DOCSLIB.ORG

Redefining the Meaning of God

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Redefining the Meaning of God First Congregational United Church of Christ REDEFINING THE MEANING OF GOD A Youth/Adult Education Class Based on John Shelby Spong’s Book “A New Christianity for a New World” Harper/San Francisco, 2001 In his book, A New Christianity for a New World, Bishop John Shelby Spong argues that the theistic definition for God conceived of by our earliest human ancestors is not only irrelevant but dangerous in a twenty-first century world. He defines the “theistic God” as a supernatural being, dwelling outside this world, and invading this world periodically to accomplish the divine will. Spong’s goal is to move beyond theism, but not beyond God. But who or what is God beyond theism? Who is Jesus when traditional concepts such as incarnation, atonement, and the Trinity are no longer meaningful? In addressing these and other questions, Spong goes beyond traditional theology to present his own alternative of what true faith should be today, offering a unified vision of a “new Christianity for a new world.” This book is the ultimate legacy of Spong’s struggle to discover and promote a faith system that can live in our new world. It is a call for a radical new reformation that has left some deeply disturbed, threatened, and even hostile. It is also bringing renewed hope to multitudes of otherwise despairing Christians who have all but given up thinking that their beloved church might ever break free of an antiquated worldview and the theology it spawned. Topics to be addressed during this eight-week class beginning September 25th at 9:00 A.M. will include the following: In the Beginning: God Theism, the Bible, and Christianity Tradition and Reformation Moving Beyond Theism The Significance of Jesus The Problem of Evil To Whom Shall We Pray? Liturgy, Worship & the Church This interactive class is open to youth and adults. Pastor Jonathan and Don Gall will serve as co-facilitators, utilizing lecture, discussion, and question/answer methods for engaging class participants in a dynamic learning adventure. Weekly handouts summarizing the material for each session will be available for advance reading on the church’s webpage under Education/Resources. Printed copies of each summary will also be available in the classroom on the day of presentation. Spong’s book, A New Christianity for a New World, on which this class is based, is available in the church’s library and can also be purchased at Amazon and other local bookstores. (Con’t.) First Congregational United Church of Christ Why Bother To Redefine the Meaning of God? GOD is not the name of the deity to whom we are introduced in the Bible; it is a word symbol that points to something beyond itself. The word, therefore, does not represent the reality of God but only what you and I understand that word to mean. A “description” of God would involve the use of language to create a word-picture or image of the “God-reality”—something the second commandment expressly forbids and something no one is qualified to do since no one has ever seen “God” directly. Conversely, a “definition” would use language to state the meaning of the word “GOD”, which is equally challenging since everyone on the planet may have a different interpretation of what the word GOD means to them. That leaves us with “belief”, which is an intellectual ascent to a propositional truth about who or what God is. There are at least four such beliefs or “propositional truths” afloat in the universe: Theism, Deism, Pantheism, and Panantheism. Each has been a part of humanity’s quest to “explain” God over time, but it has been Theism that has dominated that quest from the beginning and which has shaped Christian theology. Theism is a belief in a supernatural being who dwells outside this world and who invades this world periodically to accomplish the divine will. Modern science and the advancement of human knowledge have rendered such a worldview untenable for many people today, thus calling into question the foundation upon which theism is built. Hence, Spong’s assertion that theism “is not only irrelevant but dangerous in a twenty-first century world” and thus our need to “redefine the meaning of God” for our time. Despite Spong’s sense of urgency, however, an overwhelming majority of Americans still self-identify as theistic Christians. For them, the belief in a supernatural Being who intervenes in human affairs through miracles and answered prayer, and who has saved sinful humanity through the substitutionary atonement wrought by Jesus on the cross, is not irrelevant at all. It is Gospel! But among most of the socially liberal, “thinking” denominations (of which the United Church of Christ is one), the steady attrition in the number of congregations, individual members, and financial support is leaving many people fearful for the future of the church. Although most other mainline denominations (even Southern Baptists) are experiencing a similar decline, the UCC’s numbers have plummeted. We