What Is The Difference Between Liberal, Conservative and Fundamentalist Christians?

[JohnDB]

I was thinking today....
(I know...scary proposition).

Since we are having a difficult time classifying or determining the boundaries of various groups of Christians....

Let's "go back to formula".

There are TWO different scriptures that describe believers. One is the Parable of the Soils. (We being the soils and we are all very familiar)

The other is in 1st John....
Little Ones/Children, Young Men/adolescents, and finally "Fathers"

In 1st John, John accurately describes each level of maturity.

So....we need to BLEND the two together to come up with appropriate, scripture based categories instead of ones created out of whole cloth by men.

 

[Wick Stick]

I was thinking today....
(I know...scary proposition).

Since we are having a difficult time classifying or determining the boundaries of various groups of Christians....

Let's "go back to formula".

There are TWO different scriptures that describe believers. One is the Parable of the Soils. (We being the soils and we are all very familiar)

The other is in 1st John....
Little Ones/Children, Young Men/adolescents, and finally "Fathers"

In 1st John, John accurately describes each level of maturity.

So....we need to BLEND the two together to come up with appropriate, scripture based categories instead of ones created out of whole cloth by men.

Hebrews 5 distinguishes between the mature and immature, as those who eat meat vs those who drink milk:

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

And the following chapter has a list of doctrines that are "foundations," - the milk, so to speak:

(a) Repentance from dead works
(b) faith towards God
(c) baptisms
(d) resurrection of the dead
(e) eternal judgment

Good thing none of us here ever argue over those elementary things.

 

[JohnDB]

Hebrews 5 distinguishes between the mature and immature, as those who eat meat vs those who drink milk:

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

And the following chapter has a list of doctrines that are "foundations," - the milk, so to speak:

(a) Repentance from dead works
(b) faith towards God
(c) baptisms
(d) resurrection of the dead
(e) eternal judgment

Good thing none of us here ever argue over those elementary things.

Hebrews does differentiate between two but it again is addressing a different crowd than John does.
James, Jude, Matthew, and Hebrews all are directed at Jewish believers. Not Gentiles.

So...we are NOT Jewish or raised in a Jewish home. We are more Gentiles than Ancient Near East Semetic descendants.

And that's the point of starting....something we can understand by books written to us specifically. We have never been to Torah school (Bethgashepher Bet.h-gas-hep-her) to learn from a Rabbi. Or been to bethmidrash. (To discuss Torah (Sifre) and memorize the rest of the tenakh and its Targums)

So....we need to stick with what we really know and letters addressed to us.

 

[GodsGrace]

The creeds were originally intended to be something akin to a church's charter. They told everyone what that particular church believed and required from its members. This seems to be well-understood.

They also told everyone what a church DIDN'T find to be essentials of doctrine - areas where a person could be heterodox and still be in fellowship with that church. This doesn't get talked about enough. There isn't much tolerance today for any kind of heterodoxy.

For the little that I know....I'd say that I agree with the above.
I do tend to see the creeds more in the sense that they cleared up heresies, or clarified theology....but akin to a church charter?
I guess it could be that....they did proclaim what the CC (universal church) believed.

§Re the heterodoxy....I can't think of anything off-hand, but could you list one or two beliefs?
(regarding your second paragraph).

I remember everything being in the positive....

 

[GodsGrace]

Yes absolutely. They had completely different opinions than what those who knew Jesus face to face decided to write about. I think it's because Trinitarianism became the dominant school of thought over time and the gnostic and Unitarian writings either got destroyed as heresy or were lost to time. That's why there is such a major difference between the gospels, letters, and Old Testament and the creeds that came later. There is something missing to link the Bible and the creeds together. Actually, we are quite lucky to have the Bible still.

Actually, RM...the same persons that wrote the creeds are the same persons that gathered together all the writings (not all, I'm sure) of the Apostles and decided which were to be included in the NT.

