"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal
Ben Myers at Faith and Theology reviews the new book Jesus for the Non-Religious by the notorious John Shelby Spong.
Dr. Myers’ review is consistent with the impression I’ve long had of Spong’s work: in an attempt to be modern and relevant he evacuates Christianity of everything that makes it remotely interesting and weird and challenging. At that pont why not just sleep in on Sunday morning?
At that point why not just sleep in on Sunday morning?
Exactly the question so many “liberal” theologians make me scratch my head about.
Btw, S makes a point of insisting that what there is that he’s willing to call “God” is not a person and is thus not on the hook for the Problem of Evil. Neither does he exercise anything like divine providence, general or meticulous. Nor could he possibly answer anybody’s prayers.
All which just makes it all the more mysterious why he continued to hold his job rather than saying frankly to himself, “I have lost my faith,” and then taking off his collar and leaving his job to somebody who actually believed at least some part of Christianity.
But he never did. He preferred to subvert from within, I suppose.
In his dialogue, “On the Nature of the Gods,” Cicero from the beginning insists on the hypocrisy of the Epicureans who deny providence and divine concern for humans, and even divine awareness of what happens to us . . . and then go to sacrifice, or even hold jobs as priests.
Hmm. Some things don’t change all that much, eh?
A Thinking Reed 
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