Spong Sponging Sponged

Is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?

Good. Hallo from the Motherbox, where the Mole has just finished a rather lengthy autobio of the liberal former Episcopal Bishop of Newark, NJ, the Rev. Dr. John Shelby Spong. This was a free book, gleaned from the stacks of the Book Thing, please see the link at right. Anywho, yes, the Mole can read, and had heard of Bishop S for many years and been curious about him. For many years I was very afraid of the liberal wing of Christianity for some reason, but this book is giving me a starting point to explore some of the facets.

For those of you who dont know, and at this point if the Motherbox has readers they are likely largely all people who know the Mole, but just in case, the Mole grew up in a Holiness movement church (Protestant, even protesting other protestants - includuding themselves - sometimes) and later spent a decade trying to find his way through the Roman Catholic church, largely (in retrospect) because it didnt require me to think much, and if I thought too hard, it bothered me. Finally, my thoughts won out, and I left the whole RC thing behind.

Mind you, I had not given up on the idea of Christianity, necessarily, just that the things I saw in the church dont seem to jibe much with what I saw in Jesus. Jesus seemed to be a whole lot more intellectual, forgiving, and pastoral than my experiences in most churches. I did not see an obvious correlation between those who perpetuate various churches naming themselves Christian, and the Jesus who appeared in the Gospels.

Furthermore, in all the churches I belonged to, there was a tendency toward an emotional response to the Gospels that required people to believe everything in them at face value, no matter how wacky or outlandish, and intellectual inquiry about such things was punished. This was not the kind of organization the Mole wanted to be a part of, in whatever permutation, or how much I liked JPII.

So, when I happened upon Bishop Spong's book, I thought, well, here you go. Here's at least a starting point for this whole line of inquiry, and it definitely is that, however the book did not have a focus on what I was looking for. Still, I finished it, and found the experience worthwhile.

A couple of caveats, however: the first thing you learn in reading the book is that John Spong thinks John Spong is a really wonderful guy. Frequently he describes his decisions as brilliant or remarkable, and only on a couple of occasions does he (briefly) confess an error in judgement or an out right mistake, and usually it is ultimately the fault of people he characterizes as "adversaries". On a number of occasions he expresses his own belief that he was the standard-bearer for liberal Christianity in America, a real bulwark against the conservative majority. I do not doubt this is true, but he keeps reminding us of it, and how important he is, as if he doesnt think his actions and story alone will prove it.

Still, the guy accomplished a lot, and appears to have been a real standard-bearer for those in the Episcopal Church who felt the church needed reformation. He is very articulate, but also immensely outspoken and judgemental. In a few cases real bitterness toward those who did not agree with him (however warranted) is justified at length. Still, to expect perfection is hardly a Christian ideal, so I did not let it distract me from the meat of the book.

Certainly Spong has put himself, apparently at some personal risk, at the forefront of racial and sexual conflict, on the side of the oppressed. (Again, he often sounds as though he were the only one fighting for such oppressed peoples, but I digress) In the south, he routinely fought against institutionalized racism, defying very entrenched establishments; in the north, he fought for the rights of homosexuals and women and incurred the animosity of fellow bishops all the way up to the Archbishop of Canterbury. By his account he strove (strived? strivonotorisumed?) for integrity in all aspects of his ministry, and tried to live what he preached. And he makes a strong case for a more liberal view of the Gospels, though obviously that is not the main thrust of the book and is mainly sketched.

Here I Stand definitely made me want to read a couple of his other books, primarily Why Christianity Must Change Or Die and his books re-thinking the literal view of scripture, the Virgin Birth, and the resurrection. All in all I would recommend the book, though with the rider that it can be dry and repetitive in parts, and feature entire sections about people that dont seem essential to the story. A good editor could have knocked a hundred pages off this book and made it much, much better. But all in all, a very interesting picture of what it means to believe in Jesus a different way than those who seem to be taking over the country at the moment. It lets in the breath of fresh air that such a Way is possible.

From deep in the bowels of Motherbox Central, I remain --