|
Dallas Burdette |
January 1, 1999 |
What is liberalism? This word is often employed by many
believers to castigate other believers who do not agree with their particular
brand of orthodoxy. In other words, if
one believes in Sunday school, individual communion cups in the distribution of
the “fruit of the vine,” instrumental music in the assembly, Bible colleges,
missionary societies, orphan homes, and so on, he/she may be labeled liberal by many well-meaning saints.
What does the word liberalism mean in the real sense of the
word. We have liberal democrats, we
have liberal republicans, we have liberal professors, we have liberal clergy
(ministers), and so on. Accepting the common
use of this expression by Christians, then everyone is a liberal to
someone. The word liberal is a relative term. In other words, it all depends on which side
of the fence you are on. Every person
is liberal or conservative according to someone’s own viewpoint.
Since this essay is
considering liberalism in its religious setting, then one must determine what
liberalism really is. The term liberalism is frequently applied by many
well-meaning Christians to anyone that is not within their own interpretative
community. If one is outside the camp
of a particular fellowship of believers, then that person is a liberal. The objective of this essay is to put this
term (liberalism) in proper focus.
Hopefully, this paper will enable Christians to determine who is and who
is not a liberal from a Christian perspective.
Nevertheless, one must
appreciate those who are concerned about liberalism. But liberalism must be defined as those who
deny Mosaic authorship, the inspiration of the Scriptures, the virgin birth,
the atonement of Christ, and the relevancy of God’s word in the lives of men
and women. Yes, every Christian must
condemn this kind of liberalism.
One must appreciate those who are concerned
about liberalism; liberalism is
something that every Christian must condemn.
Jesus, Paul, and Peter address themselves to the importance of relying
upon the written Word:
“It is written:
‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth
of God’” (Matthew 4:4).[1]
I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be
prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great
patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:1-2).
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one
speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the
strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus
Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:11).
Christians are bound to the Word of God, not
the words of men.
In one’s study of the Older Testamental writings, one must consider the puzzling question, What Is Liberalism? The following definition will set the stage for examination of one of the most misunderstood questions within the Churches of Christ:
Liberal Protestantism is a modern
movement that reinterprets the biblical and historic doctrines and practices of
Christianity. Reluctant to endorse orthodox doctrines such as the virgin birth,
the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the need for renewal by the Holy Spirit and
the infallibility of the Bible, liberal Protestants are more interested in
adapting religious ideas to modern culture and thought. . . . Following
theologians like Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976), liberal Protestants insist that
modern men and women cannot understand or accept the outdated teachings of
Christianity in a world so changed by modern science. This is a thinly disguised naturalism—in Bultmann’s case a
strident anti-supernaturalism—which insists that the Bible must be “demythologized,”
freed of symbolic myths such as the atonement or miracles and reinterpreted to
see what Jesus or the Bible’s writers really taught. Biblical Christianity is precisely the story of great miracle—the
resurrection; this view destroys any real possibility of belief in God.[2]
Based
upon the above definition, liberalism is the denial of the virgin birth, the
bodily resurrection of Jesus, the infallibility of the Bible, Mosaic authorship
of the Pentateuch, the miracles of the Bible, the atonement, and so on. This is liberalism!
Liberalism
is a denial of the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Liberalism denies that “prophecy never had
its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). Every Christian must be
concerned about liberalism. Jesus also
confronted liberalism among the religious leaders in His day:
But do not think
I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes
are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I
say? (John
5:45-47).
SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY LIBERALISM
To
understand liberalism today, one must go back to the seventeenth century. The modern-day liberal biblical theology
movement has its origin in the writings of Baruch Spinoza (1631-1677) and
Richard Simon (1633-1712)—a Catholic priest in France. Both of these men were influenced by La
Payrene, a French Calvinist, who challenged the commitment to biblical
infallibility by creating hypotheses that contradicted biblical teaching.[3] During the time of Spinoza and Simon,
another leader arose, Jean Le Clerc (1657-1736), who also questioned the
authorship of the Pentateuch.[4] Le Clerc’s denial of Mosaic authorship was
so radical that even Simon was offended by his proposals. Another liberal, Jean Astruc (1684-1766)
reflected upon the Simon/Le Clerc controversy (1685-1686) as one of the most intense
confrontations in the history of ideas about the Bible.[5]
DOCUMENTARY HYPOTHESIS
Even though others, from time to time, denied Mosaic authorship, Astruc did not. Nevertheless, Jean Astruc paved the way for later criticism of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Up until the second half of the eighteenth century, Mosaic authorship remained the generally accepted position. Although Astruc, a French medical doctor, still held to Mosaic authorship, he laid the groundwork for such men as Graf (1815-1869) and Wellhausen (1844-1919) in their Documentary Hypothesis, that is to say, the dividing of the Pentateuch into four sources (JEDP), thus denying Mosaic authorship. Astruc maintained that there were repetitions and contradictions in the Pentateuch, and, as a result, he concluded that Moses used various sources in compiling the Pentateuch.
Four Sources: JEDP
Originally,
the key for sources (JEDP) turned upon the use of the names “Lord” (J [Y]ahweh) and “God” (Elohim). [6] To this day the different use of names for
God is the chief characteristic of source splitting, that is, dividing the
books of Moses into four sources, thereby denying Mosaic authorship. Herbert Livingston calls attention to these
various sources in the naming of the documents:
From Astruc on, the criterion of two divine names, Elohim and Jehovah, has been elemental to analysis of the Pentateuch and the basis for three of the four documents. The sources E and P has the name Elohim, and J had Jehovah; each of these sources or documents has separate histories. . . .
Julius Wellhausen is the scholar generally
credited with resolving the issue of dating sequence. Drawing heavily upon the implications of Hegel’s
postulates—thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in the processes of history—Wellhausen
opted for the sequence JEDP. In his
famous book, Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel, first published
in 1878, Wellhausen argued so persuasively for his position that he won the
day. His theory became standard in Old
Testament liberal circles for more than half a century and still is a powerful
voice.[7]
The Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis[8] has had tremendous influence upon modern day scholars. One such scholar is Robert B. Laurin, former professor of Old Testament at the American Baptist Seminary in Covina, California. Thus, Laurin explains that
Three famous sources were used in the formation of the bulk of Genesis through Numbers. The first is called the “J” source because it tends to use consistently the proper name “Jahweh” (usually spelled “Yahweh”) for God; it is probably comes from the tenth century B.C. during the reign of Solomon. The second source is called the “E” source because it uses the name “Elohim” for God, and perhaps comes from the Northern Kingdom of Israel about a century later, that is, in the ninth century B.C. shortly after the breakup of Solomon’s kingdom. The third source is termed the “P” source because of its dominant priestly interest in worship and law; it appears to have been gathered together during the exile in Babylonia in the sixth century B.C. . . . The Priestly History comprises Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem gathered together some of the older narrative sources, particularly “J” and “E.” . . . The motive for the formation of this history was Israel’s own situation. . . . Second, the recognition of sources shows us that the main characters of the books are the heroes, not the authors, even though a given book may bear the name of Moses or Samuel or Joshua, this does not mean that it is the product of his hand. The books are all anonymous, the products of centuries of gradual collection. . . . Thus, scholars have concluded that such expression as “the Lord said to Moses”: or “Moses said” are not indications of authorship, but rather only general formulas to introduce collections of literature.[9]
AGE OF SKEPTICISM
During this period of skepticism, beginning
with Spinoza and Simon, other men of prominence also stand out as major players
in the development of cynicism regarding the Bible: Voltaire (1694-1778), Hume
(1711-1776), Rousseau (1712-1778), Diderot (1713-1784), Lessing (1729-1781),
and Kant 1724-1804).[10] Another important name that played an
important role in the development of the modern-liberal theology movement was
Johann Philip Gabler (1753-1826).
