The Anglican Communion R.I.P.

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on 11 February 2016 3 Comments
Please login with your account to read this essay.
 

Question

I am an open-minded and lifelong truth seeker and enjoy your thoughtful commentaries on spiritual topics. Given my spiritual journeys to date, I think that one of the most profound spiritual ideas with infinite implications that I have recognized is that the words “God” and “Truth” are synonyms. It appears that most people, however, have not reflected on what the implications include. I would appreciate your thought on this issue.

Answer

Dear George,

I like your idea with these caveats. The word “God” only points to a reality, the word is not the reality, while the word “truth” refers to something that is always unfolding, is never static and ultimately cannot be captured in the vessel of human words. So while “God” and “truth” may not be synonyms, they clearly are overlapping concepts. I would say the same thing about “God” and “love,” “God” and “being,” and “God” and “ultimate reality.”

Why anyone thinks that God can ever be defined in human words amazes me. Why anyone thinks that the truth of God can be captured in the words of a creed startles me. Why anyone thinks there is such a thing as the “true faith,” the “orthodox position” or the “final truth” in a set of doctrines and dogmas sets my teeth on edge. Such talk has done nothing except turn the concept of God into a human idol.

Look at the words we use to describe God: Infinite, immortal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. Have you noticed that they are descriptions of human life with all of the human limits removed? Human life is finite, mortal, limited in power, in space and in knowledge. The human concept of God is that of a human being without human limits. Is it not apparent that we cannot define God except in human terms? While that is inevitable when we make excessive claims for our own definitions, when we seek to assert that the Bible is inerrant, the Pope is infallible, the “faith” can be captured in creeds, doctrines and dogmas, we have become idolaters, we have become religious imperialists. At that moment, Christianity begins to die.

So worship and God, the object of worship, always point beyond themselves. God is never an object, not even a being. God is a mystery into which we walk. God is not a noun that we are compelled to define, God is a verb that we seek to live.

So let “truth” be an analogy for the word “God,” but never a synonym.

Thank you for your letter.

John Shelby Spong

 

Comments

 

3 thoughts on “The Anglican Communion R.I.P.

  1. WordPress › Error

    There has been a critical error on this website.

    Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.