Liberal theism is the

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

belief in the existence of a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

without adhering to an established religion. The exact definition is debatable. Liberal theists often believe that, "all religions lead to the truth." Liberal theists are often influenced by the beliefs in their culture. For example, a liberal theist in the United States is likely to have beliefs strongly influenced by Christianity. It can also be said that all religions began as a form of liberal theism. Liberal theists are more likely to be proponents of

moral relativism Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. ...

than

moral absolutism Moral absolutism is an ethical view that some (potentially all) actions are intrinsically right or wrong. Stealing, for instance, might be considered to be always immoral, even if done for the well-being of others (e.g., stealing food to feed a ...

. They often claim that there are no black and white concepts, but instead only subjective beliefs. Liberal theism should not be confused with

Liberation Theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...

. Liberalism can also exist in established religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. A key aspect of Liberal Theism is the idea that

classical theism Classical theism is a form of theism in which God is characterized as the absolutely metaphysically ultimate being, in contrast to other conceptions such as pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, deism and process theism. Classical theism is a f ...

can be modified. This means a Liberal Christian may not, for example, conform entirely to the description of God in the Bible. He/she would say that we can redefine God. They generally argue that people 2,000 years ago did not necessarily have the correct idea. Liberal Theism can be seen as a response to the

problem of evil The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,The Problem of Evil, Michael TooleyThe Internet Encyc ...

argument against the existence of God. The problem of evil suggests that an "all good" and "all powerful" God could not possibly endorse or allow evil actions to occur, for example,

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

. A liberal theist may suggest that perhaps God is not all powerful, that perhaps God is just the "most powerful". That is, that God cannot control some things. This allows for us to say that humans can use their own innate reason to act in an evil way. Liberal Theism also provides an answer to the question, ''"If God is all powerful, then can he create a rock that not even he can pick up?"''. A classical theist may spend a lifetime pondering this question without figuring out an adequate answer, but a liberal theist would say that either God is not all powerful, after all, or that it is a moot point since God would not bother in such petty issues as creating and moving rocks.

See also