Gabler was essentially a rationalist, and his approach to biblical
theology prevailed for approximately fifty years. With this rationalistic technique of Gabler, scholars began to
view the Bible as any other book. No
longer was the Bible the Word of God—it was now just one more book.[11]
In
the mean while, Hegel’s (1770-1831) views were put to use in the study of the
Scriptures. The comments of Livingston
may be added for further confirmation of this statement: “The views of Comte,
father of logical positivism, and Hegel, champion of logical progression after
the pattern of a thesis-antithesis-synthesis sequence, were particularly
influential among Old Testament Scholars.”[12] Livingston explains how Hegelian philosophy
was applied to the Pentateuch:
How then did the Wellhausen theory date the four documents? Since the D document was declared to be written in the seventh century and made public in Josiah’s reform of 621 B.C., that document became the keystone for the procedure. It was decided that D knew about the contents of J and E, but not of the Contents of P; hence, J and E were written before 621 B.C., and P, at a later date.
Dialectically, the J document, with its naïve
concepts, could be dated before E, and the early phases of the divided kingdom
seemed to provide a good historical setting.
It could be argued that J was the kingdom of Judah’s reaction against
the establishment of the kingdom of north Israel. The purpose of J, then, was to provide Judah with a “historical”
document that would justify Judah’s and Jerusalem’s claim to be the governmental
center of all Israel. Likewise, E would
be the antithetical production of the Kingdom of north Israel, led by the tribe
of Ephraim, to show that there were historical antecedents in the Patriarchs
and in Joshua for the governmental center to be located in the north.
The theory continued to conclude that after
the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel, in 721 B. C., broadminded
men during the reign of Manasseh (first half of seventh century B.C.) felt that
the E document was too valuable to lose, so they blended it with the J document. This new JE document became a new thesis and
the D document its antithesis. The
thinking of the D document is said to have triumphed, substantially, during the
Exile in Babylon and colored the composition of the historical books Joshua
through II Kings. However, the
“Holiness Code,” tied with Ezekiel, arose as another antithesis to D; and
slowly, for perhaps a century, the priest in exile and then in Jerusalem put
together the P document and made it the framework of a grand synthesis, the
Pentateuch.[13]
Scholars
applied the thinking of Hegel to the study of the Bible. Before the time of Hegel, truth was
conceived on the basis of antithesis.[14] For example, truth, in the sense of
antithesis, is related to the idea of cause and effect. In other words, if anything is true, the
opposite is false. In plain English,
absolutes[15] imply
antithesis. Hegel departed from the
classical methodology of antithesis.[16] No longer did men think of thesis and
antithesis; now, men thought in terms of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.[17] He and his followers shifted the concept of
truth and modern man was born.[18]
According
to liberal scholarship, the words of Scripture are no longer God’s
revelation. Thus, there is no absolute
standard by which right and wrong are determined. No longer is the Word of God viewed as the Word of God, but now
the Scriptures are simply looked upon as the words of men. Scholarship, influenced by Hegel, forgot
that historic Christianity stands on a basis of antithesis. Without antithesis, then Christianity is
meaningless. Without antithesis there
is no way of determining what is right and what is wrong. If there are no absolutes, then who is to
determine what is right and what is wrong?
The Christian view is that God and God alone is the answer to what is
right and what is wrong. God alone is
authoritative. Isaiah calls attention
to the fact that it is God’s Word that is the determinative factor in determining
what is right and what is wrong: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not
speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:20). God revealed Himself through His Holy Spirit
and the Holy Spirit revealed God’s will through His prophets and through the
apostles of Christ.
