What are the differences between Fundamentalist/Evangelical Christianity and Liberal Christianty?

Question

Also if you could get me a list of which forms of Christianity are Fundamentalist/Evangelical and which ones are Liberal that would be greatly appreciated. Also if you could state your sources or leave links that would be greatly appreciated as well. But please answer both parts of this question thank you.

Answer 1

Hi there.

Universal Unitarians are very progressive on social issues, as well as theological ones. They do not require you to ascribe to any specific belief in God or Jesus to be a member. Vatican II Catholics are also very forward thinking.

United Methodists have a large range of belief. For instance, some congregations are very accepting of GLBT folks, and others are not (G W Bush is a Methodist). My church happens to be more progressive; the common uniting factor is a belief in Christ. Anglicans, Episcopals, Quakers, and the Presbytarians are also fairly liberal. In addition there is the "emergent church" that tries to consider post modern philosophy in their theology, and puts a heavy emphasis on social issues such as hunger, homelessness and the environment.

Fundamentalist/ evangelical churches (or more conservative churches) would include Church of Christ, Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, Assemblies of God, Baptists, Southern Baptists, and Nazerine Churches, among others. These churches have come out against gay marriage, and have mostly literal interpretations of the bible and very conservative politics, although there are probably exceptions that can be found within each denomination. Pentecostal, (including some assembly churches) five fold, and Vineyard churches also tend to be politically conservative.

Are you interested in a specific denomination?

I highly recommend Handbook of Denominations in the United States by Frank Spencer Mead http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Denominations-United-States-Spencer/dp/0687069831

as well as reading up on the following

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Christianity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_Church

http://www.emergentvillage.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist_Christian

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_chur2.htm

(the last link is a list of 47 denominations and their position on GLBT issues)

Hope this helps and all the best to you.

Answer 2

Liberal Christianity knows the truth. I can not list sources, or anything like that - I am stating my personal opinion. I find Liberal Christians to really have the love of God in their hearts. Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians seem to be lacking that important part - the sad thing is that they do not know that they are missing that part. They have never known the feeling.

Answer 3

Fundamentalist/Evangelical Christianity rely on the bible as its main text. Liberal Christianity rely on tradition and reason. By their nature, tradition and reason changes, so liberal churches are popular for a time. The Word of God endures forever.

Answer 4

Here are some links that might help you out. For Fundamentalist Christianity--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_Christianity
For evangelical--www.beliefnet.com
For liberal Christianity-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Christianity

I'm sorry that I could not list everything, but I hope this helps.

Answer 5

In a nutshell, Evangelicals take a more literal view of the Bible, while Liberal Christians are ok with reading into the text to conform to modern culture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Christian

Hope those links help.

Answer 6

Well, the liberal christians would be the ones that go along with the world, accepting sin and just live and let live. Fundamentalists would be those that believe what the Bible says is true and call sin sin and don't lower their standards to fit in with society.

Answer 7

God never changes, and what was sin a long time ago still is. Liberal Christian , which is an oxymoron, are those who think that situation ethics work for Christians. The ten commandments are still relevant and sin is still sin.

Answer 8

What baseball said...

& for a list of different denominations...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations

Answer 9

If they ask for your prayer request on the back of a $50 bill, they're liberal!

Answer 10

i dont keep track of what everyone is doing but googling is possible.....Methodists are less strict than Orthodox and Catholics....Baptists are sometimes more rigid with no drinking etc..