Review of Roger Olson’s Against Liberal Theology

Olson, Roger E. Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022.

In a recently published book, Roger Olson attempts two things, to put a definite limit on what may be called Christianity, and to call those tempted to cross that line back towards orthodoxy. He says,

… some things people call Christian just can’t be if the Bible and Christian history are our guides. It really is that simple. I am well aware how unpopular that is to say, but anyone who knows just how diverse Christianity is as a label has to know that not everything called by it can be authentically Christian. Anything that is compatible with everything is nothing. If Christianity is to mean something, it has to have some shape, if not boundaries. [ix]

and

I want to warn Christians against uncritically embracing liberal Christianity, and I want to encourage those who find themselves in liberal churches either to work to change it — back toward warmhearted and biblical, orthodox Christianity — or to leave it. [xi]

To accomplish his goals, he spends two chapters defining liberal theology and then works through five key areas of doctrine showing how liberal theology denies orthodoxy in each of those areas. The five doctrines he examines (one chapter devoted to each) are:

• Inspiration (Chapter 3)
• Theology Proper [doctrine of God] (Chapter 4)
• Christology (Chapter 5)
• Soteriology (Chapter 6)
• Eschatology (Chapter 7)

The final chapter considers “the crisis of liberal theology” and ends with a call to those edging towards it to stop, turn back, and find a home in orthodox conservative churches.

Fundamentalists will find many things that resonate with their views in this book but will also note some things that are perplexing, if not outright off-putting (from a fundamentalist perspective). When Olson describes liberal theology, our hearts respond with, “Yes, that’s something we’ve said for over the last hundred years.” It is true. The liberal theology our fundamentalist forebears fought with in the 1920s is not much different from the liberal theology of today. It has its roots in Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) who turned theology on its head many years ago. Olson cites current proponents of liberal theology and shows how their doctrine is anti-Christian. You cannot believe liberal theology and at the same time claim any realistic Christian testimony.¹

Liberal theology at its heart has an authority problem. For liberals, reason, experience, current culture [modernity], and the self all have an authority that judges the doctrines of the Bible. Thus, they can redefine terms, explain away inconvenient truths, and construct a theology and religious life that departs from orthodox Christianity.

Olson thoroughly describes liberal theology in the book, while also describing [briefly] orthodox theology. He means to describe those core ideas that all Christians everywhere hold in common. His purpose is not to go on at length on these topics, but there is enough contained in his description that fundamentalists can assent to the things he affirms as orthodox (note the small “o”). While these descriptions are true, the bar is set rather low for orthodoxy and some groups who affirm these doctrines are decidedly problematic. By that, I mean that Catholics and Orthodox Christians (big “O” Orthodox) would likely agree with the way these common doctrines are presented. One could wish for some tighter definitions here, but Olson’s purpose isn’t to distinguish between all who hold these common ideas. Rather, he is aiming for the hearts and minds of those tempted by liberalism.

One wonders if the target audience will be swayed merely by coming to an understanding of where liberal theology errs. It would seem that their objections to conservative (loosely speaking) churches isn’t theological but spiritual. What I mean is that those drifting away from orthodoxy are likely unconverted (or at least are cultivating a root of bitterness) and theology doesn’t matter to them. In addition, the appeal of liberalism is not their theology but their practice, their compassion, their religiosity, all without moral boundaries. It would seem to me that mere theology will not reach the heart. The gospel is what they need, and it would appear (from my perspective) that this is their problem. Nevertheless, if some will wake up to where they are heading through reading this book, it will have achieved its purpose. We pray that it might be so.

As a fundamentalist, I found value in this little book as a resource for someone who is not drifting from the faith. It gives insight into the weak theology of liberalism, quoting directly from its proponents (and naming names). This is a good resource for us. It might also help those who wonder why preachers are so antagonistic to liberalism as they can get a sense for liberal theology from Olson’s descriptions. However, the reader will have to remember that Olson is not a fundamentalist. He will say things that shows he doesn’t embrace fundamentalism. These parts of the book make it challenging for us to read. Lots of good analysis, but we would put the concluding call a bit more robustly.

For additional insight into this book, I did a podcast interview with Dr. Olson, which will come out on Saturday, October 21, 2023. The conversation will deal with the general idea of the book, as well as exploring questions that arise from it. You will be able to find the podcast at the Proclaim & Defend substack: the Proclaim & Defend Podcast | Foundations Baptist Fellowship | Substack. You can also find it in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or other podcast subscription providers. The link to the episode is here.

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Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.

1. Yet here is also one of Olson’s perplexing traits. He shows that liberal Christian theology is not Christian at all, but he will not say that individuals espousing the theology are certainly not Christians. For example, “I will not argue that liberal Christians are not Christians; I will argue that their theology is not authentically Christian. Insofar as Christianity is a matter of the heart rather than the head, liberal Christians may be authentically Christian. It is their theology that comes under critical scrutiny here.” [4] While I agree that we can’t see into someone’s heart, it would seem to me that the heart also speaks when it does theology. [↩]