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John Shelby Spong : Courtesy of the Evening Post, 8 October 1997 L THE JOU APOLOGIA RNAL OFTH jOHN SHELBY Photo ofBishopJ Retired Episcopalian Bishop diocese o Fides qua E WELLINGTO ohn Shelby Focus On Spong:Cour erens intel N CHR f newark,nj. tesy ISTIAN APOLOGE of The E vening P lect SPONG ost um , 8Oc TICS SOCIETY( tober 1997 © Inc.) V O L U M E 7 (2/3) - 2 0 0 0 The Wellington Christian Apologetics Society (Inc.) Statement of Belief We believe in: • The divine inspiration, infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. The Bible comprises the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. • The eternal, everlasting, self-existing nature of the Godhead, Who is the Maker of the universe, which is separate from, but being finite is completely dependent on Him; Who is both transcendent of and immanent within His creation; Who is the great I AM and Immanuel of the Christian Scriptures; Who is Creator and Saviour, Judge and Lover of humankind. • The unity of the individual Persons of the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead; and the full divinity and humanity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. • The universal sinfulness of human nature and the universal guilt of mankind since the Fall, rendering all humanity subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. • Redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death on the Cross (as Representative, Substitute, Victor etc.) of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. • The bodily (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:44) resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead understood to be an actual event, subjectively experienced by Jesus Christ and presenting objective evidences open to observation and evaluation; as an event integral to God’s saving and cosmic action in Jesus, revealing and completing the victory of the Cross. • The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about God’s purposes in the Lord Jesus Christ, which are: to bring salvation to people and to establish, sustain and perfect God’s Kingdom. • The indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. • The expectation of the personal future coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the completion of His Kingdom. Wellington Christian Apologetics Note to Contributors Society (Inc.) Hard copy manuscripts should be double-spaced (preferably in MS Word 95 or 97 format) and if possible should be supplied on disc or by email to [email protected] For further copies or back issues of the journal contact the editor. Apologia aims to stimulate rational reflection on, and reasoned defence of, the Christian faith as truth. Since human opinion is always corrigible and meaningful assertions imply conditions under which they may be falsified, Apologia is written in the belief OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY that truth is ultimately independent of opinion. The opinions and views expressed in Apologia are not President: David H. Lane necessarily the views of the committee, nor do they necessarily wholly reflect the Society’s stance. They are Executive committee: Justin Cargill, Trevor simply deemed to be worth publishing for readers to Hook, Brian Kirk, Rob Ward. consider, evaluate, respond to, etc. A careful effort is made to ensure that no article is published that promotes Treasurer: Jim McLachlan or defends any doctrinal view contrary to our statement of faith. In such cases where views are expressed that APOLOGIA COMMITTEE are contrary to our beliefs, this is only done so as to David H. Lane (Editor), Justin Cargill, provide an oportunity for a critique of erroneous Rob Ward, Dr Jonathan Sarfati doctrines. WCAS WEBSITE http://www.christian-apologetics.org Apologia WCAS WEBSITE MANAGER Volume 7(2/3) 2000 Rob Ward ISSN 1171-5863 [email protected] (Revision 2.0 - 4.11.2003) ã2000 Wellington Christian Apologetics Society TYPESETTING (Inc.) All rights reserved. Original material in this by Wards Web Works publication may not be reproduced in any form (www.wardswebworks.com) (including storage on websites in electronic form), without permission of the Editor. (Using Corel VENTURAä DTP Software) APOLOGIA Contributors to this volume: Annual Membership Subscription Dr G.H. Duggan SM, David H. Lane, Archbishop General Membership: $35 p.a. Brian Davis, Michael R. Bott, Dr Jonathan D. Sarfati, The Very Rev. Dr Peter C. Moore, Dr Stephen M. Associate Membership: $35 p.a. Smith, Wayne Jackson, Kathleen Loncar, Prof. Gerald O’Collins, DrFrank Mobbs, David Mills, Justin Cargill, Students and Beneficiaries: $25 p.a. Noel Cheer. The Editorial Committee of Apologia invites articles, responses, letters, news, etc., to be submitted for editorial consideration. Send