The Historical Aspect of Liberalism - Admission/Application Essay Example

Which Way: Part II - A Newer Paths Introduction Liberalism is referred to as a doctrinal position, which has its existence in several churches. The aspect of Liberalism is well framed as “Modernism”. The Newer Paths of liberalism is identified to be quite different from the traditional theology of liberalism. Liberalism in the Newer Paths, rejects various features concerning believes of the Church that cannot be proved on the methodology of human sciences. Liberalism signifies that the traditional understanding of the churches regarding the aspects of the world requires to be revaluated considering the notion of scientific knowledge. It not only dismisses the ‘external authority for faith’ and creed but also states that every individual is free to profess a religion, which deems to be true. Liberalism clearly states that people are free to follow their own thoughts and religion with good hope, which will lead them towards salvation (Which Way, n.d.). With this concern, the application paper intends to explore the information revealed in Part II: Newer Paths of Chapter 6 of Liberalism. The application will summarize the nature, authority of human sciences, theology concerning the churches and principles laid down by Jesus along with the other specific believes regarding the same. Discussion The historical aspect of liberalism is of vital consideration. As per the past history, during the era of Christ, Sadducees were the liberals. They did not believe in resurrection, however, after their conversion to Christ, this notion did not persist. With the passage of time, a new movement of “Modernism” better known as “Liberalism” was framed to bring renaissance. The renaissance was to bring intellectual liberty, social reorganization and advances of science. In this regard, it can be articulated that liberalism gave rise to various sets of believe, including social reformation for the creation of a better world. Science was affirmed to be the supreme authority amid error and truth (Which Way, n.d.). There lay certain attributes that led towards the development of liberalism. Universalism is one of the aspects, which assisted in the growth of liberalism. Universalism affirmed that God is a sovereign power serving the humanity equally. Therefore, the liberals were against the preaching of the churches, denoting that hell is for the people who have conducted a sin. Another element of liberalism is Unitarianism, which contributed to determine liberal aspects. As witnessed above, Liberalism does not valued miracle hence, dismissed the fact of incarnation of Jesus. Unitarianism rejected the concept of ‘Holy Spirit’ along with ‘virgin birth’ related with the incarnation of Jesus. Conversely, the liberals believed Christ to be the best man who served humanity on earth and was thus known as “Divine Master”. The liberal view addressed that the influential power of Jesus was divine but not similar to heavenly Father. During this phase of development, the philosopher and theologian named Friedrich Schleiermacher preached various aspects of theology through religious experience hence, was referred to as the Father of liberalism. This element valued the religious experiences rather than the inscriptions deciphered in the Bible (Which Way, n.d.). Few criticisms were faced during this era while considering the concept of liberalism, regarding the elements of Bible and literary fragments. People criticized that Bible was depicting the popular beliefs of various writers and their experiences after the inscription of Moses. Liberals dishonored the Bible concerning the accuracy of historical data hence, regarded that the words written in the Bible were not “Word of God”. Liberals accepted the ‘Theory of Evolution’, which was based on the knowledge of human sciences and validated their responses concerning individual freedom (Which Way, n.d.). On contrary, liberalism faced jeopardy concerning the identity crisis of the liberals and the theories along with the philosophies relating to God and powers. Few of the major doctrines of liberalism were principally based on the idea of ‘diversity of belief’. As per the guidelines of liberalism, Bible comprises the “Word of God” but Bible is not “Word of God”. Liberals affirmed that they belief in science hence, rejects the miracles of Bible. Concerning the aspect of Jesus, Liberalism pronounces “The virgin birth and the literal resurrection of Jesus are not essential parts of the Christian faith.” The liberalism doctrine states that man evolved slowly over the years from the protoplasm, which is science not a miracle. Regarding the element of salvation, liberals believe that the life of a human being is mainly designed by his own acts of moral and spiritual progress. Every individual have the power to change his own destiny and possess divine power. Liberals spoke about the ‘fatherhood of God’, ‘brotherhood of man’ and preached that humanity will be saved from death. However, neo-orthodox believed in the concept of regeneration. Regarding the aspect of salvation, there lays the difference in the opinions of the liberals, wherein few of them believe the theory of ‘resurrection’ and few on the notion of ‘immorality of the soul’ (Which Way, n.d.). Liberals adore Jesus and His work regarding humanity. They believe Jesus to be a good teacher with values. The theology of the saints was that individuals are the son of God and people who worship God tend to be the same. As per the theology of Newer Paths, Adam was remarked as the God of the world after the observation of Mormonism and dogma of saints. Moreover, Adventism refers to Christians who love and follow the principles of Jesus. Adventists teaches that human ‘soul sleeps’ until final judgment is made and refers to the attitudes deciphered towards testimony (Which Way, n.d.). In relation to the theology of Newer Paths, Unitarians stated that Christ is regarded as a spiritual being. He was a best man in the kingdom of God due to His works along with private directions. As per the Jehovah’s doctrine, it is stated that God is one and named as “Jehovah.” Moreover, concerning salvation, Jehovah doctrine states that “God sent his son to die for our sin” as per the arguments presented by this doctrine. In general, with reference to Newer Paths, it is seen that churches consider Trinity and few principles of Unitarianism (Which Way, n.d.). Conclusion From the above analysis and discussion, it can be comprehended that the theology of Newer Paths relates to various aspects of Christianity and considers the concepts of liberalism and salvation among others. The doctrines discussed above argued about varied views along with attributes of the people of the Christian community and the churches. The theological aspects of the Christian community were identified to be considering the preaching of Jesus and His works along with experiences. References Which Way. (n.d.). Part II: Newer Paths. Liberalism, 101-231. Read More