Who Are Progressive Christians?

Progressive Christianity can trace its roots to the early 20th century, a period of theological tension and social change in the U.S. After a long period of evangelical dominance within American Protestantism, a Fundamentalist-Modernist battle ensued in the 1920s as evangelical and non-evangelical Protestants grappled for control of the mainline church. Modernists attempted to reconcile historical Christianity with new scientific findings and philosophy. They were also influenced by "higher criticism"—a way of looking at scripture that challenged its claim to be the word of God—that began in Germany and spread to the U.S.