Gavin Ortlund Denies Being a Theological Liberal

Ten days ago, Evangelical Dark Web published an article about James White endorsing Gavin Ortlund as an apologetics resource. We also linked to an edited clip from the Dividing Line when this actually happened, and there were a lot of comments about Ortlund being referred to as a theological liberal. Even he took notice and responded briefly here.

However, Mr. Ortlund was not content with leaving it at that. On 3/17/2025, he published an entire video decrying the idea that he’s a theological liberal. He seems to be responding partially to this post on 𝕏, where I was answering someone’s question about why I classify Gavin as a theological liberal. Interestingly, he doesn’t mention me by name, nor has he seen fit to unblock me.

In the above-mentioned video “I’m a Liberal? Really”, Gavin tackles three major allegations along with a few others in passing: Old Earth Creationism, Local Flood, and Ecumenism as it pertains to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Interestingly, he doesn’t actually attempt to defend his views biblically but rather only historically. Let’s look at each of the three topics in turn.

Regarding Old Earth Creationism, Ortlund cites J. Gresham Machen (Day Age), B.B. Warfield (Theistic Evolution), Charles Hodge (Old Earth), and even Charles Spurgeon (millions of years). Gavin then asks what he thinks is a rhetorical question: are these great theologians liberal? To which we say, “Regarding the book of Genesis, absolutely.” What Ortlund fails to realize is that these men in particular were greatly influenced by the novel theories of Darwinian evolution. The church, catastrophically, chose not to fight that battle and instead adopted an agnostic view of creation (i.e., we can’t really know for sure how creation occurred and how long it took). And compromise begets more compromise, as Answers in Genesis demonstrates here. In summary, Gavin Ortlund can’t seem to recognize that fallible men can err in certain areas of theology while being orthodox everywhere else.

Ortlund makes a similar argument regarding his belief in a Local or Regional Flood of Noah. He throws quotes from various theologians at the audience in rapid succession and even repeats the lie that Josephus did not believe in a worldwide flood, which Evangelical Dark Web covered here in January 2024. Again, Gavin fails to recognize that his commitment to Darwinism is his interpretive lens for understanding the biblical narrative, in the same way that it is for all of the other theologians that he cites. Theistic Evolution adherents must, by necessity, believe in a local flood, for a worldwide flood would completely destroy the fossil record.

Finally, Gavin Ortlund addresses his belief in ecumenism regarding Romanism and Eastern Orthodoxy. He claims to agree with Luther and Calvin on this point, but he ignores the later developments within Rome, especially the Council of Trent. It’s fair to ask how seriously Gavin takes the gospel if he’s willing to consider these heterodox expressions as being within Christendom. For more on this topic, please see this article from January 2025.

Mr. Ortlund is very clear that he sees it as a slanderous claim that he is a theological liberal, but the evidence is very clear. It’s not just one issue in isolation but rather his entire perspective on biblical history and morality that proves the case. Interestingly, he did not address his views on homosexuality and universalism being secondary issues for Christians. That is, a Christian could hold to either of those perspectives and still be a Christian. To our knowledge, Ortlund has never repudiated or even addressed these comments. Perhaps the reason for the silence is that one of Gavin’s pastors is gay.

The fact that Gavin Ortlund making a video that he is not a liberal is already a positive sign that that he is successfully being branded as one. This discourse will have meaningful consequences in the days to come.