Re: Bishop Spong’s 12 Theses

by JT

. This exchange of views has been continued.

Thank you for your question.

I will start off by pointing out that the list of Theses as originally published in Meditation 223 was based on a newspaper article on a speech by Bishop Spong. I have now revised the Meditation to reflect the wording as published originally by Spong himself.

So, the first thesis, which you questioned, was:

“Theism (the idea of a personal God) is dead, so most theological “God-talk” today is meaningless.”

And the correct wording is:

“Theism, as a way of defining God, is dead. So most theological God-talk is today meaningless. A new way to speak of God must be found.”

I don’t know if that helps you decide what the thesis truly means.

My own interpretation would be that if theism does not define God, then the logical alternative – if your view still demands a god – is deism. That, however, may not be what Spong intended.

My understanding of Spong’s idea of Christianity is that it is based on the example of the life, works, and word of Christ – rather than the mystical aspects.

However, I don’t expect that I will write giving my interpretation of Bishop Spong. It will inevitably be different in certain ways from his intentions. I would suggest that anyone interested can find quite a few books by him available at Amazon or B&N. And there is a wealth of websites addressing him and his views – search on “John Shelby Spong” or for the specific issue at hand “12 Theses And Spong” should turn up a lot pro and con.

I would welcome others writing in with their views on the theses.