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[Heart of Gold]

Christian conservatives, how do you square the unquestionably liberal teachings of Jesus?

[jimwalton]

Without specifics, it's pretty hard to answer this question. I don't find any particular problem with Jesus' teachings because I'm conservative, but I do struggle with a lot of them because I'm human. His teachings are a challenge of how to live life on a different plane, to think differently, to see differently, and to see how upside down and inside out the values of society are. We have to live with our minds in a different place with values counter-intuitive to what we have been taught. That's the difficult part. Whether a conservative, liberal, or middle-of-the-roader, Jesus' teachings are going to challenge us to see with completely different eyes and to think on a much different level.

[Heart of Gold]

Why is Jesus a Liberal?

Being liberal is, according to the dictionary, one who is open minded, not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional or established forms or ways. According to the Bible, Jesus was a pluralist Liberal who taught that people do not need to conform to strict and orthodox views of God, religion, and life. He rejected greed, violence, the glorification of power, the amassing of wealth without social balance, and the personal judging of others, their lifestyles and beliefs.

He taught to believe in and live a spiritual and ethical life based in our essential, inherent goodness. What Jesus promoted was succinct set of spiritual principals and a way of life based upon the of love, compassion, tolerance, and a strong belief in the importance in giving and of generosity to those in need.

While not Biblical scholars, our common sense understanding of His lessons as philosophically and politically Liberal is founded upon Jesus' own words modern interpretations of Liberation Theology, and in the positive, loving and compassionate application of His teachings - from the many early Saints to Mother Theresa and Liberation Theology.

Certainly, Jesus brought a radically Liberal theology to the Orthodox believers of his time. Jesus IS a Liberal even today because now more than ever, His principals align with the very core of Liberal Beliefs.

[jimwalton]

I see what you're saying, and agree partially. I don't agree with all your analyses.

You say that Jesus "taught that people do not need to conform to strict and orthodox views of God, religion, and life." What he taught was not to have to conform to the establishment's added-on rules (which would have made him a liberal), but he held very tightly to the orthodox views of God, religion and life taught in the Torah (the Law), which would have made him a conservative. Maybe Jesus just defies labels and boxes.

> He taught to believe in and live a spiritual and ethical life based in our essential, inherent goodness.

See, I disagree with this. He did teach goodness, but not inherent goodness. He taught that the only goodness available was the righteousness of God that needed to be imputed on us. What he taught to believe in was essential holiness, superseding goodness. He did teach "a way of life based upon the of love, compassion, tolerance, and a strong belief in the importance in giving and of generosity to those in need," but never at the expense of holiness and truth.

> our common sense understanding of His lessons as philosophically and politically Liberal is founded upon Jesus' own words modern interpretations of Liberation Theology

I disagree with this also. I think Liberation Theology is an inadequate structure to capture and describe the teachings and ways of Jesus. The box is too small to contain Jesus, and therefore it's a misrepresentation of his attitudes and actions.

> Certainly, Jesus brought a radically Liberal theology to the Orthodox believers of his time.

In one sense yes, and in another, no. He was radically liberal in his approach to the social categories the religious establishment had created, but he was radically conservative in his ceaseless drive to have people return to the fundamental core of biblical teaching, leaving behind all the additions that had been annexed to the Bible all those centuries.

> Jesus IS a Liberal even today because now more than ever, His principals align with the very core of Liberal Beliefs.

I disagree with this. Liberal is too small and inadequate a box to house a proper understanding of who Jesus was and what he taught.