Great Description of Liberal Protestantism from the "Horse's Mouth"

One of the early liberal Protestants of the 20th century was Alrecht Ritscjl. Here is what he believed and I think it is a fairly accurate description of liberal Protestantism.

The following is taken from 20th Century Theology by Stanley J. Grenz and Robert E. Olson.

According to Ritschl the kingdom of God is the unity of humanity organized according to love. In Ritschl’s words (from his Christian Doctrine):

"The uninterrupted reciprocation of action springing from the motive of love—a kingdom is which all are knitted together in union with everyone who can show the marks of a neighbor; further it is that union if men in which all goods are appropriated in their proper subordination to the highest good."

For Ritschl sin is not a willful wrong act nor an inherited disposition. But it is a “kingdom of sin, a "whole web of sinful actions and reaction, which presupposes and yet again increases the selfish bias in every man." In other words, sin is primarily selfishness. It’s essential character lies in its contradiction of the ideal of human unity centered around love, which is the kingdom of God. Sin is not inherited. It is universal, but no other reason can be given for its universality than that all individuals do sin.

Salvation, according to Ritschl, is primarily the full fruition of the kingdom of God on earth. Consequently, Christianity is not an otherworldly religion but a religion of world transformation through ethical actions inspired by love. Ritschl interpreted Jesus’ divinity as the unique “vocation” given to Him by God His Father to be the perfect embodiment of the kingdom of God among humans—a vocation He fulfilled to perfection. Because he took this life task as his exclusive vocation and realized it perfectly, his very person became the historical influence that makes possible the achievement God’s and humanity’s highest good. Ritschl did not believe that Christ made atonement as the bearer of divine punishment for the world’s sins. He felt the death of Jesus was simply part of his vocation of utter loyalty to the cause of God’s kingdom.

And there you have it--a perfect description of liberal Protestantism, and also, in many ways, describes what many of today's emergents are saying. When emergents tell you they are evangleicals or even post-evanglicals, that is simply not true. They are liberal Protestants.