LIBERAL CHRONOLOGY
In order to understand the impact of the
Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis[19]
upon the church today, one must understand something of the time frame within
which the liberals assign to the books of Moses. Liberals deny not only Mosaic authorship, but also the authenticity
of other books of the Old Testament as well as New Testament books. Again, the question is: What is the
Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis? The
following explanation sets forth in a nuts shell the basic theory:
Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis. A theory concerning the origins of the
Pentateuch which, though having numerous antecedents, was most persuasively
argued by K. H. Graf (1866) and Julius Wellhausen (1876-1884); it added to the
existing hypothesis the argument that written documents, combined and revised
over several centuries from varying historical and theological points of view,
could be (fairly) precisely dated and placed in an evolutionary sequence. A J
(Yahwist) document (ca. 850 B.C.) and an E (Elohist)
document (ca. 750 B.C.) were, according to this hypothesis, combined by a
redactor (RJE) around 650 B.C.; the Deuteronomic Code (621 B.C.,
called D) was added by a redactor
(RD) around550 B.C.; the Priestly Code (Ca. 450 B.C.) constituted
the final document added by a redactor (RP) around 400 B.C.[20]
From the above citation, one observes that the liberals divide the books of Moses into four documents (JEDP). From these four documents, the following chronology is assigned: “J” (J [Y]ahweh) is designated a date around 850 B.C. (Elohist); “E,” is allotted a date close to 750 B.C.; then, “J” and “E” were combined by a redactor (editor) in 650 B.C.; “D” (represents Deuteronomy) is consigned a date just about 621 B.C. during the reign of Josiah; “D” was combined with “J” and “E” by a redactor in 550 B.C.; “P” (represents primarily Leviticus) is doled out a date approximately 450 B.C.; then, finally, “J” and “E” and “D” were brought together in 400 B.C. This chronology set forth by many scholars is vastly different from that assigned by the Holy Spirit.
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY
In
order for one to understand clearly the work of the “destructive critics” of
the Bible, it is necessary to perceive a time frame of Biblical chronology in
order to assess the liberals’ assigned chronology to the Pentateuch. Does the Bible give any indication as to the
dates within which the Old Testament writings can be dated? Perhaps, one of the most important verses
dealing with biblical chronology is First Kings 6:1.[21] This passage sets the stage for biblical
chronology that allows one to get a handle on some very key persons in the Old
Testament. The writer in First Kings
says: “In the four hundred
and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth
year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he
began to build the temple of the LORD.”
The author gives an anchor point for biblical chronology. In fact, several important factors are
contained in this verse. For instance,
consider the following: (1) It is the fourth year of Solomon’s reign; (2) it is
the year in which he began to build the temple; and (3) it has been 480 years
since the Exodus.
One
knows from internal and external evidence that this fourth year of Solomon’s
reign is 966 B.C. One also knows that
Solomon was crowned king in 970 B.C. It
is common knowledge that David reigned for forty years (First Kings 2:10). Since Solomon came to the throne in 970
B.C., then David was crowned king over Judah in 1010 B.C. Saul, David’s predecessor, also reigned for
forty years (Acts
13:21); therefore, he was crowned king in 1050 B.C. Thus, one can quickly see that First Kings 6:1
becomes an anchor point for an adequate knowledge of biblical chronology.[22]
Date of the Exodus
Understanding
First Kings 6:1
helps one to assign a specific time period to the date of the exodus. Since the author of First Kings tells his
readers that “it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the
children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of
Solomon’s reign” (First
Kings 6:1), then one can arrive at a date of 966 B.C. as the
fourth year of Solomon’s reign in which he began to build the house of the
Lord. With this data about Solomon’s
reign, one can arrive at an exact date for the exodus. From the date of Solomon’s fourth year of
his reign (966), one can add 966 to 480 (the number of years since the exodus)
to arrive at the number 1446 (the year of the exodus). This combining of the these two dates gives
one the information needed to establish the date of the exodus as well as the
date of birth for some of the patriarchs.
Date Jacob Moved
to Egypt
Since one now knows that
the date of the exodus occurred in 1446 B.C., then one can determine the date
that Jacob moved into Egypt. The key to
unraveling this information is found in Exodus 12:40, where Moses says,
“Now the sojourn of the
children of Israel who lived in Egypt was
four hundred and thirty years.” If one adds
430 years to the date of the exodus (1446), then one discovers that the
children of Israel began their sojourn in Egypt in 1876 B.C. Thus, from Exodus 12:40, one
discovers that Jacob moved to Egypt in 1876 B.C.
