5) Hell is not real. Man is not lost in sin and is not doomed to some future judgment without a relationship with Christ through faith. Man can help himself; no sacrificial death by Christ is necessary since a loving God would not send people to such a place as hell and since man is not born in sin. This contradicts Jesus Himself, who declared Himself to be the Way to God, through His atoning death (John 14:6).
7) The most important thing for man to do is to “love” his neighbor. What is the loving thing to do in any situation is not what the Bible says is good but what the liberal theologians decide is good. This denies the doctrine of total depravity, which states that man is incapable of doing anything good and loving (Jeremiah 17:9) until He has been redeemed by Christ and given a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Liberal theology has invaded most of the mainline denominations and also some/most of the seeker friendly movement.
I am on this other board and I did not realize it but this theology has a definite influence there. They cant even answer questions about the simple gospel such as does man need to trust in Christ alone to save him from his sins?
As one who embraces the doctrines of Grace with some slight modification, there is no "danger" of liberals, anymore then the danger of the Jewish rulers confronting Christ.
Are some actually afraid that God will let slip from His grasp one that He has redeemed?
Paul said of such that they were not really a part of us.
Liberals are a danger to themselves.
The more ridiculous they become in the liberty, the less likely that they will be considered living witnesses of the Light of the believer.
The problem is often what we now call "liberal theology" is nothing but the church adopting the world culture and viewing sin as normal (gender identity becomes a choice, divorce becomes accepted....etc).
I think that some are afraid of losing members, or they seek to gain members. Others simply want to condone their own sin because they have come to believe it as normal.
Once a church does this, however, everything becomes subjective. You cannot condemn one sin while advocating another as normal to the Christian life. I remember when divorce was becoming the hot topic, but once it was accepted in the church it became normal. And then it was drinking. And look at us now. We can't even agree on what bathroom a man should use.
Satan works best when he can inside the flock, as the Church takes on strange doctrines. like ordaining active lesbians/gays, Jesus not only way to Heaven, man basically all right etc!
What has surprised me is the silence so many seem to take against sin. I have seen congregations following after false teachers and this remaining unaddressed so as not to offend.
Those things become common place. Look at fornication....:Cautious...not literally....just take it as an example...it is all over our entertainment. And we see it as normal. Now look at divorce. A man or woman can divorce for reasons other than fornication because we have taken that sin so lightly. And then go forward to those sins you mention. It's like the old saying of a frog in boiling water.
I once would use the illustration with a student standing beside me to represent the church (assembly).
As I moved to the left, the student would move into the space I once occupied.
It was a very quick way to get the students to understand:
1) the church will always seem to desire the worldly thinking that they can make it righteous.
2) the church of long ago was vastly different then the assemblies of the modern world.
3) to warn of that time when Laodicea will be in every church and Christ is not present.
4) to encourage the students to not be ashamed to look, act, talk... differently then the ungodly peers.
5) ...
Come on Brethren haven't you heard?... Brother Glen:)
Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
You want it closer to home!
Isaiah 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
"Walter Rauschenbusch was a key figure in 20th-century Baptist history and that his 1917 book "A Theology for the Social Gospel" marked an important juncture in the social gospel tradition."
"Despite the varying assessments of Rauschenbusch, church historians at SBC seminaries agree a century later that he rightly urged Christians to apply Scripture to social issues and that his work should be remembered."