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Tasmanian Anglican

November 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 


Here I Stand - My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality by John Shelby Spong. Harper Collins 2000

 

Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality

reviewed by Noel Bowditch

 

 

This book is a full and lengthy autobiography of Bishop Spong, providing the reader with a very personal account of the various influences that have contributed to the life of one whose outspoken and controversial views, especially in the area of human sexuality, have made him the hero of some and a dangerous enemy to others.

Spong details a very full and busy life, complete with its joys, disappointments and frustrations. At times he is very personal, especially when he recounts difficulties in coping with his first wife's mental illness and his struggles with prayer. Whatever conclusion one might reach about the current theological and ethical views being expressed by Spong, one cannot help but be impressed by the courageous manner in which he has provided leadership in confronting racial discrimination and anti-Semitism.

In the very first sentence of the book Spong acknowledges that 'writing an autobiography has a touch of arrogance about it'. In what follows he is frequently dismissive of those who do not share his views and makes many judgmental statements about other leaders. He is highly critical of the Catholic Church, and of both the Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical wings of the Anglican Church. The very stridency with which Spong advocates his views is suggestive that his extreme liberalism may in fact be a new form of fundamentalism.

Powerful

Both in the area of personal ethics and doctrine, Spong's views are seriously at variance with the historically orthodox teaching of the Church. While most Christians would be very careful not to espouse Spong's views, his statement that 'the heart cannot worship what the mind rejects' should be taken as a powerful challenge for the church to take more seriously the adult education of its members.

While the title of this book is an echo of the words of Martin Luther's refusal to recant when charged with heresy, there is a world of difference between that reformer's attempt to take people back to Scriptural teaching and that of Spong that widens the gap even further.