have lost 37% of our congregations and half of our members since the UCC was formed in 1957. During the first decade of this century, we lost 12 % of our congregations, 35% of our members, and 41% of our Sunday school enrollees. The number of staff employed at the national level has been cut from 300 to just over 100, and 40% of all remaining congregations now have budgets smaller than the “bare minimum” needed to sustain a fulltime minister. Projections are that by 2045, the UCC will have shrunk by another 80%, reducing our total number of congregations to 3,100 and members to 200,000. While there are many other factors impacting mainline churches today other than an outdated definition of God, the seeming irrelevancy of religious faith and the church for more and more people is having its effect, leaving us with some important questions to consider: Why is belonging to and attending a church even necessary today? What does religion or church affiliation add to a liberal lifestyle? Why does one need a church to become a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, or a church to tell you that gays and lesbians are entitled to marriage equality, or that Black Lives Matter? Or have liberal Christians who have abandoned religion and the church simply forgotten the deep wells of faith from which the waters of liberalism have been drawn? .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • HOMOSEXUALITY and the ANGLICAN COMMUNION: EVOLVING REFLECTIONS a Submission to the Anglican Church of Canada's Commission On
    HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION: EVOLVING REFLECTIONS A Submission to the Anglican Church of Canada's Commission on the Marriage Canon Karl D. Furr May 6, 2014 722 Selkirk Rd. Kingston, Ontario 1 PREFACE My original intent in writing this paper is primarily two fold. First to review the development within the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Church of Canada of the traditional thinking regarding same-sex relationships. Second, since Anglican theology has relied on Scripture, Tradition and Reason, to study the scriptural foundation of the position taken by various biblical scholars on the issue and to apply reason to this issue in order to develop further my own thinking on this issue. Subsequently in July 6, 2013 the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada voted to bring to its next meeting in 2016 a resolution changing the church’s law to allow same-sex marriage. A Commission on the Marriage Canon was established. The Commission has invited submissions from interested parties. I am therefore submitting this paper to the Commission. I am especially indebted to the book, The Anglican Communion And Homosexuality: A Resource To Enable Listening And Dialogue (2008), edited by Philip Groves, published at the request of the Primates of the Anglican Communion. Its excellent list of references allowed me to read many of the original papers by scholars referred to in the book. Many of those papers are available online. My Orientation My evolving perspective with respect to this issue reflects my background as a Canadian Anglican Christian. I am a straight married man with four children.
    [Show full text]
  • Fear and Self-Loathing in the First Century: Why It Matters That Paul Was Not Gay Catherine Anne Brereton
    Kaleidoscope Volume 10 Article 23 August 2012 Fear and Self-Loathing in the First Century: Why it Matters that Paul Was Not Gay Catherine Anne Brereton Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kaleidoscope Part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Brereton, Catherine Anne (2011) "Fear and Self-Loathing in the First Century: Why it Matters that Paul Was Not Gay," Kaleidoscope: Vol. 10, Article 23. Available at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kaleidoscope/vol10/iss1/23 This Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars is brought to you for free and open access by the The Office of Undergraduate Research at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kaleidoscope by an authorized editor of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OSWALD AWARDS FIRST PLACE – HUMANITIES: CRITICAL RESEARCH Jesus says nothing about homosexuality. Jesus also says nothing about same-sex desire or behavior. However, Paul does. These are clear and simple facts ignored, perversely, by modern scholars who attempt to explore pre-modern culture and religion. Paul has been and continues to be frequently and consistently cited in the twenty-first century church's on-going attempts to condemn, outlaw and persecute homosexuals. Understood in its historical context, Paul's condemnation of "sodomy", or pederasty, or same-sex desire is a manifestation of his anti-Roman political/social position and his desire to preserve the laws of the Torah. Paul has a clear mission-to define and protect the fragile Christianity of the first century against the persecution of the Roman and Hellenistic world whilst continuing to uphold the elements of Hebraic law that he felt were indispensable.
