Conservative Christianity

{{Short description|Form of Christianity}}

{{Distinguish|text=Christian right, a political movement of Christians that support conservative political ideologies and policies within the secular or non-sectarian realm of politics}}

{{History of Christian theology}}

{{Conservatism sidebar}}

Conservative Christianity, also known as conservative theology, theological conservatism, traditional Christianity,{{Cite web |title=Progressing Spirit : Why Traditional Christianity Must Die |url=https://progressingspirit.com/2018/10/04/why-traditional-christianity-must-die/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=Progressing Spirit |date=4 October 2018 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209081709/https://progressingspirit.com/2018/10/04/why-traditional-christianity-must-die/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Dreher |first=Rod |date=2014-07-24 |title=What Is 'Traditional Christianity,' Anyway? |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/what-is-traditional-christianity-anyway/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=The American Conservative |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306222142/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/what-is-traditional-christianity-anyway/ |url-status=live }} or biblical orthodoxy{{Cite web |title=Biblical Orthodoxy |url=https://www.tiu.edu/welcome-from-president-perrin/biblical-orthodoxy/ |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=Trinity International University |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616164809/https://www.tiu.edu/welcome-from-president-perrin/biblical-orthodoxy/ |url-status=live }} is a grouping of overlapping and denominationally diverse theological movements within Christianity that seeks to retain the orthodox and long-standing traditions and beliefs of Christianity. It is contrasted with Liberal Christianity and Progressive Christianity, which are seen as heretical heterodoxies by theological conservatives.{{Cite web |title=What Do Christians Mean When They Use the Word "Conservative"? |url=https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2019/what-do-christians-mean-when-they-use-the-word-conservative |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=The Good Book Blog - Biola University Blogs |date=18 November 2019 |language=en-us |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205355/https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2019/what-do-christians-mean-when-they-use-the-word-conservative |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=George |title="Conservative" And "Liberal" Christianity |url=https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/conservative-and-liberal-christianity/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=The Gospel Coalition {{!}} Canada |date=8 April 2019 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205349/https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/conservative-and-liberal-christianity/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Pinnock |first=Clark H. |title=An Evangelical Theology: Conservative and Contemporary |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1979/january-5/evangelical-theology-conservative-and-contemporary.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=ChristianityToday.com |date=5 January 1979 |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205355/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1979/january-5/evangelical-theology-conservative-and-contemporary.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Waldman |first1=Steve |author-link= |last2=Green |first2=John C. |author-link2= |date=April 29, 2004 |title=Evangelicals v. Fundamentalists |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/evangelicals/vs.html |url-access= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614120035/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/evangelicals/vs.html |access-date=October 9, 2021 |website=pbs.org/wgbh |series=Frontline: The Jesus Factor |publisher=PBS/WGBH |type= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |department= |location=Boston |archive-date=June 14, 2023 }}Ryrie, Charles C. The Grace of God. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), pp. 10–11.{{Cite journal |last=Dorrien |first=Gary |date=2002 |title=The Making of American Liberal Theology; Imagining Progressive Religion 1805-1900 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/106385120201100411 |journal=Pro Ecclesia: A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=496–497 |doi=10.1177/106385120201100411 |s2cid=220284807 |issn=1063-8512 |access-date=2023-01-17 |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205354/http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/106385120201100411 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Dorrien |first=Gary J. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48542292 |title=The making of American liberal theology |date=2001–2006 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=0-664-22354-0 |edition=1st |location=Louisville, Ky. |oclc=48542292 |access-date=2023-01-17 |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205354/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48542292 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=DeYoung |first=Kevin |title=The Making of American Liberal Theology |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/the-making-of-american-liberal-theology/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=The Gospel Coalition |date=4 March 2011 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205356/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/the-making-of-american-liberal-theology/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Merriam |last2=Webster |title=Neoorthodoxy |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neo-orthodox |access-date=2008-07-26 |work=Dictionary |edition=online |archive-date=2023-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306024808/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neo-orthodox |url-status=live }}Brown, Robert McAfee (1986). "Introduction", The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses, Yale University Press, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eB6MyJk2fvQC&q=f%3Dfalse&pg=PR15 xv-xvi.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529235727/https://books.google.com/books?id=eB6MyJk2fvQC&q=f=false&pg=PR15 |date=2023-05-29 }} Retrieved 2018-01-19. Conservative Christianity should not be mistaken as being necessarily synonymous with the political philosophy of conservatism, nor the Christian right (which is a political movement of Christians who support conservative political ideologies and policies within the realm of secular or non-sectarian politics).{{Cite web |title=Conservative Christianity after the Christian Right |url=https://faithangle.org/session/conservative-christianity-christian-right/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Faith Angle Forum |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321211143/https://faithangle.org/session/conservative-christianity-christian-right/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=Creighton |date=2017-01-23 |title=Can the Religious Right be Left? Christian Political Organizing in the Age of President Trump |url=https://conciliarpost.com/politics-current-events/christianity-political-organizing/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Conciliar Post |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205043127/https://conciliarpost.com/politics-current-events/christianity-political-organizing/ |url-status=live }}Barclay Key, Black Fundamentalists: Conservative Christianity and Racial Identity in the Segregation Era, Journal of American History, Volume 109, Issue 2, September 2022, Pages 458–459, https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jaac302 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117220158/https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jaac302 |date=2023-01-17 }}

