HARTFORD APPEALS

Over fifty years ago, two dozen theologians met in Hartford,
Connecticut and identified thirteen heresies threatening the church. You may find them familiar.
These are the thirteen “false and debilitating” ideas that the Appeal’s signers opposed:
Theme 1 • Modern thought is superior to all past forms of understanding reality, and is therefore normative for Christian faith and life.
Theme 2 • Religious statements are totally independent of reasonable discourse.
Theme 3 • Religious language refers to human experience and nothing else, God being humanity’s noblest creation.
Theme 4 • Jesus can only be understood in terms of contemporary models of humanity.
Theme 5 • All religions are equally valid; the choice among them is not a matter of conviction about truth but only of personal preference or lifestyle.
Theme 6 • To realize one’s potential and to be true to oneself is the whole meaning of salvation.
Theme 7 • Since what is human is good, evil can adequately be understood as failure to realize potential.
Theme 8 • The sole purpose of worship is to promote individual self-realization and human community.
Theme 9 • Institutions and historical traditions are oppressive and inimical to our being truly human; liberation from them is required for authentic existence and authentic religion.
Theme 10 • The world must set the agenda for the church. Social, political, and economic programs to improve the quality of life are ultimately normative for the church’s mission in the world.
Theme 11 • An emphasis on God’s transcendence is at least a hindrance to, and perhaps incompatible with, Christian social concern and action.
Theme 12 • The struggle for a better humanity will bring about the kingdom of God.
Theme 13 • The question of hope beyond death is irrelevant or at best marginal to the Christian understanding of human fulfillment. (Hartford Appeals or the Hartford Heresies, Plough Magazine April 2026)
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Jesus