Some of the Early Theologians had differing ideas which is why the creeds even had to be written.
You state that some of the differences were due to gnosticism. Indeed, and this is why we're lucky, as you stated, to have our Christian faith and to have the bible.

People sacrificed their lives and even died for our faith.
Trinitarianism is found in the NT and I do believe this is why it became the dominant school of thought, as you put it.
Arianism was considered to be heretical and it was stopped.

I honestly don't see the difference between the NT and the creeds.
Could you think of one?
It seems to me that what is declared in the creeds IS supported in the NT writings.

 

[Wick Stick]

For the little that I know....I'd say that I agree with the above.
I do tend to see the creeds more in the sense that they cleared up heresies, or clarified theology....but akin to a church charter?
I guess it could be that....they did proclaim what the CC (universal church) believed.

§Re the heterodoxy....I can't think of anything off-hand, but could you list one or two beliefs?
(regarding your second paragraph).

I remember everything being in the positive....

The creeds are stated in the positive.

It's what isn't said that defines accepted heterodoxy.

 

[Skovand]

Within religious discussions in this day and age, conservative and liberal as adjectives preceding Christianity does not tie directly into the political use of the word. They also mean different things between eastern and western Christianity.

Nowadays, within the bulk of the populace liberal Christianity simply means a form of Christianity that heavily pushes listening to the wisdom of biblical scholarship and conservative/fundamentalist simply means ones who reject it in favor of their highly westernized individualized Christianity.

So take something like the age of the earth. Liberal Christianity will state that the Bible does not actually tell us the age of the world. Its genealogies are not all consistent and many are found within non literal stories. The C/F Christianity believes all genealogies are mostly literal and can be used to prove the world is 6-10k years old.

Take the new modern synthesis. Liberal Christianity says that the Bible does not actually present scientific evidence and C/F will says it does.

Liberal Christianity highlights contextual analysis including genre heeding and highlights why Jonah is not a real historical story, but a fictionalized satirical story.

Liberal Christianity is about an accommodationist interpretation of scripture to dive deeply into the text and conservative/fundamentalist Christianity is all about concordism and making the Bible match their political and cultural experiences and wants.

Take something like the afterlife. Most biblical literalist, which is overwhelming the bulk of C/F Christianity believes that eternal conscious tormenting is the only way and that conditional immortality and universalism is just modern concepts while liberal Christianity recognizes that CI/U views on the afterlife goes all the back to the beginnings of Christianity.

Now someone can overwhelmingly be C/F or L Christians but hold a few views on the other side. But this is not about outliers but general stances.

 

[Skovand]

We are not supposed to discuss the trinity in here per the rules. But many still do. Especially those that support it. So I’m not going to discuss it and share my own opinion on it. Instead ill show a decent primer to this discussion showcasing several different views on the high to low forms of Christology. High and Low Christology is not about high or low views of Jesus but is used more similar to the ways it’s used to define high or low fantasy stories.


Here is another primer on views of inerrancy.


Remember it’s foolish to just learn in an echo chamber.

 

[quietthinker]

What Is The Difference Between Liberal, Conservative and Fundamentalist Christians?​

Liberal = Lays it on in slathers either for good or for bad
Conservative = Johny tight shorts only loves those who love him
Fundamentalist = Has the propensity to 'fund' a 'mentalist' ...refuses to think out of the box

 

[Behold]

Liberal Christianity

Liberal Christianity is the place where you find those whose God is their Opinion.

 

[quietthinker]

Liberal Christianity is the place where you find those whose God is their Opinion.

is your God someone else's opinion?

 

[Behold]

is your God someone else's opinion?

Not according to Jesus..........as we both have the same Heavenly Father.

 

[MatthewG]

Hello @GodsGrace,

Could it just be different world views?

 

[Skovand]

Not according to Jesus..........as we both have the same Heavenly Father.

