The Major Theologies
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is a conservative movement in American Protestantism arising out of the millenarian movement of the 19th century and emphasizing as fundamental to Christianity the literal interpretation and absolute inerrancy of the Scriptures, the imminent and physical Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Birth, Resurrection, and Atonement.
According to Fundamentalism:
God is an awesome judge who sends his enemies to eternal hell.
God can and does do whatever he wishes in the world. All events depend directly on him.
Jesus was God in every sense, including knowing the future. He claimed to be the Son of God.
Jesus substituted himself for us on the cross, thus paying for our sins.
The Holy Spirit brings direct, even audible messages from God to some human individuals.
God revealed Godself long ago to the Hebrews and through Jesus. This revelation has been handed down to us and is to passed to others.
The church is a gathering of those who believe the true gospel.
The Christian is set apart from the world, and ideally should be involved in it as little as possible.
Persons are basically evil, and without Christ they are lost.
The Bible is the infalible word of God.
The Christian religion consists of certain irreducible beliefs. One who does not believe them is lost.
See also "Fundamentalism" from Britannica.com
Neo-Orthodoxy
Neo-Orthodoxy is an influential 20th-century Protestant theological movement in Europe and America; it was known in Europe as crisis theology and dialectical theology. This theology is concerned principally with sin.
Sin is a divide between humanity and God. Faith in Jesus
is what is required to bridge the divide. The Church
is seen as the center of God's action in the world today
and has the mission to call people to God through witnessing.
According to Neo-Orthodoxy:
God stands over and against the human individual and demands a faith commitment.
God acts primarily in history. He calls individuals to places of leadership to carry out his will.
Jesus is the center of God's action in the world, through his incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, living Lordship, and second advent.
Jesus Christ by entering into human misery makes a new life possible. God awaits our response through him.
The Holy Spirit witnesses to the truth in the hearts of believers, and breaks out into the world with love and goodwill.
God has revealed Godself in history through mighty acts of salvation. Revelation is transmitted by testimony.
The church is the center of the activity of the Word in the world. It is the redemptive community.
The Christian's major function is to witness in such a way as to bring modern humans to a confrontation with the Gospel.
Human dignity lies in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. His entrance into the world shows the worth of persons inspite of sin.
Biblical scholarship must be acknowledged, but the Word is revealed in the Bible and demands our reponse.
The Christian religion is a faith-repsonse to God's initiative. It is normative for all.
See also "Neo-orthodoxy" from Britannica.com
Existential Theology
Existenalism is any of the various philosophies dating from about 1930 that have in common an interpretation of human existence in the world that stresses its concreteness and its problematic character. According to Existentialism: (1) Existence is always particular and individual—always my existence, your existence, his existence. (2) Existence is primarily the problem of existence (i.e., of its mode of being); it is, therefore, also the investigation of the meaning of Being. (3) This investigation is continually faced with diverse possibilities.
According to Existential Theology:
God is beyond all descriptions; personal, but not a person, not limited by a name.
God is the ultimate ground of all being. Thus he transcends all existing things yet closely relates to them.
Jesus as Christ symbolizes ultimate truth about God. One encounters Jesus now and in history.
Jesus as the Christ signifies God's acceptance of persons as they are. Accepting one's acceptance gives new being.
The Holy Spirit is manifested in faith and love. The supreme criterion of this is Jesus as the Christ.
Revelation is the way the mysterious depths of being is concretely expressed in the expereince of a person who feels concern about their own existence.
The church is a group of people who express in the contemporary culture a new reality by which they have been grasped.
The Christian inevitably finds himself/herself involved in life-situations which require decision-making. Choices determine what the person really is..
Persons are alienated from God, the ground of their being, and need to be reconciled.
The Bible depicts both a self-revealing of God and the contexts within which it takes place. We must see it from our own context.
The Christian religion is a way to overcome our alienation from God and therefore from our own being.
See also "Existentialism" from Britannica.com
Liberalism
Liberalism is a form of religious thought that establishes religious inquiry on the basis of a norm other than the authority of tradition. It was an important influence in Protestantism from about the mid-17th century through the 1920s. The defining trait of this liberalism is a will to be liberated from the coercion of external controls and a consequent concern with inner motivation.
According to Liberalism:
God is a creator who has established certain rules by which the world operates.
God works in the world through regular processes, which he will not violate.
Jesus was the best and greatest man who ever lived. From him we learn the nature and will of God, because his sonship is found in word and deed.
Jesus calls his followers to serve and suffer with him for the sake of the Kingdom. Redemption is both individual and social.
The Holy Spirit makes the infinite resources of God available in the present; if we respond, God's will can be done in us.
