Jay Forrest's Blog

Many people confuse Progressive Christianity with liberal Christianity. They’re not the same thing. Progressive Christianity is halfway between conservative Christianity and liberal Christianity.

Liberal Christianity

Liberal Christianity is committed to changing things according to a liberal perspective. Conservative Christianity is very resistant to changing anything, and wants to keep things the same.

Progressive Christianity

Progressive Christianity is the middle way that follows the evidence where it leads. It conserves what needs to be conserved, and changes what needs to be changed.

Think of progressive Christianity as the middle way, between ultraconservative and ultraliberal. Truth is not conservative or liberal, but consists in the claims that match actual reality.

Unity in Essentials

The guiding principle of progressive Christianity is, to paraphrase St. Augustine, in essentials let there be unity, in non-essentials let there be liberty, but in all things let there be love. The essentials are spelled out in the Nicene Creed.

Progressive Christianity

Lots of differnt people claim the same label. I can only tell you what I mean by the term. I do not have the authority or the desire to police the term. People can call themselves whatever they want.

“but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love” (Eph. 4:15-16).

Not Perfect

The Christian community is not perfect, it is a work in progress. Progressive Christianity acknowledges this fact. Christianity is progressive in the sense of “happening or developing gradually or in stages” (Oxford English Dictionary).

As Christianity encountered science, historical methods, and modern scholarship, it took a defensive posture. Instead of honestly evaluating the evidence, it decided to ignore the evidence and cling to old understandings of the faith.

The Middle Way

As an Anglican, I can appreciate a conservative approach to Christian doctrine. But I also know we need to find a balance, the middle way. We need to seek truth, not cling to tradition. Tradition is fine, as long as it lines up with the truth.

We have to avoid the extremes of ultra-conservativism and ultra-liberalism. We shouldn’t hold on to things that are not backed up by evidence, and we should change long standing traditions just because they are unpopular.

Somewhere between a close-minded attitude that cannot learn anything new, and an open-minded attitude that follows every wind of doctrine, is the middle way. We should “test everything” and only “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21).

We Know in Part

This middle way I am calling Progressive Christianity. It acknowledges are need to honestly engage with science, history, modern scholarship, and social justice. We are still in the process of growing up, by learning to discern what is cultural and what are universal Divine principles.

I call this Progressive Christianity because it is the best term I can think of to emphasize the need to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers. We need to have the humility to admit that we still, like Paul, “see only a reflection, as in a mirror” and so “know only in part” (1 Cor. 13:12).

The Protestant reformers had a saying that I believe is correct, “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda.” It translates into, “The Church Reformed, Always Reforming.”

Progressive Christianity

When I talk about Progressive Christianity I am using the word progressive to mean “characterized by continuous improvement or advancement.” I agree with the idea that the church should always be reforming.

And what should the church, the Christian community, be reforming to? The truth. And the foundational sources for discovering the truth are Scripture, Tradition, reason, and spiritual experience.

Solo Scriptura

One of the biggest mistakes of the reformation was solo scriptura, Scripture alone. It divorced itself from a millennial and a half of the Holy Spirit’s guidance of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. As if God was mute for over 1,500 years

Tradition

Tradition is the shared wisdom, the collective guidance, and lived experience of the body of Christ. Reading the monks, mystics, and saints of these ancient churches reveals a profound stream of wisdom. To ignore this is foolish at best.

Reason

But to also ignore the place of reason, which God has given us, has also caused untold harm to the Christian witness. Faith may be above reason, but it is never contrary to reason. The laws of logic are God given, and science is the best means of knowing the natural world.

Personal Experience

And finally, proof of the pudding is in the eating. If the map tells you that there should be a lake ten feet in front of you, and there is no lake, the map is wrong. Christianity should accurately describe spiritual realities or your version of Christianity is wrong.

Unfortunately, most Christians have a relationship with the Book of God but have never met the God of the Book. Personal experience is the heart of a relationship with God.

And if the truth is not making you a better person, you are not truly believing it. Belief means to accept a claim as true, which then becomes a rule of action. You may be saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. It always results in actions. What Jesus calls fruits.