Christian Personal Theological Positions
Beliefs around issues of the nature of God, the Scriptures, Salvation, and Social Interaction
Fundamentalist
- Belief that God is a Trinity (3 persons Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Jesus is both fully divine and human.
- Belief that the Bible/Scriptures are the only infallible and unerring Word of God, to be interpreted literally.
- Belief in the literal virgin birth, the bodily resurrection and second coming of Jesus Christ.
- Belief that one must be born again in order to be saved and go to heaven after death.
- Belief that we should only interact with non-Christians in order to proselytize and convert them.
- Social engagement with liberal and/or fringe groups is mostly forbidden.
- Social justice outreach only has value if it results in conversions.
Conservative/Evangelical
- Beliefs identical to Fundamentalism with regard to the nature of God, the inerrancy of Scriptures, and requirements for salvation. This includes the divinity of Jesus and his resurrection.
- Social interactions are less restricted, but continue to hold to the agenda of conversion of non-believers (i.e., non-Evangelicals). Friendships with socially liberal and/or fringe groups is discouraged.
- Social justice work is encouraged only if it promotes politically conservative values.
Moderate
- Belief that Gods nature is primarily Trinitarian, but w/ more emphasis on Gods expectations of humanity.
- The nature of Jesus is not fully known or determined may or may not be divine.
- Belief that the Scriptures are inspired by God, and central and necessary for living and learning about God
and the Christian life; but are not without error in their current form or translations.
- Belief that prayer, study, Christian service, and fellowship are the most important aspects of being Christian.
- The concepts of eternal life and salvation are less concrete and somewhat elusive; i.e., not as clearly defined.
- Social engagements/friendships are encouraged with people of any/all faiths and social categorizations.
Liberal
- The nature of God is not clear or definable, except that God is loving and just. Jesus is human, not divine.
- The Scriptures are edifying for spiritual growth and formation, but not exclusively, as other texts are as well.
- The Christian life and spirituality are predominantly personal and individual, with the collective expression
of church having more to do with social justice issues, peace prerogatives, and being a community.
- Social interaction and cultural diversity is strongly encouraged and, in some circles, mandated.
Progressive
- Very similar to Liberal Theology in its beliefs about God, the Scriptures and social engagement, but distinct in its proposal that theology is ever-changing and expanding, with revelation and the learning of God constantly morphing within and between cultural boundaries.
PROCESS THEOLOGY
- Similar to Progressive Theology, except that whereas Progressive points to the learning and revealing of God to be constantly expanding, Process Theology believes that even Gods nature and mindset is changing, as God interacts with humanity and Gods own understanding of it evolves.
In Numbers 11, When the Israelites are hungry in the desert after the exodus, Moses asked the LORD "Why have you brought the trouble on your servant".
The LORD says to gather some of his elders and the Lord shares some of the Spirit that was on Moses, with them.