The Baha'i Studies Listserv Liberal religion is a religious tradition which embraces the theological diversity of a congregation rather than a single creed, authority, or writing. Because it may draw resources from many traditions, it cannot normally be characterized as Christian, Jewish, or any particular religious faith. Theologian James Luther Adams defined the "five smooth stones of liberalism" as: Revelation and truth are not closed, but constantly revealed. All relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not coercion. Affirmation of the moral obligation to direct one's effort toward the establishment of a just and loving community. Denial of the immaculate conception of virtue and affirmation of the necessity of social incarnation. Good must be consciously given form and power within history. The resources (divine and human) that are available for achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate (but not necessarily immediate) optimism. There is hope in the ultimate abundance of the Universe.[1] A religious liberal has been defined as "To be a liberal according to my favorite scripture, Merriam-Webster, is be open minded, is to be free from the constraints of dogmatism and authority, is to be generous and to believe in the basic goodness of humankind. Religion is defined as that which binds us back or reconnects us to that which is ultimately important. Thus religious liberals are those that are connected, through generosity and openness, to the most important aspects of life. And therein lies the challenge. If we are open minded and not bound by authority, who or what decides those matters of ultimate importance?"
Sent from my iPad On Apr 22, 2013, at 14:12, Don Calkins <don59...@gmail.com> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > if you think liberal means "No drugs, no booze, no hanky-panky" then I guess > we're quite liberal. > > Don C > > On Apr 20, 2013, at 5:54 11PM, Stephen Kent Gray wrote: > >> Why isn't the Baha'i Faith a liberal religion? > > > ------------- > Understood properly, all man's problems are essentially spiritual in nature. > > > __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-699007-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
