Anthony0721After appearing on Glenn Beck’s Fox News program last week, I have received a considerable amount of criticism by “progressive” Christians for appearing on a show hosted by a man challenging Christianity’s connection to a particular type of socialistic understanding of social justice. Black liberation theology certainly had its historical moment, but many assume that critics miss that point because they are too traditional. For example, on the Union Theological Seminary blog, Preston Davis criticizes Beck (and me) by arguing that liberation theology should be appreciated because of its historic influence:

“Most of us understand that Christianity and any religious expression comes into contact with historical contexts. Glenn Beck doesn’t. I won’t spend this time arguing with his simplified, antiquated form of Christianity he learned from the Acton Institue[sic] and its Anthony Bradly[sic].”

Perhaps my “antiquated” form of Christianity does not have space in a seminary community that, some would argue, sees one part of Christian engagement to be the whole of Christian identity. For example, the mission of Union Theological Seminary is stated as such on their website:

“The mission of Union Theological Seminary, an independent, multi-denominational seminary in the City of New York, derives from a Christian heritage that is at once progressive and evangelistic: to educate leaders for ministry in churches and related organizations, to extend the work of social justice and to enrich the academy through teaching and research.”

After reading this my first question was, “What role does the Bible play?” Thankfully, educating leaders for the church ought to be a dominant part of the mission of any school calling itself a seminary. But extending the work of “social justice” is an expectation of the church only in juxtaposition with the teaching of the gospel. I don’t know any Christians who support injustice, but the essential question is how do we define what justice is? What are the elements of justice? Social justice is naturally a consequence of the movement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ through His church in society. What is antiquated, it seems to me, is seeking to pursue justice broadly and not have it grounded it anything transcendentally authoritative. “Christian heritage” is not enough.

By way of comparison, the mission statement of Westminster Theological Seminary, my alma mater, is a truly progressive approach oriented around the revolutionary and culturally subversive power of the Bible for the whole person and all of life.:

“Westminster’s mission is to form Christian leaders to proclaim the whole counsel of God throughout a changing world.”

To achieve the mission, Westminster is committed to the core values that have changed the world and provided the basis for the liberation of millions from the power of the devil as well as structural oppression, including:

  • “The triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is worthy of the worship of ‘all people in all places of His dominion’ and this fact must be the fundamental motive for every human activity.”
  • “Scripture, as ‘the very Word of God written,’ is absolutely authoritative and without error.”
  • “A fundamental mandate of the church, discipling the nations for the glory of Christ, requires culturally sensitive, theologically competent ministers who have both the ability and the passion to apply ‘the eternal word’ of Scripture to ‘the changing world” in which God has placed us.”
  • “A learned ministry set in the lifestyle of humble and ‘holy affection’ for Jesus Christ is essential in today’s church and world and must be modeled by the board, administration, faculty, and students.”

Proclaiming “the whole counsel” of God with these commitments means that Christian leaders are compelled to orient all of life according to God’s revelation of Himself for our personal lives as well as for society. The whole counsel of God includes more than the book of Exodus, the prophetical books, chapter 2 of Acts, and the gospels. If we truly want to do justice to humanity as Christians we must preach to the whole person, the whole society, the entirety of God’s Word as it was delivered to us. The whole counsel of God is about loving God with all one’s being and loving one’s neighbor. The whole counsel is for the whole person’s heart, mind, soul, and strength. This is progressive Christianity.