Home  Articles  Site map

For Christians who have not heard this expression before, to be progressive may sound like something good to be, meaning they are not rigid, they know how to adjust with the changing times, they can live peaceably with people of other faiths, etc. They don't want to be confrontational but peace-loving, loving, caring, thinking and accepting kind of people. But that is not what this term progressive implies now, because it is a label denoting Christians who do not want to be fundamentalists basing everything on the authority of the Bible but who want to recognise the views of experts in different fields, look at religions as alternative sources of truth, etc. Many of such progressives ultimately come to look at the teachings and life of Jesus as sources of great inspiration, but without any personal relationship or commitment to Jesus. Progressive Christians are coming up all around us, and unless we are very watchful, it becomes difficult to separate out such views from many popular Christian preaching or teaching. We must know that without a personal relationship with Jesus and a life of submission to Him, there is no Christianity.

Let us look at three examples where this progressive trend takes people. It looks very regressive to believe in God having created everything as the Bible teaches, in view of the advancement of scientific knowledge. But actually, the more scientists discover scientific facts, they are dismayed to see that their gaps in knowledge are only expanding and that their theories cannot be validated in spite of the exaggerated claims some scientists make. But we do see that it is extremely unpopular and regressive to claim that the intelligence and the fine tuning we see in the universe point away from arbitrary processes but towards an intelligent Designer and Creator.

The feminist movement started because of the general oppression, neglect and lack of recognition women faced. The fight was to earn recognition for their equality with men. But that has now gone out of proportion to demand from everyone that men and women cannot be differentiated at all in any sense, thereby seeking to obliterate the differences there are between the genders in roles and functions. One cannot be seen as a progressive Christian without joining with the feminists in their campaign.

The sexual revolution took shape as an attempt to decriminalise and then normalise homosexual ideas and behaviour. But then it took off to giving recognition to people who define their own concepts of sexuality. Someone who wants to be recognised as a progressive Christian is compelled to accept these ideas or at least not to oppose them.

We can see that this path of 'progress' is in a direction away from the revelation of God in His word, which believing Christians have held on to for centuries. Some Bible scholars have joined this path, finding alternative explanations to Bible teachings to support their ideas (2Ti.4:3).

Tweet