and Central America. As shown by their own website, the NCC has now become a liberal political group.[3] I believe that most of these leaders at the national level have been so influenced by liberal academia and media that they no longer have any basic Christian beliefs.
An article of Media Transparency, Institute on Religion and Democracy Slams ‘Leftist’ National Council of Churches[4], states:
New report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations. ...
“Bob Edgar has declared his personal support for same-sex marriage. He and other NCC leaders repeatedly criticize fellow Christians who defend the traditional definition of marriage. In thus fostering the impression of an evenly split U.S. Christian community, the NCC serves the interests of its ‘progressive’ yokefellows who are campaigning for the legitimization of same-sex marriage,” ...
Read at:
http://www.americantraditions.org/Articles/Liberalism%20is%20Destroying%20Christian%20Churches.htm
These same ideologues are like those that contend that Jesus was nothing but a "prophet" or an important religious icon, but nothing more special than that.
Faith and conviction are powerful, powerful things. When you relegate someone so iconic as Jesus to status of 'prophet' among many (religions) you deny his reality (self proclaimed, even) as the Son of God, you demean the whole concept of religion. In that case, why treat your enterprise as nothing more than a business, just like thousands of others out there struggling for that dollar.