Theological conservatism is found in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Protestantism, the Church of the East, Old Catholicism, and throughout all of Mainstream-Nicene Christianity in both Western Christian and Eastern Christian traditions.{{Cite web |last=Hoffacker |first=Jayna C. |date=2010-08-18 |title=Catholicism and Community: American Political Culture and the. Conservative Catholic Social Justice Tradition, 1890-1960 |url=https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=history_theses |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201034831/https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=history_theses |archive-date=2023-02-01 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Georgia State University}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotthahn.com/catholic-theological-resources.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706202856/http://www.scotthahn.com/catholic-theological-resources.html|url-status=dead|title=Catholic Theological Resources | website=Scott Hahn |archivedate=July 6, 2016}}{{Cite book |last=Dragani |first=Anthony |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463236410-008/html |title=Adrian Fortescue and the Eastern Christian Churches |date=2014-06-30 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=978-1-4632-3641-0 |pages=137–156 |language=en |chapter=6. Eastern Christian Theology and Faith Ii |doi=10.31826/9781463236410-008 |access-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205355/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463236410-008/html |archive-date=2023-01-17 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last=James R. |first=Lewis |title=The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions |publisher=Prometheus Books |year=1998 |isbn=1-57392-222-6 |edition=1st |location=United States |pages=367 |chapter=Old Catholic Movement}} Within Protestantism, it is largely made up of Evangelical Christianity and Christian Fundamentalism, while the Confessing Movement, Confessionalism, and to an extent Neo-orthodoxy make up the remaining; in Roman Catholicism it is inclusive of Catholics that adhere to Traditionalist Catholicism as well as the Magisterium, Scriptures, and Traditions of the Church at the exclusion of Catholic Modernism and Folk Catholicism;Rock, Stella (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dNpcEtoAk4YC&pg=PA11 Popular religion in Russia]. Routledge {{ISBN|0-415-31771-1}}, p. 11. Last accessed July 2009. and in Old Catholicism it currently includes the Union of Scranton, those of similar beliefs, and historically the Union of Utrecht until its adoption of theological liberalism.Roger E. Olson, The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology, Westminster John Knox Press, USA, 2004, p. 172Peter Beyer, Religion in the Process of Globalization, Ergon, Germany, 2001, p. 261Eric C. Miller, [https://religionandpolitics.org/2015/10/27/the-political-legacy-of-progressive-evangelicals/ The Political Legacy of Progressive Evangelicals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411002227/https://religionandpolitics.org/2015/10/27/the-political-legacy-of-progressive-evangelicals/|date=April 11, 2021}}, religionandpolitics.org, USA, October 27, 2015 : "In relative terms, these characteristics and their usual adherence to traditionally orthodox doctrines do make evangelicals more theologically conservative than liberal Protestants".{{Citation |last=Sweetnam |first=Mark S |title=Defining Dispensationalism: A Cultural Studies Perspective |journal=Journal of Religious History |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=191–212 |year=2010 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9809.2010.00862.x}}.{{Cite web |title=Progress of Redemption – Buck Hatch Library |url=https://buckhatchlibrary.com/series/progress/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=buckhatchlibrary.com |archive-date=2023-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601191306/https://buckhatchlibrary.com/series/progress/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author=Bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church |date=2008-04-28 |title=The Declaration of Scranton: a profession of faith and declaration |url=http://theunionofscranton.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Declaration-of-Scranton.pdf |access-date=2018-01-18 |website=theunionofscranton.org |publisher=Union of Scranton |publication-place=Scranton, PA |location=Lancaster, NY}}{{cite web |author=Polish National Catholic Church. General Synod |date=October 2010 |title=The Declaration of Scranton: official commentary |url=http://theunionofscranton.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Official_Commentary_Declaration_of_Scranton_FINAL_PNCC_Synod_Oct_2010.pdf |access-date=2018-01-18 |website=theunionofscranton.org |publisher=Union of Scranton |location=}} In spite of this, not every community has had a direct connection with the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy.

