This is an audio essay from my SubStack, Process This. You can head over here to read or watch the entire essay.

I've been tracking the peculiar contradictions of American religious life for years now, and there's one puzzle that keeps me up at night: Why does liberal theology keep producing brilliant scholarship while liberal churches empty out? It's not just a marketing problem or bad leadership—it's what my friend Bo Sanders calls a "perfect storm."

In this episode, I dig into the fundamental incompatibility between liberalism's love affair with individual choice, Christianity's call to communal formation, and consumer capitalism's corrosive effects on both. We've got a faith tradition that's too secular for believers, too religious for secularists, and too academic for everyone else. Meanwhile, 55% of mainline Protestants voted for Trump, so we can't even claim the "liberal" label fits the folks in our pews.

I walk through five predicaments killing liberal Christianity—from what Henry Nelson Wieman called "spiritual thinness" to what I'm calling "liberal laryngitis," the inability to speak clearly on anything that matters. Add cultural shifts that make Sunday just another day for Target runs, and you've got churches with pipe organ endowments bigger than their mission budgets, wondering why nobody shows up.

But here's the thing: something valuable dies if we lose thoughtful faith entirely. The question isn't whether liberal Christianity deserves to survive—it's whether we can build something sturdy enough to weather this storm. Maybe it's time to take Whitehead's advice and "disembark on Mount Ararat" to build something entirely new.

Fair warning: This one's going to make some folks uncomfortable. But as Niebuhr reminds us, Christianity always stands under judgment—including its liberal expressions.

____________________________________________________________________________

I hope you enjoy it and consider supporting my work by joining 80k+ other people on ⁠Process This⁠. If you want to ⁠read or watch the essay, you will find it here ⁠on SubStack.

⁠⁠Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025⁠⁠

3 Days of Craft Nerdiness with 50+ Theologians & God-Pods and 600 new friends.

Online Class:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Rediscovering the Spirit: Hand-Raisers, Han, & the Holy Ghost⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

"⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rediscovering the Spirit: Hand-Raisers, Han, and the Holy Ghost⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠" is an open-online course exploring the dynamic, often overlooked third person of the Trinity. Based on Grace Ji-Sun Kim's groundbreaking work on the Holy Spirit (pneumatology), this class takes participants on a journey through biblical foundations, historical developments, diverse cultural perspectives, and practical applications of Spirit theology.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As always, this class is donation-based, including 0. To get class info and sign up, head over here. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

_____________________

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CHT | S1E26: The Vikings & New Christendom

Church History and Theology

Church landholding and political power

The AI-powered Podcast Player