Over the course of the last year I've found myself more interested in reading books about the church, about religion, and about God. I've never been very interested in reading much other than fiction before. Such serious reading has seemed too weighty and has bored me after reading just a little bit. But lately I have found it much more interesting. I don't remember a conscious decision to read it more, but I suspect this reflects changes since September 11th.
One book I found especially thought provoking was A New Christianity by John Spong. I'm not sure that I agree with all that he says, but he certainly did get me thinking.
A major part of his writing has to do with the effect of science on theology through the years. In this book (as well as another of his which I'm reading, "Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile") he talks about the effect of the discoveries of Galileo, Coepernicus, Newton, Einstein, Freud, and other scientific advances on the thinking of theologians. The cumulative effect has been to remove much of the mystery which had always been a powerful aspect of God. Most people no longer believe that God sends and cures illnesses, that is a function of bacteria, viruses, etc. Nor do they believe God sends the weather to help or hurt areas of the world, that is caused by the forces of the heat of the sun and other natural (if uncontrolable) forces. They certainly don't see a three-tiered structure with Heaven above, Earth here, and Hell below. These new understandings have led to something of a "God of the Gaps" type of theology and the gaps where people are willing to accept that God could be a factor in the world are getting smaller.
As a result there are many people who have come to the conclusion that God is not a factor in their lives. Spong describes these people as the Church Alumni Association, people who used to be part of the church. He says that these former church members who have learned enough about how the world works that they don't see where God fits in anymore are living in a kind of exile. They see that they used to have the comfort of believing in God to help them understand and relate to each other and the world, but that support is no longer valid for them because of their new understandings.
Spong tries to envision what a new understanding of God could be like. From Karen Armstrong's "A History of God" and other research it is clear that people's understanding of who or what God is has changed dramatically over the years. The tribal god of the Israelites who freed them from bondage in Egypt and slaughtered their oppressors seems quite different from the God who comes to save the entire world through Jesus.
Spong feels that this is important (and I agree) because without a new understanding of God that fits within the rational understanding of the world which has developed, people will continue to reject God and the church. There will always be those who are willing to ignore the implications of scientific advances and accept God as being mysterious and magic, but I think that eventually such understandings will go the way of the Flat-Earth Society.
Despite the increasing numbers who are rejecting God, or at least the church, it is not clear that people are comfortable with a belief that there is no God. I have heard it said that the urge to seek God is as powerful as our sexual drives. It can only lead to frustration if people feel a restless urge for something more in their lives but they cannot find an answer to this hunger. Without an answer that can be accepted, the church could find itself with fewer and fewer members, maybe even eventually no members, no church left at all. For those of us who do believe that there is a God and that people need to learn about this God, such a situation is unacceptable.
I'll write up some thoughts on what this God might be like and what it means for us over the next few days.
Posted by JoKeR at September 25, 2002 12:34 AMI know a lot of folks, Kenneth, in the "Church Alumni Association." In the parish I served until recently, there was at least one who was a regular attender.
Actually, I don't think that's accurate. That man, though not greatly acquainted with scientific matters, was attuned to the modern world view enough that he didn't accept the "supernatural" aspects of the church's traditional understanding of God. If all the church offered was a logical appeal to that old-fashioned theology, he would have been long gone. But there was something about the fellowship of the church (and it certainly wasn't theological subtlety!) that kept him coming.
Even in our highly rationalistic (and sometimes scientific) society, there is a great yearning for the spiritual, a great drive to develop the spiritual side of our existence. A lot of this today comes out as new-age hocus pocus, but there's certainly many who are seeking "the genuine article." Unfortunately, in a lot of Christian churches, there is very little experience of the spiritual, but mostly the experience (important though it can be) of being a "church family" and social club, held together by shared yet often outdated words about "God."
I'll be interested to see how Spong's theological ventures may connect with the desire for deeper spirituality.
Thanks for sharing.
Earl Arnold
East Syracuse, NY