Take the 2-minute tour ×  In many evangelical circles I hear
people use the terms liberal, progressive and emergent quite a
bit, especially recently.  Do these all refer to the same
categorization of groups or of thought? Or do these have a more
precise meaning?  share|improve this question add comment  2
Answers  up vote 6 down vote accepted  "Liberal" Christians
generally follow some of the traditional practices and morals of
Christianity, but generally reject the notion of the inerrancy
of Scripture. As a result, their beliefs can be very diverse.
Their emphasis on doctrine is sometimes light, but sometimes
very academic.  "Emergent" Christians have adopted a
"postmodern" mindset, seeking to synthesize what others regard
as contradictory views. Generally, they believe that God is
bringing all people and indeed the universe to himself, and that
people need to join that effort however they can. The
emergent/emerging church is in some ways a reaction against the
lack of the supernatural in Liberal theology, a