That’s what I say also. My opinion on God and Jesus is developed through deep theological thinking and biblical studies guided by the Holy Spirit.

 

[GodsGrace]

Hello @GodsGrace,

Could it just be different world views?

Hi MG....
Here's what some said:
Some stated that liberal and conservative really only apply to politics.
A couple said that a liberal person cannot really be defined as Christian.
Some have found difficulty in coming to any definition....

I like what @Behold said in post 110 :
Liberal Christianity is the place where you find those whose God is their Opinion.

Also, I like what @quietthinker said in post 109:
Liberal = Lays it on in slathers either for good or for bad
Conservative = Johny tight shorts only loves those who love him
Fundamentalist = Has the propensity to 'fund' a 'mentalist' ...refuses to think out of the box

I had to think of it for a minute....but they both make sense.

So world views?
I can see how you'd bring your world view to both liberal and conservative Christianity....
but what about fundamentalist? I don't think that's a world view (but I'm not sure).

A liberal is willing to accept whatever goes at the moment and is willing to change, so their belief system is not permanent/stable.
A conservative wants to keep everything as it is because he thinks change won't be for the better.
A fundamentalist (at least in Christianity) just basically believes the bible is LITERAL in every sense and will not accept anything else.

 

[MatthewG]

Hi MG....
Here's what some said:
Some stated that liberal and conservative really only apply to politics.
A couple said that a liberal person cannot really be defined as Christian.
Some have found difficulty in coming to any definition....

I like what @Behold said in post 110 :
Liberal Christianity is the place where you find those whose God is their Opinion.

Also, I like what @quietthinker said in post 109:
Liberal = Lays it on in slathers either for good or for bad
Conservative = Johny tight shorts only loves those who love him
Fundamentalist = Has the propensity to 'fund' a 'mentalist' ...refuses to think out of the box

I had to think of it for a minute....but they both make sense.

So world views?
I can see how you'd bring your world view to both liberal and conservative Christianity....
but what about fundamentalist? I don't think that's a world view (but I'm not sure).

A liberal is willing to accept whatever goes at the moment and is willing to change, so their belief system is not permanent/stable.
A conservative wants to keep everything as it is because he thinks change won't be for the better.
A fundamentalist (at least in Christianity) just basically believes the bible is LITERAL in every sense and will not accept anything else.

Hello Godsgrace,

Well, Im apolitical. And I believe that there is Liberty in Christ Jesus. I'm part of a group known as Christian Ultra-Libertarians for Truth, which has no affiliation with political stances. I could be a mixed bag of all three. I like working a job, I like paying taxes, I like the freedom of just living life, and the freedom of living in Christ Jesus and asking the Father to help me by the spirit, and being smart with funds.

 

[GodsGrace]

Hello Godsgrace,

Well, Im apolitical. And I believe that there is Liberty in Christ Jesus. I'm part of a group known as Christian Ultra-Libertarians for Truth, which has no affiliation with political stances. I could be a mixed bag of all three. I like working a job, I like paying taxes, I like the freedom of just living life, and the freedom of living in Christ Jesus and asking the Father to help me by the spirit, and being smart with funds.

OK. Yes. I know what you're speaking of.
I have to say that I don't really agree with pulling out of "the world" because we're not "Of" the world but just in it.

Politically I could identify with either conservatives or libertarians, although I feel I don't know enough about libertarians except that they just want to be left alone by the government.

Unfortunately, this is not possible and the govt in infringing more and more on our rights to be truly free.

So I think we should do something about this, but guess what:
I don't really think the people have too much power to change anything except in elections and I'm REALLY happy Trump won this one or our country would be finished.

I don't trust anybody anymore....Trump has a lot of people outside of the govt and I'm happy about this too.

Read too much stuff when I was growing up and as an adult. It affected me too much, I think.

I trust that everything will turn out as God wants....but I also think we are His hands and feet here on earth and we should work to get the work of the Kingdom done --- in whatever way we can; I certainly don't have any power to speak of,,,,but at least I could try to wake people up to the loss of our freedoms.