to: Acknowledgements: The Editor, Apologia, Photographs of Bishop John Shelby Spong courtesy 106 Hataitai Rd, of The Evening Post and The Dominion. Picture Hataitai, accompanying “Spong’s Twelve Theses” from Present Wellington Truth, April 1975, Vol. 4, No.2, p.15. Photo of New Zealand Archbishop Brian Davis courtesy of The Anglican Tel./fax 04-970-1067 Church Center, Wellington. Photo of Rev. Dr James Stuart, author of The Many Face of Christ, published Email: [email protected] with his permission. Page i Contents Editorial .......................................................1 Letters to the Editor .................................................3 Who is John Shelby Spong?.............................................4 Publications by John Shelby Spong .........................................5 “Jack Spong’s Mission to the Church Alumni”, The Anglican Times (Advent 1997) ...............8 Part I: John Shelby Spong - The Man and his Message - A Major Critique Spong’s Call for a New Reformation: Twelve Theses. Brief Response from Dr G.H. Duggan SM ........11 “Commentary on John Spong’s Lecture Tour of NZ” by Dr G.H. Duggan SM ..................13 “Redefining God in Man’s Image: A Critique of John Spong’s Revised ‘Christianity’”, by David H. Lane Part I ......................................................17 Part II .....................................................29 Part III .....................................................41 Here I Stand: A Critique by David H. Lane..................................... “Question of Credibility a double edged sword” by the late Archbishop Brian Davis ...............71 “What’s Wrong With Bishop Spong?” by Dr Jonathan Sarfati and Michael Bott .................73 “John Spong and the Christian Tradition” by Dr Peter C. Moore..........................93 “Inside the Whirlwind” by Dr Stephen M. Smith ..................................97 “Destructive Criticism And The Old Testament” by Wayne Jackson........................105 Book Reviews Review of Resurrection: Myth or Reality? by Kathleen Loncar ..........................109 “What of the Spong Song?” by Prof. Gerald O’Collins Review of Resurrection: Myth or Reality? ........112 Why Christianity Must Change or Die: Review by Dr Frank Mobbs .......................114 “Can a Bishop be Wrong?” by David Mills .....................................116 Part II: Responses The Many Faces of Christ by Rev. Dr James Stuart. Review by Dr G.H. Duggan SM ...............118 “Dr Veitch, I Presume?” by Justin Cargill .....................................121 Review of Apologia 7(1) 2000 by Noel Cheer ...................................129 “Response to Noel Cheer” by David H. Lane ....................................132 Page ii Editorial Editorial t was at a public lecture in aspect of the faith. But quickly he turned from declared the Religious Studies ignorance to ‘factual certainty’ by launching an attack IDepartment at Victoria on the evangelical Anglican Minister of All Souls University, Wellington, in Church, London, the Rev. Dr John Stott. 1997, that I first met Bishop John Shelby Spong. An John Stott, so we were told, was dishonest and so articulate speaker, strong on lacking in integrity, that he exemplified all that was rhetoric and full of wrong in the evangelical wing of the Anglican Church ingratiating charm, he cuts an and with conservatives in general. The only evidence he imposing figure at the lecture put forward was Dr Stott’s performance in a public podium bedecked in debate he had with him in Vancouver and the claimed ministerial attire. Not one to mince words, he has little ‘doctoring’ of the transcript of the debate in the time for those who seek to uphold the orthodox beliefs published version of it in the evangelical journal Crux,2 of the Christian faith and always generates sufficient produced by Regent College, Vancouver. Familiar with controversy to ensure that the secular press effectively these charges, which he has made on numerous market the growing list of books he has authored and his occasions, and which he even regurgitates in his more public lectures. According to his New Zealand publicist recent autobiography, I had taken with me to the lecture he is scheduled to visit our country in July 2001. a copy of the published transcript, a full rebuttal of the charges by an independent adjudicator at the debate and As he is one who revels in controversy and appears other background material. Following Spong’s flattered by any form of publicity he receives, whether vindictive and very personal attack on Rev. Stott, I good or bad, I had assumed that he would have been sought to rectify the injustice by quoting from the delighted to engage in dialogue over his theological transcript and reports3
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