[Dialogue] 7/03/09, Spong: A Vision of the Rebirth of Christianity Occurring in Sweden

Thu Jul 2 10:27:12 CDT 2009

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Thursday July 02, 2009 

A Vision of the Rebirth of Christianity Occurring in Sweden

It was the kind of initiative that one might hope to see coming out of Rome, Canterbury, Constantinople or even from one of the multiple centers of Evangelical Protestantism. The invitation was to speak to a conference designed to bring together critical thinking Christians who were eager to find a way to "sing the Lord's song" in the strange land of the 21st century. This initiative, however, came from the Swedish Lutheran Church, and was one more public sign of the vitality of this part of the Christian Church. In my experience the Swedish Lutheran Church is the most alive part of the Christian Church on the continent of Europe. 
Such an initiative=2
0could hardly have been issued by Rome, for the Vatican is too busy trying to resuscitate its dated authority claims, pretending that the world has not changed since Galileo, and its ancient and irrelevant doctrines cannot be permeated by the relativity of truth. It could hardly have come from Canterbury, since Anglicism is consumed with the task of preserving its worldwide unity, which is little more than a relic of the British Empire that died a century ago. Anglicans have officially installed unity as a higher virtue than truth and pretend that being unified in the dying prejudice of homophobia is somehow a virtue. It could hardly have come from Constantinople, the center of Eastern Orthodoxy, which is still trying to stop the world so that they can get off, all the while pretending that the 19th century remains in the future. It could hardly have come from any of the Evangelical Protestant groups, whose varied voices unite in little more than a defense of biblical literalism while insisting that the Jesus story can still be told in terms of the pre-Darwinian concepts of a perfect creation, a fall into sin necessitating the divine invasion in order to restore the broken world in an act of rescue. None of those offer credible options for citizens of the 21st century. So the invitation came from Sweden, and the experience it provided was so fresh and so real as to be almost inconceivable. Those of us who responded found ourselves in Sofia Church, a beautiful Gothic structure in the heart of Stockholm,=2
0as some 300 people gathered to encourage a new reformation or, in the words of the conference's title, to seek a "New Christianity for a New World." 

This conference was not attended by the ecclesiastically marginalized, those voices from the edges of the church who perennially cry in the wilderness. It was inaugurated with a strong address by the recently retired and still highly respected Archbishop of Sweden's Lutheran Church, Karl Gustav Hammar. That Church, however loosely defined, claims the allegiance of more than 90% of Sweden's population. In his inaugural address, Hammar called for Christians to engage the intellectual revolution of the last 500 years in modern science and exposed the irrelevancy of the familiar claims of biblical inerrancy or papal infallibility. In the audience, giving her imprimatur by her presence, was Caroline Desiree Krook, the present Bishop of Stockholm, by far the largest diocese in Sweden. Other Swedish scholars, academicians and clergy were also present. 

The conference planners brought together leaders from the surrounding Scandinavian countries. From Norway came pastors Grete Haugen and Helge Hognestad, both of whom have stood courageously against the evangelical pressure of their bishops who seek not to rock the ecclesiastical boat of Norway even while the Norwegian Church becomes comatose. Helge Hognestad was specifically banned from the ministry of the Norwegian Church for 15 years because he proclaimed that God could not be bound in the theistic definitions of the past. From Finland came
 Bishop Wille Riekkinen, his nation's primary progressive voice, whose credentials as a biblical scholar make him difficult to minimize. This heroic figure has honed his skills in some of the best universities of the Christian world. He finds himself facing an uphill battle to force the Finnish Church to look outward rather than inward, even as less than 4% of the Finns find themselves inside a church even once a year, a statistic that includes marriages and funerals! Another theologically venturesome Finnish pastor, Hannu Solarantu, was scheduled to be a leader, but personal reasons prevented his coming at the last minute. From Denmark came that country's best known public voice for a new and progressive Christianity, Pastor Thorkild Grosboll, who is regularly harassed by Danish church leaders. Grosboll presents a new way of envisioning God and he finds revelation of God not just in contemporary traditional sources, but in the arts, the poets and the secular society. 

