Exploring Liberal Christianity

(REL 75)

Liberal Christianity has a history going back at least to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, if not to the words and actions of Jesus himself and the early church of his apostles. It has been marked by tolerance, rationality, freedom from authority, and belief in progress and in the essential goodness of humankind. This course explores liberal understandings of God, Jesus, the Bible, the Church, and faith. It examines the social, political and economic implications of theological liberalism for issues of poverty, war, discrimination, environmentalism, and modern hot-buttons such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and the relationship between science and religion. Areas of church doctrine will be discussed, including the Trinity, communion, and the Apocalypse. Attention will also be paid to liberal understandings of church holidays such as Christmas and Easter. The basic text for this course is Scotty McLennan’s 2009 book, Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All. There will also be supplementary readings that critique liberal Christianity.

Scotty McLennan, Dean for Religious Life

Scotty McLennan has been the Dean for Religious Life at Stanford since 2001. Prior to coming to Stanford, he practiced church-sponsored poverty law in a lowincome neighborhood of Boston for a decade, and then was the University Chaplain at Tufts for sixteen years. He teaches courses in the Ethics in Society Program, Urban Studies, the Master of Liberal Arts Program, and the Graduate School of Business. He received an MDiv and a JD from Harvard.