changing my mind

I have changed my mind theologically dramatically over the past twenty years. What started out as absolutely immutable I soon found out wasn’t.

I still maintain a hard-core conservative view of Christianity (I believe in the virgin birth and in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, along with the infallibility of scripture), but I have moved from one side to the other when it comes to changing my view of how God works and what Christianity does.

In my life, there has been a shift from denominational conservatism to theological conservatism.

These are not the same, no matter what anyone says. Denominational conservatism means that you view your denomination as the standard of conservatism. Theological conservatism means that you are at the right (whether center or hard right) of the theological world in general.

I just read about Reinhold Niebuhr. From the little I have seen, he too made a strong move in his life. he evidently moved from viewing sin as the fault of society to viewing sin as the fault of our own pride. That is a long way to go.

He began as a liberal minister, turning to Neo-Orthodox theology, from liberation theology to a far more conservative view of sin.

He was a supporter of just war and was a phenomenal influence on a lot of politicians on both the left and the right, I suppose depending upon at what point in his writings they read him.

Both Obama and McCain viewed him as their favorite philosopher. So did Carter and Hillary Clinton.

A strange potpourri of politicians to go to the same font for inspiration.

Christian Century Magazine used to have a column on the back page, I believe, that was entitled something like “Why I Changed My Mind”. It was full of articles of people who had moved theologically, usually becoming liberal, since the magazine is liberal.

But it began me thinking (too much, according to some of my old colleagues) and the move was rather fast from then.

I began to move 25 years ago when I went through some difficulties in my life, my ministry and my marriage.

It began to be apparent to my limited knowledge that what I was defending was not necessarily the thing to be defended.

I was in a very conservative, opinion-as-theology-driven denomination and began to change my mind. Within ten years, I had to move out of it.

Then the Lord began to open my eyes further and I shifted even more.

But the thing is, I changed my mind.

It is always good to see others who have changed their minds, and fascinating to see the process.

More later.