I was the only non-Scandinavian brought to this conference. This was my fourth visit to Sweden and each has encouraged me about the Christian future. At this conference, my task was not to rehearse the developments in human thought that have so deeply challenged Christianity's traditional theological formularies, but rather to articulate how the Christian message can be reshaped in terms of contemporary human thought forms. My hope was to call this conference beyond formal religion's obvious death; beyond the prevailing theistic definition of God, and even beyon
d the incarnational language of the fourth century creeds as the only way we can today to understand the Christ figure. I wanted to move the theological debate beyond the violent language of sacrifice, blood, reward and punishment in which Christian thought has been stuck since the time of St. Augustine in the fourth century. I wanted to pose a new vision for Christianity, one that will focus on the call to be human and one that will move human life through deepening dimensions of self-consciousness into the oneness of universal consciousness. This means developing a new understanding of the relationship between Jesus and God. Is it similar to the relationship between Clark Kent and Superman? Is Jesus a deity masquerading as a human being? Or is his humanity a new doorway into the meaning of divinity? Is divinity the ultimate meaning of humanity? I wanted to portray Christianity not as a religious system to which loyalty had to be pledged, but as a pathway that all can walk into a deeper and fuller humanity. These were thus the themes of my keynote address. 

The participants came primarily from Scandinavia and Poland only to discover that they were not alone and that those who walk the frontiers of faith in every nation are helping Christianity to become more that they had ever imagined. That is the essential ingredient of a Christian future. 

Why then was it possible that this conference upholding this vision could actually happen in Sweden? On my previous trips to Sweden I found the church in=2
0this land uniquely open to engaging the rising tides of human thought. The primary reason for this in my mind is the quality of this church's leadership. As I seek answers to how this actually happened, my mind always goes back to leadership. The Swedish Lutheran Church has produced some rare leaders, whose lives and ministry have prepared the people of this Church to venture into the future unafraid. They have never been frightened of women or of gay and lesbian people. 

I think of the late Krister Stendahl, who in his life as a professor at Harvard, an author and a bishop in Sweden, opened so many doors into the Jewish background of Christianity that he created new possibilities for growth. I think of Marcus Borg, whose Swedish roots certainly prepared him for his career as one of America's pre-eminent Jesus historians and Christian apologists. I think of their recently retired archbishop, K. G. Hammar, whose career encouraged the Swedish Church to be in dialogue with the world as it is. I think of another recently retired bishop, Claus Bertle Ytterberg, who helped to change a conference center at Rattvik into a place where the transformation of Christianity could occur. That Center was staffed by deliberate design with young people from all over the world. I think of the generation of young priests that I have met in Sweden, many inspired by that center in Rattvik, where young people were enabled to embrace the world in a way that is rare. I think of Swedish missionary clergy who are working=2
0in Mozambique and other parts of Africa to build African Christianity not to impose Swedish Christianity. I think of a Church that nurtured world figures like Dag Hammarskjöld and Hans Blix, making it possible for them to play significant roles on the world stage. 

Finally, I think of the two pastors whose vision and planning made this conference possible. One is the Rev. Marianne Blom, a pioneer woman pastor now in her seventies, who has prodded and pushed her church to walk in new directions during her entire career and who is now universally respected. The other is the Rev. Hans Ulfvebrand, pastor of the host Church whose creative and open ministry has won him wide respect throughout the land. I salute the Swedish National Church and I welcome their emerging leadership in the Christian world. 

I close this column with the words of a Swedish hymn (translated into English) written just a few years ago by Tore Littmark, one more of these incredible Swedish clergy leaders, shortly before his death. This hymn was very much in the background of this conference. 

