SPONG'S "POISONOUS" LETTER WILL BLIGHT EPISCOPAL CHURCH HOB'S MEETING

News Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.episcopalian.org
9/8/2007

He may be retired, but John Shelby Spong, the 8th Bishop of Newark, liveth and reigneth, spitting his bile upon the Episcopal Church's frail House of Bishops (HOB) - a mostly male enclave - who may well find themselves ostracized from the Anglican Communion by month's end.

A letter Spong wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury could not have been timed worse. Within two weeks of the Archbishop of Canterbury appearing in New Orleans for what could be a showdown with the HOB, Spong blasted Dr. Rowan Williams accusing him of having "a breathtaking display of ineptitude and moral weakness," and effectively abdicating his leadership role. "The message you communicated [to the Anglican Communion] was that in the service of unity you would surrender to whoever had the loudest public voice."

Spong went on to berate the archbishop saying, "a leader gets only one chance to make a good first impression and you totally failed that chance. Unity is surely a virtue, but it must be weighed against truth, the Church's primary virtue."

Spong accused Williams of collapsing in the face of pressure over the failed Jeffrey John appointment, said his predecessor George Carey was homophobic, that the Bible was being used as a "weapon to justify prejudice," and then ripped Williams by saying that he seemed incapable of functioning as the leader the Church wanted and needed.

He blasted Williams over Jeffrey John saying that naming Jeffrey Dean of St. Alban's Cathedral was a "guilt" appointment because he was made to withdraw the bishopric he sought in Reading. "Your credibility suffered once again," snarled Spong.

The former Newark bishop then tore into Williams over Gene Robinson, the homoerotic Bishop of New Hampshire, for his failure to invite him to the Lambeth Conference of 2008. "All of the closeted homosexual bishops are invited; the honest one is not invited. I can name the gay bishops who have, during my active career, served in both the Episcopal Church and in the Church of England? I bet you can too. Are you suggesting that dishonesty is a virtue?"

In his tirade, Spong said the church had been wrong about women, slavery, evolution and apartheid and it will lose the present battle "over the oppression and rejection of homosexual people."

"The Bible has lost each of those battles. It will lose the present battle and you, my friend, will end up on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of morality and the wrong side of truth. It is a genuine tragedy that you, the most intellectually-gifted Archbishop of Canterbury in almost a century, have become so miserable a failure in so short a period of time," Spong raged.

"You were appointed to lead, Rowan, not to capitulate to the hysterical anger of those who are locked in the past. For the sake of God and this Church, the time has come for you to do so. I hope you still have that capability."

When the letter hit the air and cyber waves, liberals winced. Jim Naughton, the ultra-liberal Communications Director for the revisionist Diocese of Washington writing in his blog episcopalcafe.com, called Spong's tear, "an unfortunate letter."

He accused Spong of rehashing old complaints that have been extensively aired elsewhere and seems calculated to give offense. "It is perhaps best seen as an act of unconscious self-marginalization (not to mention bad manners.) Spong, like N. T. Wright, has become one of those figures whose public utterances frequently do more to bolster the cause of his adversaries than his allies."

"If one were attempting to poison the atmosphere when the archbishop and the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops gather in New Orleans on September 20-21, this is the letter one would write. Its publication places a burden on Episcopal bishops who favor the full inclusion of the baptized in all ministries of the Church, and continued membership in the Anglican Communion. They now must make it clear that Archbishop Rowan will receive a warmer welcome than this letter suggests."

The equally sad truth is that The Episcopal Church, by its refusal to reprimand or discipline Jack Spong when he was Bishop of Newark, has in the eyes of many endorsed his twisted beliefs. Years ago a group of bishops circulated a "statement of disassociation" with Spong. It was about as mild a condemnation as one could ask for. No more than a small minority of the House of Bishops joined on and signed it. To this day, the House of Bishops has never taken any action against Spong.

At one point in time, when she was Bishop of Nevada, Mrs. Schori invited Spong to lead a retreat.

The bald truth is that the vast majority of the HOB is much closer in spirit and theology to Spong than they are to Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh.

Even those who believe Spong has gone too far must face the logical conclusions of his position. Once you start down the rocky road of liberal theological belief, including changing sexual practices to suit the times, you must over time, end up where he has ended up. Is it any wonder that no liberal or revisionist bishop has publicly repudiated Spong's 12 Theses!

If you don't believe in the atonement, why not call it child abuse? If Jesus never rose bodily from the grave, why bother talking about the resurrection in any meaningful salvific way except as an "Easter event" that is more in tune with nature than super nature.

If miracles never happened then Jesus' divinity and deity are questionable.

If the Bible cannot be trusted to provide absolutes about how we should behave sexually then why not change or drop the texts that speak definitively about human sexual behavior?

If the Bible cannot be trusted to tell us who God is, His plan of salvation and what sort of moral behavior He expects from us, then why not consult Sufi the Rumi, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Kama Sutra or even the Koran!

If God is doing a new thing, as liberal bishops like Gene Robinson and Tom Shaw constantly tell us, then why should we not all become Mormons? The Mormons can make a brilliant case for a new revelation complete with prophets, a new book, successful businesses, good families, clean living and much more. Mitt Romney is the poster boy for America's fastest growing religion and the American Dream, however heretical we might view Mormonism. The list is endless.

The sad truth is the vast majority of America's Episcopal bishops are ashamed of the Gospel, ashamed of the Bible's prohibition on certain sexual behaviors, and ashamed of miracles. They want desperately to be seen as being ecumenical with absolutely everybody. The irony is that the more they talk about inclusion and diversity, the faster the Episcopal Church empties.

It is irony stacked upon irony. Is it any wonder then that St. John wrote to the Church in Laodicea, "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:15)

Spong's letter, certainly to be read by all the House of Bishops, may force Dr. Williams into declaring that if Spong's views truly represent the mind of the Episcopal Church then he has no option but to call the Primates together for final call on what to do with the American Episcopal Church. If they say that TEC should be cut loose from the Communion then Williams would have no choice but to do so.

If Williams perceives that Spong's views are little more than the prepubescent ravings of a childish sixth former (12th grader), then he can simply brush him off. On the other hand, it might just galvanize the ABC into declaring that the truth about The Episcopal Church lies with the Network bishops. If that should happen then we have a whole new ball game.

END