Evangelical leaders like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council have called attention to the problem of equating the term Christian right with theological conservatism and Evangelicalism. Although evangelicals constitute the core constituency of the Christian right within the United States, not all evangelicals fit that political description. The problem of describing the Christian right which in most cases is conflated with theological conservatism in secular media, is further complicated by the fact that the label religious conservative or conservative Christian applies to other Christian denominational religious groups who are theologically, socially, and culturally conservative but do not have overtly political organizations associated with them, which are usually uninvolved, uninterested, apathetic, or indifferent towards politics.{{cite book |last=Deckman |first=Melissa Marie |url=https://archive.org/details/schoolboardbattl0000deck |title=School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781589010017 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=[https://archive.org/details/schoolboardbattl0000deck/page/48 48] |quote=More than half of all Christian right candidates attend evangelical Protestant churches, which are more theologically liberal. A relatively large number of Christian Right candidates (24 percent) are Catholics; however, when asked to describe themselves as either "progressive/liberal" or "traditional/conservative" Catholics, 88 percent of these Christian right candidates place themselves in the traditional category. |author-link=Melissa Deckman |access-date=April 10, 2014 |url-access=registration}}{{cite book |author-last=Joireman |author-first=Sandra F. |author-link=Sandra Joireman|title=Church, State, and Citizen: Christian Approaches to Political Engagement |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-537845-0 |editor-last=Joireman |editor-first=Sandra F. |location=Oxford and New York |pages=73–91 |chapter=Anabaptism and the State: An Uneasy Coexistence |lccn=2008038533 |access-date=February 26, 2022 |chapter-url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=polisci-faculty-publications |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125145905/https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=polisci-faculty-publications |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |url-status=live |s2cid=153268965}} Tim Keller, an Evangelical theologian and Presbyterian Church in America pastor, shows that Conservative Christianity (theology) predates the Christian right (politics), and that being a theological conservative didn't necessitate being a political conservative, that some political progressive views around economics, helping the poor, the redistribution of wealth, and racial diversity are compatible with theologically conservative Christianity.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Timothy Keller at the March 2013 Faith Angle Forum |url=https://eppc.org/publication/dr-timothy-keller-at-the-march-2013-faith-angle-forum/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=Ethics & Public Policy Center |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401231307/https://eppc.org/publication/dr-timothy-keller-at-the-march-2013-faith-angle-forum/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Doctrine and Race: African American Evangelicals and Fundamentalism between the Wars |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/doctrine-and-race-african-american-evangelicals-and-fundamentalism-between-the-wars/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306222142/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/doctrine-and-race-african-american-evangelicals-and-fundamentalism-between-the-wars/ |url-status=live }} Rod Dreher, a senior editor for The American Conservative, a secular conservative magazine, also argues the same differences, even claiming that a "traditional Christian" a theological conservative, can simultaneously be left on economics (economic progressive) and even a socialist at that while maintaining traditional Christian beliefs.