The Origins of New Testament, Part XXII: The Figure of Moses as the Interpretive Secret in Matthew

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on 6 May 2010 0 Comments
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Question

Muzi Cindi, of the Republic of South Africa, writes:


I got to read your material after a spiritual experience I had in August 2007. A friend gave me your book Jesus for the Non-Religious. I've since read most of your books and read your weekly articles. I thank God for the impact you have had on my life. I was on the verge of abandoning the Christian faith completely when I came across your material. I have since read Lloyd Geering, Don Cupitt and others. I look forward with great anticipation to reading your new book. I would like to share my personal theology with you and hear your response. I believe we are living in heaven today; this is the heaven that 1st century Christians spoke about. If the Apostle Paul would wake up, he would definitely say we are in heaven. The heaven we speak about will be inhabited by future generations. Again, thanks for being all you were created to be in order for us to be all that we were created to be.

Answer

Dear Muzi,

I am pleased that you have found my work important in your own spiritual journey. I am sure that my friends Lloyd Geering and Don Cupitt would be also.

I am confused by your letter and am not sure what you mean by 'heaven' so let me translate it into words that I do understand. I believe that I am living now in the presence of God, a word I cannot define, but I believe I experience as the "Source of Life," the "Source of Love" and the "Ground of Being." In this presence, I sense that I am also capable of transcending the limits of time and able to experience timelessness or what Paul Tillich called The Eternal Now. As such I already share in the meaning of eternity. I am, however, still aware of the pain and privation that many contend with in their lives. I recognize that suffering is almost universal and that life by no standard is ever going to be fair. So I don't think I could say that I am living in heaven now. I prefer St. Paul's words that suggest that I now see "through a glass darkly", but someday I will see "face to face."

Write again and tell me what you think of this proposed amendment to your thinking.


-John Shelby Spong
 

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