In progressive Christianity, the doctrine of original sin is abandoned and replaced with “original blessing” or “original goodness.” In their comprehensive survey of progressive Christianity, progressive authors David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy write, “Far from being fallen creatures trying to return to a mythical Eden, human beings are emerging as a species from more primal and baser instincts to become more responsible and mature beings.” Although most progressive Christians will acknowledge that humans are “broken,” they typically avoid identifying that brokenness with sin, but rather, attribute it to immaturity.
Historically, Christians have believed that humans have a sinful nature that was passed down from Adam and Eve after they rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. The Bible teaches that sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2; Ephesians 2:12; 4:18), which puts us in quite a predicament. Put simply, we need a Savior. However, in progressive Christianity, it isn’t our sin that separates us from God, but our own self-imposed shame. Of Adam and Eve, progressive author Brian McLaren writes, “They lose their fearlessness in relation to God.” So, rather than viewing their sin as what separated humans from a holy God, McLaren refers to their experience in Eden as a “classic coming of age story.”
According to this counterfeit truth, you don’t need to deny yourself and repent. You just need to realize that you were never separated from God in the first place. You are perfect just as you are.
2nd Counterfeit Truth of Progressive Christianity: Jesus Didn’t Need to Die on the Cross
If sin doesn’t separate us from God, why then did Jesus die on the cross? According to progressive Christianity, Jesus didn’t die as a blood sacrifice offered to God for the sins of the world. He died to show us how to forgive our enemies by allowing himself to be crucified by an angry mob. One progressive author puts it this way: “Who originated the Cross? If God did, then we worship a cosmic abuser, who in Divine Wisdom created a means to torture human beings in the most painful and abhorrent manner.”
The Bible is chock-full of different metaphors and motifs to help us understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross. There are themes of Jesus taking our punishment, paying our debt, reconciling us to God whereas we once were enemies. There is language of being adopted into God’s family, following Jesus’ example of forgiveness, and being cleansed from our sin. Scripture speaks of Jesus defeating the power of sin, death, and hell through his death and resurrection. There is almost no end to the beauty of what Jesus accomplished when he went to the cross!
However, in progressive Christianity, the view historically known as penal substitutionary atonement, which has to do with Jesus being punished in our place—as our substitute—is perceived to be an abusive doctrine that implicates the character of God. The logic goes like this: If God the Father requires the blood of Jesus His Son, doesn’t that make him something like a divine child abuser?
According to this counterfeit truth, Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross to save us from sin, but submitted to it out of love.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Ben White
