Spong Asks Right Questions for Christianity
Steve Adubato

What is Christianity? What does it really mean to be a Christian? Why have so many Christians turned prayer into some sort of "letter to Santa Claus" asking for favors? Don't all thinking people know that the Bible isn't the "word of God" in any verbal or literal sense? Does it make sense to refer to God as "Father Almighty"? Doesn't that "sexist term" relegate women to secondary roles? Is God really "almighty"? If so then why do we attack leukemia and tumors not with appeals to almighty God, but with drugs and chemotherapy?

These are some of the provocative questions raised by former Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong in his new book, "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." As a sometimes frustrated Catholic, each time I speak with Reverend Spong there is a part of me that wishes he was my parish priest when I was a kid. The church I grew up in (I am the product of many years of Catholic schooling) was dominated by well-intentioned men who did little to promote open discussion of these and other complex questions of Christianity. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

With few exceptions, my church demands blind faith to Vatican edict. Millions of Catholics think that women should be allowed to become priests. It's no secret that the priesthood is in trouble and not enough men are entering into it. Yet instead of opening up dialogue, the Pope, whom I respect greatly, declares that the subject is officially closed. No more discussion. No more debate. The problem is that many committed Catholics still want to talk about it.

The same is true when it comes to issues like birth control, abortion, homosexuality, divorce and annulments. My church often expects "practicing" Catholics to blindly follow pronouncements from the Vatican. Bishop Spong thinks that is one of the reasons why Christianity is in big trouble.

Spong on faith; "We want to be people of faith, not people drugged on the narcotic of religion...We cannot park our brains at the door of our places of worship in order to accept as real the words that were used to interpret God in years past but that can no longer today illuminate our understanding of God..."

It seems to me that lots of Christians aren't willing to "park our brains at the door," yet we are struggling to make a genuine spiritual connection. Raising real questions and having a safe place in which to do it is essential to that journey. When any church tells you that the only way we can be under God's tent is to stifle debate, many of us seek other avenues to quench our spiritual thirst.

Bishop Spong understands this. He also understands that many Christians are perplexed about how dependent we should be on God vs. the role of "free will. He says; "It is frightening to think that there is no heavenly parent in the sky to take care of us because as maturing adults we must come to the realization that our earthly parents could no longer protect us. Perhaps we cushion that experience with the theistic God premise."

The bottom line, says Spong, is that "we are alone and therefore responsible for ourselves, that there is no appeal to a higher power for protection... Life is not fair either in this life a or any other so we have to decide how we will live now with this reality."

So what about God? Is God responsible for children dying, AIDS, wars and other horrors of this life? Spong says, "there is no God external to life. God, rather, is the inescapable depth and center of all that is. God is not superior to all other beings. God is the Ground of Being itself.

Spong concludes; "If Christianity depends on a theistic definition of God, then we must face the fact that we are watching this noble religious system enter the rigor mortis of its own death throes." Finally Spong asks, "Can one be a Christian without being an atheist?

Here is where Spong's strength lies. I don't think he has all the answers. He doesn't even think he has the answers. His biggest contribution to Christianity is raising powerful questions that beg for discussion. Make no mistake, Bishop Spong is one of Christianity's biggest fans. He just doesn't think the current game plan will get the job done. He is not alone.

In the final pages of his book, Spong writes; "I am first, last and always a believer. I define myself theologically as a believer who lives in exile...If there are those who do not believe that the Church of yesterday can any longer contain those of us who carry within ourselves the Church of tomorrow, then I am ready to engage in that debate in any public arena they choose." For Christianity's sake, let the debate begin!

Back to Syndicated Column