Date of Jacob’s
Birth
As
one continues to move back in time, one can discover the date of Jacob’s
birth. Again, one is indebted to Moses
for a statement concerning a conversation that Jacob had with Pharaoh: “And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years
of my pilgrimage are one hundred
and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and
they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in
the days of their pilgrimage’” (Genesis 47:9). The sojourn of Jacob began in Egypt (1876
B.C.) when he stood before Pharaoh, thus the information from Genesis 47: 9
furnishes one with the additional knowledge to determine the date of Jacob’s
birth. Since Jacob told Pharaoh that he
was 130 years old, then if one adds 130 years to the date that Jacob entered
Egypt (1876 B.C.), one arrives at the date of 2006 B. C. as the date of Jacob’s
birth.
Date of Isaac’s
Birth
Armed with
the above information about Jacob’s date of birth (2006 B.C.), then one can
move further back into time to another statement of Moses in Genesis 25:26
in order to determine the date Of Isaac’s birth: “After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so
he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebecca gave birth to
them.” Since one knows from Genesis 47:9
that Jacob was born in 2006 B.C., then by adding Isaac’s age at the time of
Jacob’s birth then one can assign a date for Isaac’s birth at 2066 B.C.
Abraham’s Date
of Birth
Still moving back, one
also learns from Genesis 21:5 that Abraham was
born in 2166 B.C.[23]
Moses writes: “Abraham was a
hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.” Since Isaac was born in 2066 B.C., then by
adding 100 to Isaac’s birth, then one arrives at a date of 2166 for the birth
of Abraham. Moses not only informs his
readers that Abraham the birth of Abraham, but he also records the departure of
Abraham from Haran to Canaan as occurring in the year 2091 B.C: “So Abram left,
as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old
when he set out from Haran” (Genesis 12:4). If one begins the patriarchal period with Abram (Abraham), then
one is considering a time span from 2091 B.C. when he left Haran until the time
when the children of Israel entered Egypt in 1876 B.C. This calculation (2091 minus 1876) is a
total of 215 years. Some see the
patriarchal period as extending from the time Abram left Haran in 2091 V.C.
down to the death of Joseph in Genesis 50:26. Joseph’s death occurred in 1805 B.C. If one accepts this latter span, then one would have a period of
286 years for the patriarchal period.[24]
DATING OF
CERTAIN OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS
Genesis
Reading
from Genesis 1:1 to the final section of Genesis (chapter 50), one goes from eternity
past (approximately 8000 to 12000 B.C.) to the death of Joseph, which can be
shown by tracing the chronologies in Genesis to be, as stated above, 1805 B.C.[25]
Exodus
The
book of Exodus begins in 1876 B.C in flashback, because Exodus
1:1 refers to the names of
those who came into Egypt with Jacob. Chapter
one of Exodus covers the
time period from 1876 B.C. to the birth of Moses as recorded in chapter
two. One can read in Acts 7 that Moses was forty years old when he fled
Egypt. He was eighty years old when he
returned to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. Since one knows that Moses died at the age
of 120 (Deuteronomy 34:7), then by using the previous information about
the date of the Exodus, one can date the birth of Moses at 1526 B.C. Since Moses was eighty years old when he
led the children of Israel out of Egypt, then one only needs to add 80 to 1446
to arrive at Moses’ date of birth.
Between Exodus 2:1 and Exodus 3:2, one discovers that eighty years transpired. Then, from the night of the Passover until the tabernacle was set
up at the end of the book of Exodus, one observes a time span of thirteen
months.