God is revealed in many ways, both secular and sacred, but supremely in the example of Jesus.
The church is a community which strengthens its members through the formation of habits of worship, study, and service.
The Christian life is to be lived in imitation of Jesus, seeking to establish the Kingdom and demonstrate love.
Persons are neither good nor bad, but the influences of life can lead them either way.
The Bible is an important sourcebook for Christianity, but it requires reinterpretation both in its own terms and in light of modern scholarship.
Christianity rises above all other religious expressions, but it is different in degree rather than in kind..
See also "Liberalism" from Britannica.com
Liberation Theology
Liberation Theology developed in late 20th-century Roman Catholicism as a movement centered in Latin America that sought to apply religious faith by aiding the poor and oppressed through involvement in political and civic affairs. It stressed both heightened awareness of the socioeconomic structures that caused social inequities, and active participation in changing those structures.
According to Liberation Theology:
God's intention is for every human to be entirely free. Good works to that end.
God leads humans to complete freedom; they must struggle to respond and obtain it.
Jesus was a revolutionary whose principal mission was and is to the captive and poor.
Redemption is primarily this-worldly and is realized in every upward step of lowly persons. Jesus overthrows the mighty and exalts the lowly.
The Holy Spirit speaks to persons primarily through the temporal, secular situations in which they find themselves.
God is revealed in the struggle for peace and freedom. This is both an individual and a group experience.
The church is the Kingdom in miniature, and society should be made over to fulfill the aspirations of its members.
The Christian throws himself/herself into the struggle for justice and equality for oneself and others, no matter what the cost.
Persons are created to be free. They realize this in political and economic ways as well as in religion.
The Bible is a textbook for liberation. Women, minorities, and the oppressed everywhere find great meaning in stories like Exodus.
Christianity expresses itself best in true democracy, where political, economic, and social matters are dominated by the well-informed masses of people.
See also "Liberation Theology" from Britannica.com
Process Theology
Process Theology a theology that believes everything is “in process,” including God. Everything is on a journey to becoming something better. Goal setting, experience, and personal enlightenment are the key toward becoming better than we are. The ultimate goal is perfection.
According to Process Theology:
God is part of a world-process that changes both God and the world.
God influences world events through love and persuasion. God cannot do otherwise.
Jesus is the event in history which shows that love, relationship, and movement toward fulfillment are God's will.
Jesus Christ is related to all things; he is the focus of all God's purposes for salvation, which is complete personal and social wholeness.
The term "Holy Spirit" can be used for the fact that God is intimately involved in all world happenings.
God is progressively revealed in the totality of universal events, from the subatomic to the ultra-celestial.
The church's primary function is to provide participation in work and worship in order that persons, society, and the world may grow toward God's will.
The Christian life is lived in relationship with God known in Christ, and in company with others, as a social process, taking every opportunity to realize love.
Persons are dynamic products of the past with genuine freedom to reach goals. Direction is more important than the present state.
The Bible is valuable only when taught for life experiences. It is part of the past which makes us, but must be appropriated for the present and future.
Christianity affirms life, gives life, and pervades life. It does not consist of negatives which express distrust of human nature and God's good world.
Naturalism
Naturalism is a theory that relates scientific method to theology by affirming that all beings and events in the universe (whatever their inherent character may be) are natural. Consequently, all knowledge of the universe falls within the pale of scientific investigation. Although naturalism denies the existence of truly supernatural realities, it makes recognition of a supreme Creator central.
According to Naturalism:
There is no supernatural. Life needs no such explanation.
God may be thought of as the tendency of the universe to realize and preserve values.
Jesus was the incarnation of growth of meaning and value. This growth can be idefinitely great, but is never fully realized in one individual.
Redemption is devotion to the value believed to be supreme for all humankind. Jesus is the outstanding example of such devotion.
The Holy Spirit is a way of describing certain types of religious experiences but is not itself a reality.
Revealed truth is an attempt to explain experiences which are beyond known methods to distinguish between valid and invalid inquiry.
The church is an association of persons for the purposes of religious living.
The religious person develops a drive toward values believed to be supreme. Usual characteristics of such a life a self-criticism, patience, hope, and a sense of mission.
Persons are one with the natural universe and must realize their potential in this context.
The Bible is a record of human experience which may be one source of religious teaching.
The Christian religion is a past culture which has been superceded in modern thought and practice.
See also "Naturalism" from Britannica.com
For information on Roman Catholic Theology, Lutheran Theology, Anabaptist Theology, Reformed Theology, Arminian Theology, Wesleyan Theology, and Black Theology see H. Wayne House's book Charts of Christian Theology & Doctrine (Zondervan, 1992).
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