Jump to content

A New Christianity For A New World


Guest jeep

Recommended Posts

Admin:

 

Lets chalk it up to my incompetence in this new media, Message Boards. I am on several and there seems to be little standardization of symbols or procedures.

 

Please be patient with me.

 

Jeep

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
Guest jeep

To all;

 

The discussion of this book on this message board was a trial offering, which went very differently than expectations. Along the way, it reverted to a private discussion between myself and Sophia. We have concluded our dialog, and in the interest of concluding this topic more broadly, since I started it, I will summarise my findings this way.

 

Tom Harpour, in his new book,"Finding the Still Point",concludes on page 238-9, "that Bishop Spong's understanding of God in his latest book...seems anemic and overly cerebral to me.This is not the "God in our midst" of the Bible or of the Qur'an, or of Hinduism, or, indeed, of my own personal experience." My own personal experience is of a non-dualistic, non-theistic, Mysterium Tremendum, in which my Being is grounded, a Reality which cannot be threatened by Unrealities which do not exist.

 

This is the contention of "The Course in Miracles" which I am currently studying.

 

It also seems to be the contention of Paul Tillich, and his New Being.

 

The "Ecclesia" proposed by Spong is the trust of a new program here where I live. We are devoting time and effort to move the culture of this community to "Higher Ground". That ground is similar to Spong's vision for the Church. He has my support.

 

Jeep

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry I took my so long to get back to the site and post some things. I have been busy. My apologies.

Well I guess that I will get right into it. First of all I guess that I wonder what it is that Spong really wants for the church of the future. I have read both books, Why Christianity Must Change or Die and A New Christianity for a New World, twice and I still always come up with so many more questions that I get answers. This may be exactly what Spong is looking for, but I think that it may also have something to do with his writing style. Do you ever feel that it seems like Spong is giving us only the milk to suckle on and never really gives a the meal that I think we need? If you feel this way give me some insight into how you have overcome that. If you think that I am out of my mind, tell me why you think so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest jeep

Steve:

 

It was good to hear from you.

 

As I explained in my last posting, the discussion of the book turned into a dialogue with Sophia which we continued and concluded privately.

 

As to your questions about Spong and his style, My reaction to your questions goes something like this:

 

Forget the past, try to break through the church's dogmas, take time out from the Bible, pick up The Course in Miracles, experiment with a new way of thinking about WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE.

 

Einstein advocated a new way of thinking as necessary, Paul Tillich suggested a new way of being as essential, and Spong is convinced that the old theistic God is dead, and with Bonhoeffer, suggests we must acknowledge that we must live before God responsibly and subjectively as realities of God's creation, inseparable and integral, decision makers for a new Axial Age emerging as the old one did with the invention of writing years ago.

 

I'm finding it a tall order to move to "Higher Ground", and I only have a few years left embodied this way. Hopefully with Spong and others, I can live them fully, love them wastefully, and be all that I can be.

 

Join me, Steve. In God I Trust.

 

Jeep

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

After reading this book I had the feeling that Bishop Spong was proposing a new orthodoxy. My feeling on this is that what we need is a "heterodoxy". There are many paths to communion with God and we need to honour and respect all of them. If we get bogged down in dogma, we risk missing the call of the Spirit. My personal view is that when we seek the divine, we find that aspect of God that we need. This will, of course, be different for each of us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ComradeinChrist:

 

Thank you for reading the book and commenting as you have.

 

Assuming you have read my comments as Sophia and I discussed it, would you agree that my comments tend to reflect the spirit if not the words of your feelings as you have expressed them in this posting.

 

At the moment I am pursuing the Course in Miracles and the Ministry of the Renaissance UNITY Church in Michigan and find elements of a new Christianity as envisioned by Spong very evident in both.

 

I am hoping that a convergence of these several threads may bring us a New Christianity for this New World of Quantum Physics, Cyberspace, and integrated cultures.

 

Jeep

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

terms of service