Author Topic: fundies and liberals -understanding the Gospel or not  (Read 325 times)

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Offline AndyHB

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Re: fundies and liberals -understanding the Gospel or not
« on: September 19, 2011, 22:15:30 »
ISTM that fundamentalists tend to say - "I am doing this to try to bring you to faith in my religion/denomination because I know that my denomination has the RIGHT answer and if you don't believe as I do you will go to hell", whereas the liberal would be thinking "I am doing this because I believe it is the right thing to do. I hope that my actions will lead you by example to the same belief, but if not it is still right for me to do this".
I suppose it depends on your definitions.  I would agree that fundamentalists and liberals probably do think along the lines you have outlined Andrew - but then there is a middle area in which the primary task is to ensure that - using Jesus' teaching as a model - people's bodies and minds are sufficiently healthy, well-nourished and strong as to allow them to make a conscience and honest decision as to whether or not to give up their own faith and convert to another.  If we were to take most of the evangelical mission agencies in the UK and Europe - such as TEAR Fund, BMS WorldMission, Bookaid, Tools With A Mission, the International Nepal Fellowship, CMS, Crosslinks, World Vision, ... - their primary role is in areas such as health, education, engineering and sustainable development and, as such, are often recipients of funding from Governments and the EU - or they are involved in training pastors and other Christians in their existing faith.

I think that to limit our thinking to 'fundamentalists' and 'liberals' is to misunderstand the present church, both here in the UK, and around the world.

Active liberal churches and movements have pretty much majored on social action and real help for poor people in developing countries.
Martin, could you give us names of any such organisations?  The one that springs immediately to mind is SCM.
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