Does Liberal Christianity Have a Future?

Tripp Fuller

What’s up, Theology Nerds! In this episode, Bo and I tackle the existential question: “Does Liberal Christianity Have a Future?” Spoiler alert: Bo doesn’t think it does, and his explanation involves both elevators and human eardrums! We dive into the fascinating history and predicaments of liberal theology, exploring why churches with endowed organs might be spiritually starving. I share five theological predicaments identified by scholars like Catherine Keller and Steven Webb (who inspired Bo to drop a mic with his observation that liberal theology is “too secular for believers, too religious for secularists, and too academic for non-theologians”).

Bo confessed his own struggles with Bible literacy and shared some pushback from his congregation about a sermon suggesting people shouldn’t read the Bible alone. We unpack the cultural shifts making mainline Protestantism increasingly obsolete – from the sociology of Sundays to the commodification of identity. Bo introduces his “perfect storm” theory about why liberalism’s prioritization of the individual creates an irreconcilable tension with Christianity’s commitment to community in our consumer capitalist context. This episode gets nerdy, punchy, and occasionally brutal in our assessment, but we’re saving our potential solutions for next time!

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