Moderate Christianity is a
theological movement in
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
that seeks to make decisions based on spiritual
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...
.
Origin
Moderation in
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
is related to the spiritual
wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...
that is addressed in
Epistle of James
The Epistle of James). is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles ( didactic letters) in the New Testament.
James 1:1 identifies the author as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" who is writing to "the twelve tribes ...
in chapter 3 verse 17. In
First Epistle to Timothy
The First Epistle to Timothy is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible often grouped together as the pastoral epistles, along with Second Timothy and Titus. The letter, traditionally attributed to the Apostle Paul, consists ma ...
, moderation is also referred to as
temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
and is a required characteristic to be
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
in the Church.
Characteristics
Moderate Christianity is characterized by its concern to bring hope, to include cultural diversity and creative collaboration, by not being
fundamentalist
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...
or
liberal, predominantly
conservative and avoids
extremism
Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...
in its decisions.
Catholicism
Moderate
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
mainly became visible in the 18th century, with Catholic groups taking more moderate positions, such as supporting
ecumenism and liturgical reforms. These moderates are also overwhelmingly in favor of state autonomy and the independence of Church doctrine from the state. After
Vatican Council II
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
, moderate Catholics distanced themselves from
traditionalist Catholicism
Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council ...
.
Evangelical Christianity
Moderate
evangelical Christianity
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
emerged in the 1940s in the United States in response to the
Fundamentalist movement of the 1910s. The
Fuller Theological Seminary
Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature.
Fuller consistently has a student body that compr ...
founded in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
, California in 1947 had considerable influence in the movement. The study of the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
has been accompanied by certain disciplines such as
Biblical hermeneutics
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, for ...
,
Biblical exegesis and
apologetics
Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...
. Moderate theologians have become more present in
Bible colleges and more moderate theological positions have been adopted in evangelical churches. In this movement called neo-
evangelicalism, new organizations, social agencies, media and
Bible colleges were established in the 1950s.
[ Axel R. Schäfer, ''Countercultural Conservatives: American Evangelicalism from the Postwar Revival to the New Christian Right'', University of Wisconsin Press, USA, 2011, p. 50-51]
See also
*
Christian fundamentalism
*
Conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
*
Liberal Christianity
*
Political moderate
Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
References
{{Portal, Christianity}
Christian philosophy
Christian theological movements
Christian terminology