By Kim Thoday The following is a brief response I recently gave for a gathering of ministers who are discussing the third chapter of John Spong's book: 'Why Christianity must change or die: A bishop speaks to believers in exile,' Harper, San Francisco, 1999. This chapter is called 'Beyond Theism.' I trust my response may have a broader interest. Here it is: I have read several of Spong's publications, including the text you will be using, and have also listened to radio interviews and heard him 'live' several years ago in Adelaide. I find Spong a gifted communicator and I agree in the main with his critique of religious Fundamentalism. His notion of believers in exile is also helpful. However, there is much about his approach to theology, dogma and the Bible that I find to be populist upgrades (?) of the Robinson 'Honest to God' debate. In light of one of your topics suggested for this group: 'progressive Christianity,' I am not at all sure that Spong's Christianity has really progressed. I wonder just how aware Spong is of the existentialist underpinnings of his quest for a post-God (Beyond Theism)? It would seem that the ghosts of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Heidegger lie close beneath his thought world. I think Christianity has been dependant upon both engagement with society and culture and with its inherited traditions. Spong in my opinion has only done half this job and perhaps not that well. Where Spong's stance is unhelpful and even dangerous is his dis-engagement with Christian tradition. Against a pure existentialist position I would argue that 'historical Christianity' is necessary for a distinctively Christian faith. An apologetic that largely focuses upon social and cultural relevance and at the same time breaks the umbilical cord of Christian tradition will lose sight of the particular spiritual reality to which that tradition points. Then how can there be any distinctively Christian moral and religious critique of culture and society? I feel that Spong's quest for a 'God beyond Theism' is a product of a world-view that is no-longer Christian and that it is a largely secular philosophy dictating the terms of reference (a quasi-fundamentalism re: his Twelve Theses). In contrast to Spong, historical Christianity has, at its best, transformed perceptions and experiences of life and creation. The English poet George Herbert in his poem The Elixir paints a wonderful picture of how historical Christianity is transformational in character. One of the stanzas reads: 'A man that looks on glass, On it may stay his eye; Or if he pleaseth, through it pass, And then the heaven espy.' Spong it seems is about changing not only the window upon reality but also its frame of reference. And I am doubtful that the new frame and the new glass leads to anything beyond. What do you think? ~Kim Thoday, Hewett Community Church of Christ, South Australia
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