Theistic Evolution is Liberal Theology

According to GotQuestions, liberal theology is largely defined as "a theological perspective that reinterprets Scripture according to modern science and ethics. It emphasizes reason and experience over strict adherence to doctrinal authority"

Though I find this to be a slightly unfair definition, so here is the Gospel Coalition definition, which I find is much more objective in its characterization:

"Liberal theology is rooted in modern, secular theories of knowledge and has moved towards participation in the work of the church as the priority for Christians at the expense of delineating theological belief, which has led to the abandonment of many orthodox beliefs in many mainline denominations."

And finally, Wikipedia defines it as "a movement that interprets Christian teaching by prioritizing modern knowledge, science and ethics. It emphasizes the importance of reason and experience over doctrinal authority." (I did double check their references, so I consider this a sound explanation, but if you care to examine it yourself here is the article.)

So, to be clear, liberal theology is a theological position in which modern thought, science, and opinion affect the interpretation of scripture.

Which brings me to my point. Theistic evolution, specifically Christian theistic evolution, is an example of liberal theology. By its very definition, theistic evolution reinterprets scripture to fit modern scientific thought. Because scripture does not clearly outline a system in which God created the universe over billions of years of evolution, it naturally requires those Christians whom believe in evolution to either ignore, discard, or reinterpret scripture.

In my experience, most people tend to ignore the problem of Genesis, simply waving it away by saying that "it's poetic" though very rarely do I see this claim substantiated in the slightest. (And if someone would care to substantiate it, I would be happy to hear them out.) No one who holds scripture as infallible would discard Genesis, as to do so would be to compromise the infallibility of scripture. It is the third choice, to reinterpret the idea of God creating the universe in seven days, that I find most involved in liberal theology. Though all three decisions are somewhat guilty of engaging in liberal theology (ignoring almost always has some small explanation that is inherently reinterpreting scripture to fit science, and discarding falls into the common liberal approach to scripture where it is not infallible) an active and in-depth reinterpretation, though rare, is very much a liberal approach to scripture.

I say this not to condemn or attack those who believe in evolution, but rather to be honest and open. Liberal theology in theory is not the same as liberal theology in essence. In terms of official definition, there are certain commonly accepted ideas that fall under liberal theology, such as the earth being round. The reason I believe that the earth is round but do not believe in evolution is because scripture is far more clear on one subject than it is on the other, and as I have said in other places, I find that the idea of theistic evolution by its very nature, even if it's proponents do not realize it, requires certain changes to God's character that are simply not found in scripture. (keeping this short, God would never subject human beings to natural selection unless sin had already come into the world, and it is illogical to believe that the billions of years required for evolution occurred after the fall, as this would mean that the Garden of Eden and all within it are microscopic bacteria. Similarly, the fall cannot have occurred at some point along the course of those billions of years because that would fall into the same problem of God subjecting humanity (or what would become humanity) to a cycle of death and growth). Where was I? Oh right, liberal theology in theory is different than in essence. The essence of liberal theology is the rejection of God's word. That is, the spirit of liberal theology. Not every example of liberal theology (such as theistic evolution) is a rejection of God's word, but something like rejecting the inerrancy of scripture or reinterpreting passages about homosexuality would be.

All this to say, let's be more honest about the things we believe, shall we?