    [Show full text]
  • Critiquing the Sins of Scripture by John Shelby Spong John Makujina, Ph.D
    Modern Era Marcionism: Critiquing The Sins of Scripture by John Shelby Spong John Makujina, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Erskine Theological Seminary Introduction For almost two thousand years Christian theologians have attempted to harmonize the distinctive theological emphases of the two testaments. One of the earliest and most memorable attempts simply involved cutting the Gordian knot: Marcion of Sinope, unable to reconcile the benighted God of the Old Testament with Christ and the gospel, expelled the entire Old Testament and parts of the New from the Christian canon. Although Marcion was condemned as a heretic (A.D. 144), rejection of biblical passages and doctrines on ethical grounds is a pathology that continues to plague the church. The latest such voice comes from John Shelby Spong, the highly controversial Episcopal bishop and tireless opponent of historic Christianity, especially evangelicalism. In his recent book The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love (HarperCollins, 2005), Spong continues in the tradition of neo-Marcionists like Friedrich Delitzsch (Die grosse Täuschung, 1921). But whereas Delitzsch thrashed the Old Testament by measuring it against the New, Spong outdoes him, and many others, by subjecting both testaments to a remorseless flogging when he finds them in conflict with his modern sensibilities. In fact, contemporary ethics (environmentalism, feminism, religious pluralism, etc.) so dominate his thinking and regulate his critique of the Bible that his book is organized into eight sections, most of which are governed by some facet of the popular wisdom. The optimism generated by initial disclosures of his lifelong love for the Scriptures and dedication to Bible study (5-10) quickly evaporates amid a series of deeply condescending remarks against the Bible—amounting to cheap shots in many cases.
    [Show full text]
  • Episcopalian Bishop, John Spong
    SPONG, THE BIBLE AND TRUTH by Nick Hawkes (May, 2002) Episcopalian Bishop, John Spong, (now retired) wrote a book, "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism" in which he sought to rid the Christian faith of all things that were hard to believe, (relegating these things to myth). In doing this, he hoped to redefine Christian belief, making it acceptable to more people outside the church. It is a noble sentiment and he does well to challenge the idea that Christianity requires people to commit intellectual suicide and believe twelve impossible things before breakfast. However, Spong wants to cut so much that is definitive of the Christian faith away that all that is left is universal moralism that features the current values of society. Spong is a passionate and compelling writer and orator who is very well practised in his arguments. He follows the tradition of the 19th century rationalists and sees himself as the spiritual heir of John A.T. Robinson, English bishop and Cambridge New Testament scholar whose 1963 book Honest to God caused such a stir. It is not always apparent from his lectures what Spong actually believes and his insistence on loving and accepting everyone can cause people to wonder what the fuss is all about. The real shape of Spong's radical ideas can be seen in his 'Twelve Theses'. It should be noted that it is easier to state what it is that Spong doesn't believe rather than what he actually affirms as eleven out of his twelve 'theses' are negative. Only the final statement is positive.
    [Show full text]
  • God Beyond Theism? Bishop Spong, Paul Tillich and the Unicorn
    God Beyond Theism? Bishop Spong, Paul Tillich and the Unicorn Gregory W. Dawes Prepublication version; final version published in Pacifica 15:1 (Feb. 2002): 65–71. This draft paper is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. You are free to cite this material provided you attribute it to its author; you may also make copies, but you must include the author’s name and a copy of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Abstract John Shelby Spong has recently advocated belief in a ‘God beyond theism’. While rejecting traditional theism, he also distinguishes his position from atheism. He suggests that there is a divine reality, which may be described as ‘being itself’ and which reveals itself in our commitment to unconditional ideals. The paper argues that this notion of God is vacuous, the product of a confused belief that ‘being’ is a characteristic of individual beings which may be universalized. Belief in such a God is also unmotivated, since there exist naturalistic explanations of the phenomena to which the Bishop appeals. John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, is a prolific writer. His seventeen books – ranging from Honest Prayer (1973) to his most recent Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality (2001) – along with his numerous articles and public appearances have won him a wide following. Interestingly, that following extends well beyond the bounds of the established churches: it includes many whose affiliation with any form of traditional religion is minimal or non-existent.
    [Show full text]
  • Bishop John Shelby Spong
    10/7/2017 bishop Shelby Spong Home The Bishop who was not What's New John Shelby Spong was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1931. John went to the public Cults schools of Charlotte North Carolina and in the 1940s during his junior and senior years of Escaping the Cult school, he took two classes in the Bible. By age 12, he was given a King James Bible as a Apologetics Christmas present by his mother after his father died. His mom is described as "a woman of a simple faith; no critical problems ever bothered her understanding of God" (Rescuing the Current Trends Bible from Fundamentalism, p. 14). He read the bible religiously each day. The bible Bible Doctrines became his source of life and states he was able to quote the scriptures on salvation Bible efficiently. Explanations Ecumenism Spong was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1952 and received his Master of Divinity degree in 1955 from the Protestant Episcopal Emergent Theological Seminary in Virginia. Both the seminary and St. Paul's College have both church conferred on him honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees. He had served as rector of St. Prophecy Joseph's Church in Durham, North Carolina from 1955 to 1957. Rector of Calvary Parish, Latter Rain Tarboro, North Carolina from 1957 to 1965. Rector of St. John's Church in Lynchburg, Word Faith Virginia from 1965 to 1969. Rector of St. Paul's Church in Richmond, Virginia from 1969 to 1976. In 1973 he was elected by General Convention to a six-year term on the Executive Popular Teachers Council, the governing body of the Episcopal Church, just under the General Convention.