"Dare to question, dare to test things, dare to seek, search unconfined, God's embodied in your question. Already God has you in mind. Dare to question, dare to feel doubt, dare to take the path you chose, God's already deep inside you, closer than you dare suppose. Dare to question, dare to say "no" to far too simple glib replies. Dare to wait and dare to waver; God will still be at your side. Dare to question, bold and fea
rless, God will still believe in you. Life in you is God's own purpose. Already God has you in view. Dare to question, doubt and wonder, you are loved, by God retrieved, you are longed for, seen, discovered, free to live and to believe." 

– John Shelby Spong

Question and Answer 
With John Shelby Spong

Teresa Wrightfrom Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, writes: 
I have just read your answer to John Baker, who wanted to know where he can go to connect with a "Spong pastor." I, too, wonder if you could point me to someone here in Australia. I have read a number of your books, including Jesus for the Non-Religious and Why Christianity Must Change or Die. I have a list of others I still want to read. I am currently reading J. A. T. Robinson's Honest to God as a result of reading your autobiography. I talk about them all the time. I find it sad that I have to censor myself sometimes so as not to offend certain people with my new progressive ideas. Your books have awakened something in me and answered many questions I have long pondered. It amazes me how intelligent and educated people can be so medieval in their thinking when it comes to God, Jesus and the Bible. As a Christian I have believed we must challenge and expand our minds. There is so much to learn. It's funny how Christians claim we are so different because God gave us "free will" but condemn and judge anyone who dares to use it. The first book of yours that I20read was Why Christianity Must Change or Die. After I read it I felt a real change in my spiritual growth. For a while I was very confused, hence I had to continue my journey, a journey I have really just begun. By reading your book I forced myself out of a comfortable place where all my questions had answers through the "inspired word of God," being touched by the Holy Spirit and "Faith." God and Jesus are more real and alive to me than ever before. Anyway, back to my original question — who can I contact to connect with as a Progressive Christian in or near Port Macquairie, NSW, Australia?

Dear Teresa,

I have been to Australia nine times and love that country enormously, but its dominant form of Christianity is very dated. In the New South Wales area you have to get beyond the Roman Catholic Church because the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, is a medieval Catholic who does not know that the world has undergone an amazing theological revolution in the last 500 years.

Sydney Anglicans have been captured by the Jensens — Archbishop Peter Jensen and the Dean of the Anglican Cathedral, Philip Jensen. Sydney Anglicans are 18th century Northern Ireland Evangelicals who were planted in the South Pacific and have not grown since. It is interesting to watch Sydney Anglicans. They are so out of touch with reality that they do not speak to anyone who does not agree with them. Historically, they have been anti-Roman Catholic. One former Anglican Archbishop in Sydney
, Donald Robinson, called the Pope "the Anti-Christ" and refused to sit on the stage of a papal visit to Sydney. Now, however, George Pell and Peter Jensen seem to be united since they have found a common enemy in homosexuals. It is amazing to contemplate the forms into which the gospel can degenerate. Things improve outside of Sydney, though Sydney tries to export its brand of Christianity through its economic power across the country. Anglican leaders in Brisbane, Newcastle, Perth and even in Kalgoorli are wonderful people who bear the Sydney Anglicans as a kind of cross.

The life of Australian Christianity for the future is held by a combination of progressive Anglicans and progressive leaders of the Uniting Church of Australia — a merger of major Protestant traditions. They sponsored a conference in 2007 in Sydney called Common Dreams that attracted 1500 people. A second one is scheduled for 2010. The leaders were Ian Pearson, Rex Hunt and Greg Jenks. Ian is the pastor of Pitt Street United Church in downtown Sydney, who hosted the Common Dreams Conference. If you were to contact him I am sure he could direct you to churches near Port Macquarie. If that does not work, e-mail Greg Jenks (gjenks at bigpond.net.au), who teaches theology in Brisbane, for suggestions.

Both of them are wonderful leaders. Good luck in your search.

– John Shelby Spong

Send your questions to support at johnshelbyspong.com 

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