I’ve found myself using the the terminology of “progressive Christian” more and more, as a way of indicating where I see myself within the broad spectrum of contemporary Christianity.
But a comment seems to be in order.
If people who hear the term understand that this is referring to one of the many ways that people who are Christians view the world and approach their faith, then great.
But if people are getting the impression that somewhere else one can find people (perhaps “conservative Christians”) who are “just Christian” or the default version of Christianity, whereas “progressive Christians” are some fringe aberration, then I may have to ditch the term. Because it is not as though there are some “Christians” plain and simple, with anyone who adds an additional term for clarification diluting their Christianity by degrees corresponding to the number of other monikers added alongside the primary one.
If that is the impression people get, then I will just call myself a Christian. And if anyone who disagrees with my way of understanding, approaching, and living my Christian identity disagrees with me, they can add additional terms to the label “Christian” to distinguish their perspective from mine, should they wish to do so.
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