Continuation of my Contentions Series.

Link to Shaykh Abd al Hakim Murad’s Contentions part 1.

35. Liberal Protestantism: God is no longer the Father, but an occasional and indulgent Grandfather.

Liberal Protestantism - Wikipedia Definition

• “It maintains that, while God remains immutable, theists relationship with, and understanding of God change through history, and therefore that no theological truths are necessarily fixed, as each person’s experience can reveal a novel aspect of God. “

First, we need to establish what ‘Father’ is being discussed here. Everyone should be aware of traditional Christianity’s view on God as a Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In general I find that in my conversations with real Christians the ‘person’ they have in mind when they pray is “the Father” personality of the trinity.

The other thing to reflect on here are the different roles of a father and a grandfather. A father to a child can be a source of discipline and respect, as well as love and guidance. A grandfather is hardly ever a disciplinarian, in fact the “occasional and indulgent” understanding of a grandfather is one who provides gifts to the grandchildren when he sees them on the occasional holiday or vacation. Consider that type of relationship when thinking about this contention.

In my opinion what is being said here is that Liberal protestantism has added a layer of impersonalization in terms of a real relationship with God. This is taken to the point where God is not an authority in how to live ones life. For the liberal Christian, God, while providing certain spiritual comforts in times of need, is largely irrelevant to the day-in and day-out aspects of life.