Religious liberalism

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the defining feature of theological liberalism is "a will to be liberated from the coercion of external controls and a consequent concern with inner motivation." == In Christianity ==

Liberal theology developed first and most extensively within Protestant Christianity, beginning in the late eighteenth century. The Britannica identifies three broad phases: an Enlightenment phase emphasizing rational autonomy; a Romantic phase centered on individual experience and feeling; and a Modernist phase focused on historical consciousness and progress. Conservative critiques The conservative Presbyterian biblical scholar J. Gresham Machen criticized what he termed "naturalistic liberalism" in his 1923 book, Christianity and Liberalism, in which he intended to show that "despite the liberal use of traditional phraseology modern liberalism not only is a different religion from Christianity but belongs in a totally different class of religions." The Anglican Christian apologist C. S. Lewis voiced a similar view in the mid-20th century, arguing that "theology of the liberal type" amounted to a complete reinvention of Christianity: == In Judaism ==

German-Jewish intellectuals began to apply Enlightenment principles and critical scholarship to Jewish theology and practice from the early nineteenth century, a movement known as the Haskalah. This eventually gave rise to several non-Orthodox denominations, from the moderately liberal Conservative Judaism to the more thoroughgoing Reform Judaism. The moderate wing of Modern Orthodox Judaism, especially Open Orthodoxy, has also adopted some elements of this approach. Reconstructionist Judaism, founded by Mordecai Kaplan in the twentieth century, represents one of the most radical expressions of Jewish religious liberalism. Kaplan believed that a naturalistic approach to religion and ethics was possible in a secularizing world, understanding God not as a supernatural person but as the sum of all natural processes that enable human fulfillment. == In Islam ==

Liberal and progressive currents within Islam have developed through the practice of ijtihad (independent reasoning in the interpretation of Islamic law and scripture). This can vary considerably in scope; at the more liberal end, only the meaning of the Quran is considered revelatory, with its specific expression in words understood as the work of Muhammad in his particular historical context. Islamic Modernism has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge," It featured a "critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence" and a new approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis. They distance themselves from some traditional interpretations of Islamic law which they regard as culturally specific rather than universally binding. The reform movement uses Tawhid (monotheism) "as an organizing principle for human society and the basis of religious knowledge, history, metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics, as well as social, economic and world order". The early Islamic modernists used the term salafiyya to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought, though this is distinct from the contemporary Salafi movement, which generally refers to ideologies such as Wahhabism. According to Malise Ruthven, Islamic modernism has suffered since its inception from co-option by both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama" whose "task it is to legitimise" those rulers' actions in religious terms. Some scholars, such as Omid Safi, distinguish between "progressive Islam" and "liberal Islam" as related but distinct orientations. Examples of liberal movements within Islam include Progressive British Muslims (formed following the 2005 London attacks, defunct by 2012), British Muslims for Secular Democracy (formed 2006), and Muslims for Progressive Values (formed 2007). == In eastern religions ==

Eastern religious traditions were not directly shaped by the European Enlightenment but have undertaken their own reform movements, often after contact with Western thought. Hindu reform movements emerged in British India in the nineteenth century, with figures such as Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj seeking to reconcile Hindu traditions with rationalist and universalist principles. == Unitarian Universalism and "liberal religion" ==

The term liberal religion has been used particularly by Unitarian Christians and Unitarian Universalists to describe their own tradition. In 1856, the Unitarian minister George Edward Ellis wrote: The Journal of Liberal Religion was published by the Unitarian Ministerial Union, Meadville Theological School, and the Universalist Ministerial Association from 1939 to 1949, edited by James Luther Adams, an influential Unitarian theologian. A new version of the journal was published online from 1999 to 2009. The term has also been used by Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) to describe their tradition. == See also ==