Methodist Seminaries Have Taught Good Liberal Stuff for Years


Wife and I were married 60 years ago in her Methodist church. We belonged to one for seven years. I remember only a few things. The church we belonged to was hostile to alcohol and retail stores being open on Sunday. Restaurants were open on Sundays and that was OK. It was, however, aggressively liberal about the big issue of that time, ending racial segregation.

Decades have passed and I assume alcohol and Sunday open stores is no longer discussed. One thing that seems the same in U. S. Methodist policy is its aggressive liberal views on contemporary issues. A majority of U.S. Methodists want to allow gay preachers. It is evident the majority also has a strong dose of ecumenism. These liberal views are an outrage to U.S. conservative Methodists. The outrage was laid out in a recent rant where we learned the many liberal topics taught in Methodist seminaries. 

For several years, conservatives fought to keep liberal ideas out of Methodist dogma. Through legal and procedural delays by liberals, this was never accomplished. The result is that, instead of changing the denomination to become right wing, conservative churches are leaving to form new denominations. Those leaving, of course, have an older demographic and will die off. Those remaining have a younger demographic but will not be supplied with many younger members. The only conclusion has to be it is a huge fight in what is a declining enterprise.

That said, the Methodist war is a helpful metaphor for most of the Christian faith. Both Protestant and Catholic denominations have splits over the same issues. The difference between Methodists and some others is the others, like Catholics, have been able to paper over the wars going on inside the denomination by not splitting into new denominations. The Methodist split has played out for all to see.

I remember reading decades ago a long investigative piece about religion in the Wall Street Journal. It dealt with how the faith was bridging the gap between what people in the pews believed and what religious academic scholars had concluded about Christianity. The Dean of a Protestant seminary said, "That there is actually a life after death has not been taught in any main line seminary for years." 

When I see the courses and topics offered in Methodist seminaries one can see the Dean was accurate.  


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