ABSTRACT
Theology in the modern era has attempted to be critical theology. On the contrary, the liberal theologies of the nineteenth century were steeped in cultural assumptions which tended to make God simply a mirror of their social manners. This chapter examines the theological and cultural roots of one version of a liberal theology in John and Donald Baillie – Transatlantic Theology. A liberal evangelical theology may develop into a critical liberal theology which is also a liberal catholic theology. Schreiter examines the concepts of culture and theology on a global and on a local scale, and reflects on the possibility of a critical liberation theology 'between resistance and reconstruction'. Theology needs its prophetic, protesting figures like Kierkegaard and Barth. It also needs people like the Baillie brothers in Scotland, to discern connections, to build bridges between different styles of theology, between theology and society, to underline the continuity between creation and reconciliation.