    [Show full text]
  • Setting the Stage— a Necessary Personal Word
    One Setting the Stage— A Necessary Personal Word Certain persons, no doubt, get dragged into glory. Make me willing, sometimes even eager for the stretching journey . There to be known. Owen Dowling1 Before this book’s content can be engaged intellectually by readers, its character must be understood existentially. It is such a personal story that I need fi rst to set its subject, “Life after Death,” into its own context. That context will also serve to explain to my readers why this was a book I had to write. There is a sense in which this book has been in prepara- tion my entire life. I began wondering about the meaning of mortality when I fi rst encountered its reality in the death of a family pet sometime before I was three. I have since lived through a variety of death experiences, as every person does, in the course of my own biblically allotted three score and ten years, a time- span that I exceeded almost a decade ago. I am, EEternal_Life_6p.inddternal_Life_6p.indd 1 66/3/09/3/09 22:45:46:45:46 PPMM 2 John Shelby Spong however, still counting. I have been drawn, it seems relentlessly as a moth is drawn to a candle, into a study of death and thus into a consideration of that question to which religion seems to devote so much of its energy— namely, whether death might be a doorway into something more. In that study I now discover that I have moved far from those assurances that came to me via some external religious authority, for which I once claimed ultimate truth.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion Resources
    Religious Identity Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Gender Expression There are many different stances held by various religious communities. Some are supporting of people who identify as LGBTIQA+ and welcome them without reservation into their churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, or communities while other groups do not or do so under specific conditions. Many LGBTIQA+ identified people struggle with their religious or spiritual beliefs at some point in the coming out process. This section will give you some resources with which you can educate yourself about various religious and spiritual communities’ beliefs regarding faith and LGBTIQA+ identified persons. CHRISTIANITY Christian (Non-denominational) Websites: 1. The Institute for Welcoming Resources [http://www.welcomingresources.org/] The purpose of this ecumenical group is to provide the resources to facilitate a paradigm shift in multiple denominations whereby churches become welcoming and affirming of all congregants regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. 2. Gay Christians [www.gaychristians.org] Information and chat network of friends affirming God’s acceptance and love of all people regardless of their sexual or affectional orientation. 3. Soulforce [www.soulforce.org] The purpose of Soulforce is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance. Christian (Denomination Specific) Websites: 1. Baptist [www.rainbowbaptists.org] Rainbow Baptists is a website providing support, information and advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer identified Baptists, their family and friends. 2. Catholic [www.dignityusa.org] DignityUSA works for respect and justice for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons in the Catholic Church and the world through education, advocacy and support.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Christianity Must Change Or Die: a Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile, by John Shelby Spong
    Fairfield University DigitalCommons@Fairfield Religious Studies Faculty Publications Religious Studies Department 2000 Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile, by John Shelby Spong Paul J. Fitzgerald S.J. Fairfield University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/religiousstudies-facultypubs Copyright 2000 Theological Studies Archived here with permission from the copyright holder. Peer Reviewed Repository Citation Fitzgerald, Paul J. S.J., "Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile, by John Shelby Spong" (2000). Religious Studies Faculty Publications. 6. https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/religiousstudies-facultypubs/6 Published Citation Fitzgerald, Paul. "Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile, by John Shelby Spong." Theological Studies 61.3 (2000): 591-591. This item has been accepted for inclusion in DigitalCommons@Fairfield by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Fairfield. It is brought to you by DigitalCommons@Fairfield with permission from the rights- holder(s) and is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SHORTER NOTICES 591 Dogmatics. In 1948 he was cofounder of the second. Episcopal bishop and pro­ the famous and influential Scottish Jour­ lific author, S.
