The Making of American Liberal Theology

The Making of American Liberal Theology Imagining Progressive Religion 1805-1900 (WJK 2001) is the first volume of Gary Dorrien’s magisterial three volume series on the history of American liberalism. I don’t know much about Dorrien except that when he began the series he was at Kalamazoo College and now he is at Union Theological Seminary. From what I’ve read (and I did not read every page), he is sympathetic to liberalism (hence the position at Union), but also fair and clear. I doubt that many evangelicals need to read these volumes, but some pastors and students may want to have them as reference material on their shelves.

So what is liberalism?

Like any “ism” it’s diverse and not easy to define. But certain characteristics shine through in Dorrien’s narrative. For the sake of historical accuracy and for the sake of spotting recurring themes in the contemporary church, it’s important to understand something about the basic themes of liberal theology (note: the headings are mine, all the indented text is from the book).

1. True religion is not based on external authority    Keep Reading>>>