jemerson92

Burt, Thanks for the laugh! I was reading through all these serious and thoughtful comments, and then got to your last. LOL. "What does the Lord require of us? ... Justice, kindness, and humility..." In line with the last several comments above (yours included), I wonder if "humility" suggests that none of us and no human culture can really have a corner on describing God or assigning attributes to God. And I'd add that perhaps we learn something from each other's efforts -- no matter how far they may be from our own. To return to rjunker's original question, yes, we see the logical conflict, but perhaps Spong and others are helpful in giving us permission to move beyond the 2000-year-old human constructs, and to imagine possibilities that may be more helpful to many of us in the 21st century.

Yes, this is a great topic, and one that deserves serious thought and discussion. When Marcus Borg visited our church several years ago, I recall him saying about someone who claims not to believe in God, "Describe for me the God that you think you don't believe in." Then, a response. And then "Well, I don't believe in that God either." Borg made a telling point. And of course he DID believe in God, as does Jack Spong. Being curious about these questions, I just looked up on the web the "definition" of God. Here is what the Oxford dictionary says: GOD: NOUN1(in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being. 2(in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshipped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity When Spong says he is a non-theist, he is saying that he does not believe in God as defined just above. He and many other writers in Progressive Christianity have chosen the term "non-theistic" to convey that they don't subscribe to the above understandings of God: They do not understand God as a "Being". But we can be absolutely certain that Bishop Spong does believe in God, as do many other progressives who have written in this area. So, rjunker, I believe you are quite right from a logical perspective and a traditional understanding of the meaning of God. But for me, the definitions in the Oxford dictionary are too limiting and they miss the mark of what we may mean by the term "God" in the 21st century. As I've read Jack Spong's columns and books, I've gained an appreciation for his more expansive understanding of "God" -- one that quite a few religious thinkers of our time seem to embrace.

Hi everyone, Amy and I have been subscribers to Jack Spong's columns for several years. We are sad that we will lose his weekly column, but we very much look forward to his new book this March. We continue on a journey that seeks to find religious truths that make good sense in the context of our 21st century world and culture. We are active life-long members of our church and choir. We want the Christian church to continue to change and to become more relevant to life in a largely secular culture. Our church in Middlebury seeks to serve human needs and to respond to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in this 21st-century context. We believe that change and religious progress are essential if the Christian Church is to survive, thrive, and serve. We think that church members and attendees need to become better informed about the changes that have been taking place in Christian religious understanding. We are proud of the role our own church is playing in our community and in this troubled world: http://midducc.org/ We suspect that the challenges we face in the coming days and years will likely be even greater than ever. But we are optimistic that deeply thoughtful members of the faith community can and will help to meet those challenges. Peace to all, John and Amy Emerson Middlebury, VT