Turning
to Exodus 40:17, Moses writes: “So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the
first month in the second year.” One
observes that by this time the children of Israel have left Egypt and have gone
down into Sinai; Moses made his two trips up on Mount Sinai, and the tabernacle
was constructed. Exodus
40:17 informs the reader
that all these events occurred within approximately thirteen months. Thus, one can place a date of approximately
1445 B.C. along side of Exodus 40:17.[26]
Leviticus
and Numbers
Leviticus
has no chronology. But, about a month
transpires between the section in Exodus 40:17 and the movement indicated and initiated in the
book of Numbers. For instance, Moses
writes: “The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai
on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites
came out of Egypt” (Numbers 1:1). The
book of Numbers begins in the second year after the Exodus and covers a period
of about thirty-nine years. Since the book of Exodus ended in 1445 B.C., the
book of Numbers also begins with that same year.
Deuteronomy
Since Moses died at the age of
120, then the death of Moses occurred in 1406 B.C. (1446 minus 40). With this date (1406 B.C.) the wanderings
were over. From the internal evidence
in the book of Deuteronomy, one is able to date this book with accuracy. For example, Moses gives us the chronology
that is essential to date this book: “In the fortieth year, on the first day of
the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had
commanded him concerning them” (Deuteronomy 1:3). Thus,
one can write alongside the book of Deuteronomy, and especially at Deuteronomy
34:7, the date of 1406
B.C.
Joshua
With
the death of Moses in 1406 B.C., the responsibility of leadership passed from
Moses to Joshua. Thus, the book of
Joshua begins with this date. From the
internal evidence, it appears that the events of the book required about
twenty-one years. Therefore, one may
date the end of Joshua at 1385 B.C. [27]
Judges
The
book of Judges began immediately after the death of Joshua. Again from internal evidence, the time
period lasted approximately 335 years.
Those years also include the book of Ruth. Judges can be dated from approximately 1385 to 1050 B.C.
First
and Second Samuel
The
book of First Samuel began in 1100 B.C.
There is a fifty-year overlap between the end of the book of Judges and
the beginning of First Samuel. First
Samuel covers a time span from the birth of Samuel in 1100 B.C. to the death of
Saul in 1010 B.C. for a total of ninety years of history. Second Samuel began in 1010 B.C. and covers
almost forty years of history until approximately 975 B.C.
First
and Second Kings
First
Kings began in 970 B.C. and ends with the death of Ahab in 853 B.C. This book covers approximately 117 years of
history (970 minus 853). Second Kings,
using the death of Ahab in 853 B.C., continues until 586 B.C., which is the
year of the Babylonian captivity.
Second Kings covers roughly 267 years of history (853 minus 586).
First
and Second Chronicles
The
two books of Chronicles begin with a genealogical synopsis from Adam to 539
B.C. Thus, Second Chronicles includes
forty-seven more years of history than is contained in Second Kings (586 minus
539).
Ezra
Following
the Babylonian captivity (586 B.C.), Ezra takes up the history of Judah from
539 B..C. to 457 B.C. (539 minus 457), which is an additional eighty-two years
of the history of Judah. There is no
book that covers the history of Judah from 457 B.C. to 445 B.C. (12 years), and
as a result of this lack of history, one encounters twelve years that is
unaccounted.
Nehemiah
Nehemiah
picks up the history in 445/444 B.C. By
adding these years, one has 962 years of total history. This number (444), when subtracted from 1406
(the date of the entrance into Canaan as recorded by Joshua) provides one with
the date 444 B.C. This is the date for
Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.
Malachi
Following
this even, Malachi records the final episodes of the history of Judah, which
dates to more or less 400 B.C. So, the
writing of the Old Testament took place with Moses between 1446 B.C. and 400
B.C., which is a total of 1,046 years.[28]
CONCLUSION
Who
is a liberal? What is liberalism? A liberal, in the true sense of the word, is
someone who denies Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch or the infallibility of
Scripture or the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection of Jesus or the
absolutes of God. Disagreement over
doctrinal issues so prevalent within many Churches of Christ is not liberalism. One may be wrong in his/her interpretation
of Scripture, but inexactness in understanding or interpretation is not
liberalism. Lack of understanding may
simply be an honest mistake of the heart, not rebellion against God.