The Conservative Aspect of Progressive Christianity

Many people mistakenly think that Progressive Christianity is liberal Christianity. And to many people, this may be true. But not to me.

The Middle Way

Progressive Christianity is the middle path between conservative Christianity and liberal Christianity. It recognizes that truth is not conservative or liberal. The truth is the truth.

The conservative aspect of progressive Christianity, as I understand it, is that we ought to hold to the traditional faith until evidence forces us to reconsider.

At the point of reconsidering a traditional doctrine, you must be careful to conserve the truth of the doctrine while contemporizing its expression.

Translate and Transform

This goes back to the old adage of translating the faith versus transforming the faith. It also goes back to try to discern the essential aspects of the faith from the non-essential aspects of the faith.

We must translate when we can, and transform when we must. But we should not abandon the essentials of the traditional faith. Which means we have to carefully discern what are the actual essentials of the faith, and what is an artifact of the cultural context in which it was declared.

Not Easy

This is not an easy process. But it is a process that must be done if we want to be honest with the facts of science, history, and modern scholarship.

The liberal aspect of progressive Christianity, is that we translate and even transform the faith based upon the best available evidence. Ultimately we are in the pursuit of Truth, because all truth is God’s truth.

Published by

Jay Forrest

Dr. Jay N. Forrest is an Ordained Interfaith Minister and Certified Meditation Teacher who guides others on the Mystic Way through contemplative teaching and interspiritual insight.Since becoming a Christian in 1983 and earning his Doctorate in Ministry, Jay has served within a rich range of Christian traditions—including Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Methodist, and Liberal Catholic churches—and provided compassionate care as a Hospice Chaplain.His journey has also led him through catechism studies with the Orthodox Church in America, minor orders in the Liberal Catholic Church, and over two decades of Buddhist study and practice. His path is one of depth, integration, and a lifelong dedication to the transformative power of spiritual practice.



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