 

[Reggie Belafonte]

What Is The Difference Between Liberal, Conservative and Fundamentalist Christians?​

Liberal = Lays it on in slathers either for good or for bad
Conservative = Johny tight shorts only loves those who love him
Fundamentalist = Has the propensity to 'fund' a 'mentalist' ...refuses to think out of the box

That may be the opinion of a Liberal in regards to a Conservative. for it's just a typical a short sighted shallow view, that is coming from a foolish childish perspective.

Conservative is truly an overall understanding possition, as to why they may have the regards that they have. it's not simple like a Liberal, a Liberal will never cut it in the real world, they can but fuge it in some places but if everyone was Liberal it would be a community of ninnys.
No leadership qualitys worth a cracker, really only just like Communism, just dominated by a dictatorship nininnys.

Fundamentalist are like that of Islam, shallow simple point of view of an idiot and like a dog with rabies.

Regarding any of the 3 their range 1 to 10 say in that one maybe 50 50 etc as well, being some what of each view points. a mixed bag one may say.

I have a mate who claimes to be a far right wing and yes he is in a stupid foolish way, some of what he says is correct or right but a lot of Socialist view points are in the bag as well. he does not understand that such views are Socialist crap.
I said to him once that he was half right in most respects but that the other half was nonsense, he did not like that i pointed out the truth facts of the matter. for he is to stupid to understand the real issues, why i do not support his intents.

True worthy Conservatices are not radical fools like him.
Radicals consist of Liberals and Fundamentalist in fact ! for they are not centered, for they can be far right wing or far left wing, but a true Conservative is never a far right or far left wing idiot radical moronic fool. for Conservative have a indepth wide understanding of the scope.

Liberals and Fundamentalist are immature in the brain box in fact.

That mate of mine is a totaly greed driven moron who will try and rip anyone off if he can get away with it legal etc etc ? he has a Capitalist God ! he Idolised Capitalism. It's his god ! and he has the rest of the gods to go with it !
They are a curse on themselves and all around them in fact. for they muddy the waters and only help creat morons like themselves who are Lost ! and that's why such pick up on Socialist Communist or Nazi nonsense in fact. and carry such as a Bag of Idoles they worship, like a childish fool. they cling onto such Idoles Utopias for they are their gods in fact.

This mate is not a Christian for he can not grasp it at all, 30 years i talked to him and then he claimed to be supporting of Christianity ? but no he does not suport Christ Jesus at all in fact ! but the key to suport is just a value system, he fears Communism and Islam, so he takes the Christian camp ? not to mention claims to be the Christian of the year, the dominat one ! the leadership ! totaly worldly.
So i had to point out. No i am not on your path at all ! so he had a fit of rage, typical of any religious moron ! for they do not have Grace in fact ! because they have not been Saved, such as they are not truly born again in fact. because they do not abide in Christ Jesus in fact ! it's all about themselves and where they see themselves in the order ?
People in Christ do not seek a possition. for they are just within the body of Christ The Church in Christ, where you stand within is not your own issue. I do not go and bang the drums on my own intent.
Such people come into the Church to bang their own agenda with their Idols !
In the begining of the Jews we see that the body of Gods people keept the non Jews out for they had Idols, that was the issue, the God of the Jews did not want to have such Idols, for they would undermine the real God of Israel !

If one Idolises anything you are under a curse ! The Tempter uses such things to undermine you all !
Take some movie Star, fools Idolise such a person but fact is you do not know them at all ? same with a Church, one may know some what of such, like one may say the RCC is the true Church etc etc denominations, but the fact is that only Christ Jesus is the Church in fact !
So who does the Church abide in ? Christ Jesus ! or is it peddling something other truly with Christ Jesus only as a side dish ? and that it's the Denomination that is their God, fitting in with this world !