Theology Thursday: What’s the problem with “progressive” theology?

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
What's the problem with "progressive" theology?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
Last week, I defined what is generally meant by “conservative” and “progressive” or “liberal” theology, and why it matters for our faith and faithfulness.

Today, I want to offer a more direct critique of progressive theology, because I believe it’s worth thinking through the potential problems with this approach to Christianity and the church.
 
I do want to start by making it clear that I am not claiming that members of so-called progressive churches aren’t “real” Christians or haven’t come to saving faith in Jesus. I’m confident many have and many haven’t, just as I’m confident that many have and many haven’t in so-called conservative churches. My point, I hope you’ll see, is not that one can only be a Christian in a conservative church, but that progressive churches obscure the truth of the gospel and distort right understanding of the grace of God, and thus make it more difficult for true, authentic saving faith to take hold in the hearts of church members. In other words, I think progressive churches dangerously lead people astray in critical ways.

Roger E. Olson is a Bible and theology professor at Baylor University, and has written and taught extensively on the subject of progressive theology. He does so in a manner that is not dismissive or combative, but is critical. Much is at stake here, including a great number of people’s very souls. There’s nothing more important to get right than the tenets of the gospel and our response to it.
 
Olson writes that progressive theology isn’t so much a tightly defined theological system as it is a trajectory or tendency within modern Christianity - one shaped less by a single or particular creed and more by a shared posture toward authority, doctrine, and cultural change.

He defines progressive theology as an approach to the faith that “prioritizes contemporary experience, reason, and moral intuition as lenses through which scripture is interpreted and, at times, corrected or re-evaluated.”

More specifically, several key elements show up in how Olson describes this tendency:

1. A Different View of Biblical Authority
Olson argues that progressive theology tends to deny or significantly qualify the full authority of scripture. Rather than seeing the Bible as a unified, divinely authoritative revelation from God, progressive theologians often treat it as a collection of historically conditioned human writings that contain both insight and error.

This doesn’t always mean rejecting the Bible outright. Instead, Olson says progressives often:

• Affirm the Bible as important or inspiring
• But deny that all its teachings are binding for today

In his view, this creates a situation where some parts of scripture are elevated while others are set aside, based on modern judgments.

2. The Role of a “Canon Within the Canon”
Olson emphasizes that progressive theology operates with an implicit higher authority—whether that is:

• Modern ethical sensibilities
• Cultural consensus
• Personal or communal experience

This becomes, in effect, a “canon within the canon,” determining which biblical teachings are still valid. This is one of progressive theology’s defining features: scripture no longer has the final say for the Christian, but is just one voice among many.

3. Doctrinal Flexibility and Development
According to Olson, progressive theology is characterized by a willingness to revise or reinterpret historic Christian doctrines - including views on sin, judgment, salvation, and even the nature of God - if those doctrines seem incompatible with modern moral or intellectual frameworks.

He doesn’t deny that development in theology is possible (he affirms that it is), but he argues that progressive theology often moves beyond development into substantial alteration. It doesn’t just welcome new illumination based on new evidence, but actively changes the meaning of scripture based on new thinking (which is not the same as evidence).
 
4. A Positive Motivation
Importantly, Olson does not typically portray progressive theologians as insincere. He often acknowledges that they are motivated by:

• A desire for justice
• A concern for inclusivity
• A wish to make Christianity credible in the modern world

However, he cautions that good intentions do not guarantee theological faithfulness, especially if the authority of scripture is diminished. As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

5. The Bottom Line
Olson’s central concern is that progressive theology, as he defines it, ultimately relocates authority away from divine revelation to human judgment. Once that shift happens, Christianity risks being reshaped according to changing cultural values rather than remaining rooted in a stable gospel.

It’s not that progressive Christians are wrong about everything, but they are in danger of getting the most important things wrong, and they often wrongly prioritize ethical issues and social action above gospel fidelity. They minimize repentance and the reality of personal, damnable sin, and often ignore the Bible’s teaching on God’s coming judgement and the absolute necessity of individuals being saved by faith in Jesus, and not by mere association with vaguely Christian-ish ideas or activities.
 
Even the very idea of “salvation” is iffy in progressive Christian circles because it implies that we need to be saved from something. To the extent we need salvation, it is generally only from bad earthly systems and oppression, not personal sin. Very few progressive churches would articulate their position that way, but it is present in their approach as a matter of emphasis and omission - they are quick to talk about racism or greed (which are good things to talk about!) but reticent to talk about sin and rebellion against God (which cannot be left out!).

To put a pretty fine point on it: if doctrine is always open to revision, and if scripture is no longer the final authority, then it becomes difficult to say what Christianity definitively teaches at all.

It becomes a religion that basically maintains that we are to be nice to people, and work to make a better world. Those are great goals, but they fall terribly, deadly short of the full breadth and depth of the gospel and its presentation of a Savior of sinners.
We do not need to be harsh or cruel in our rejection of progressive theology, but we do need to be serious about it. In the worst cases, it is falsely convincing its adherents that they are in the family of God when they are not. That’s a big, big deal.

We should pray for anyone in any church we believe is significantly mistaken about the essential matters of the faith, and while we can work alongside these groups for any number of causes, we cannot affirm their positions or their practice. To love is to tell the truth, especially when the truth is a matter of eternal life and eternal death.

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.