Friday, May 09, 2008
Moving Beyond The Religious Wars
This audio interview is wonderful! It is one of the best interviews I've heard expressing emerging Christianity. Bishop John Shelby Spong presents a way to move beyond the war between secular left and fundamentalist right. He gives us a postmodern option for Christianity to emerge beyond this modern battle.
The first half of the interview is a biographical sketch of his experience, the second half contains one of the most clear and concise explanations of emergent faith that I've ever heard. Don't miss out on this gem. Many people discount Bishop Spong based on a few surface level prejudices. Evangelicals are scared of him because he doesn't use their canned terminology, but they should listen. There is plenty of common ground and opportunity to move beyond the modern construct that forced our division. I think something wonderful is emerging in Christianity and his voice is an important part of the process.
3 comments:
Good stuff! I liked reading about his upbringing with it's strengths and weaknesses. Pretty cool.
Cheers
I listened to the interview with Bishop Spong and totally agree. I'm not sure why he stirs such hostility, as his views are down-to-earth, reasonable, and offered with humility. I especially like his distinction between religion as a quest for truth vs. a quest for security.
The reason many folks do not listen to him is because his teachings are foreign to Christian orthodoxy and history. He has simply ignored church teachings in favor of his supermarket shopping of the faith to suit whatever he feels he can agree with. Labeling himself a Christian is strange enough.
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