    [Show full text]
  • Tales of a Jewish Mystic Written by John Shelby Spong
    Study Guide Developed by Gil Stafford 1 Study Guide The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic Written by John Shelby Spong Begin and end each session with a prayer. Allow for a check-in period where each person can share for two minutes. Ask for people to share what they thought/felt about the readings for the session. What new insight did they learn? Was there something in the reading they found disturbing/disagreeable? General study questions for each Part: Part I—Introducing the Fourth Gospel Before you read any part of Spong’s book what was your perspective on the Gospel of John? How might Spong’s suggestion that the Gospel of John was written in at least three stages influence your understanding of the gospel? (Chapter 2) What you think about Spong’s goal to pull the anti-Semitism and Creedal orthodoxy out of the Gospel of John? What difference might it make for the understanding of Christianity/Jesus if he succeeds? (Chapter 2) What is the value (if any) in understanding “The first passion story to be written is thus a liturgical interpretation, not remembered history?” In studying pages 26-29 what do you find most enlightening? Most disturbing? On page 39, Spong writes, “The spilt between revisionist Jews and orthodox Jews which led to the followers of Jesus being expelled from the synagogue when this gospel was being written was both real and clear. This gospel reflects the pain and trauma of that expulsion, as well as the necessity for reformulating the Christ message so that it will endue in its new reality as a movement
    [Show full text]
  • The Near-Death Experience and Spong's New Christianity
    What Do Near-Death Experiencers and Jesus Have in Common? The Near-Death Experience and Spong's New Christianity John C. Gibbs, Ph.D. The Ohio State University ABSTRACT: Persons who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) typically become less self-centered or more spiritual, evidencing an expansive love much like that attributed to Jesus Christ. According to traditional Christian ity, these common qualities fail to capture a profound discontinuity: whereas NDErs are human, Jesus was divine. John Shelby Spong has taken issue with this discontinuity view, arguing for a more "authentic" view of Jesus, a more spiritual understanding of humanity, and a new, evolving Christianity. This article relates near-death phenomena to Spong's argument. Various aspects of near-death research findings converge in pointing toward a deeper human spiritual reality of love and connection. In other words, humans, despite varying degrees of self-centeredness and distortion, may nonetheless in some ultimate sense all be integral to the light of divine love. This implication of near-death research is congruent with Spong's continuity view that humanity and divinity are not discontinuous but instead blend or flow together. Near death research and Spong's envisioned new Christianity share in principle the ideal of progress through challenge and open dialogue. KEY WORDS: near-death experience; Christianity; nonlocality; panentheism; Spong. John Gibbs, Ph.D., is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. For their encouragement and/or constructive criticism in response to a preliminary version of this article, he thanks Bill Bendschneider, James Day, Steve Fanning, Jon Gibbs, Stephanie Gibbs, Valerie Gibbs, Phil Grandinetti, Kurt Keljo, Stephanie Kamath, Sophia Kim, Clark Power, Lea Queener, Mike Sabom, John Snarey, Jack Spong, and Brenda Wilbee.
    [Show full text]
  • An Examination of the Theology of Bishop John Shelby Spong
    An Examination of the Theology of Bishop John Shelby Spong Stephanie D. Monk Patrick Henry College Exposition Biography John Shelby Spong was born in North Carolina on June 16, 1931. His mother was a strict Presbyterian, so Spong grew up in the church, but from an aunt‟s insistence he started singing in choir at St. Peter‟s Episcopal Church and soon became deeply involved in the Episcopalian Church. Spong‟s father was an alcoholic and died after a heart attack in 1943. As a young child, Spong was deeply troubled by his father‟s displeasure, and after his father‟s death, Spong resented his mother‟s emotional dependency upon him in making him the leader of the family when he was not emotionally prepared for that role.1 Spong married Joan Ketner in 1952, and received his Master of Divinity degree in 1955 from the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1976 he was appointed Bishop of Newark where he served for 24 years, retiring in 2001. In 1988 his wife, Joan, died of cancer. Two years later he married Christine Barney. Bishop Spong is the author, or co-author, of twenty-one books. As a favored media personality, his greatest influence has been in popularizing liberal Christian viewpoints in a format that is easily comprehensible by the layperson.2 Influences 1John Shelby Spong, Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 1-33. 2Bishop John Shelby Spong‟s Official Website, www.johnshelbyspong.com (accessed October 26, 2008) 1 Bishop Spong consistently ranks Bishop John A.T.
    [Show full text]