The Ten Commandments of Progressive Christianity (Cruciform Quick)

A cautionary look at ten dangerously appealing half-truths.

Not long ago, I came across a list of ten principles set forth by proponents of progressive Christianity. They are, in effect, a new Ten Commandments. What’s striking is that they are far less about God revealing his desires and far more about man expressing his own—less Moses, more Oprah.

• Yet each of these commandments is partially true.
• Indeed, that is what makes this list, and progressive Christianity as a whole, so challenging.

Half-truths can sound quite appealing until you recognize their foundations and implications. In this booklet, I diagnose and critique each of these tenets and offer a brief biblical and theological response.

Liberal Christianity never really goes away. If the church is going to hold fast to “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), we must, in every era, be able to distinguish the true faith from the false.

Michael J. Kruger is the President and the Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC.