[Oe List ...] Matthew Fox history

[cdzoll at comcast.net]

Thank you for the particulars re: Matthew Fox and the new pope. I heard John 
Shelby Spong the other night and he mentioned Fox, Crossan, Schillebeex, and 
a few others as being on Ratzinger's "hit list." He forgot to mention a 
German theologian by the name of Gerd Ludemann who also has been forbidden 
to teach in the theological seminary (I think in Tubingen) because of his 
theological views. This fellow is not good news for modern, liberal, 
progressive thinking people and the only good that can come out of his 
papacy, to my way of thinking is that he may make so obvious the retro, 
conservative aspect of theology that more people will either leave the 
church or demand some new thinking in the next pope!  David Zollars
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <LAURELCG at aol.com>
To: <fpclindsay at onemain.com>; <OE at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 5:15 PM
Subject: [Oe List ...] Matthew Fox history


> Thought you might be interested in this background on Matt and the new 
> pope.
> Fox was scheduled to be on "Cross Fire Tuesday night to talk about he new
> pope, but he was evidently again, "silenced."  Told at air time he was not 
> going
> to be on.
>
> http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/creation_spirituality.html
>
>
>
> Matthew Fox and his development of Creation Spirituality have caused much
> controversy and confusion among Catholics and New-Agers alike.  Fox's
> problems with
> the Catholic hierarchy began in 1984, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the
> Vatican's watchdog on orthodoxy, asked the Dominican order to investigate
> Fox's
> writings.Three Dominican theologians examined his books in 1985 and 
> concluded
> that they were not heretical. The Vatican however continued to object to
> Fox's
> teachings, such as hislack of emphasis on original sin, endorsing 
> homosexual
> unions, identifying humans as "mothers of God," and calling God "our 
> Mother."
> The presence of the witch, Starhawk, on the ICCS staff caused uneasiness
> among
> church members. For these and other reasons, the Vatican in 1986 asked the
> Dominican Master General to stop Fox from teaching. However, the Chicago
> Dominican superior, Fr. Donald Goergen, defended Fox and let him continue 
> his
> practices 1 . In September, 1987 Ratzinger's Vatican office began it's own
> investigation of Fox and his teachings. Fr. Goergen received charges 
> against
> Fox in April
> 1988, but claimed that Fox's teachings had not been discredited. At this
> point, the Vaticaninsisted that the Dominicans prevent Fox from teaching 
> and
> writing. Thus the Dominican order asked Fox to take a year sabbatical to 
> calm
> the
> controversy surrounding his teachings. Fox responded to this by publicly
> calling the Catholic church a dysfunctional family because "power, not
> theology, is
> the real issue" 1 . Despite his claims, Fox began a year-long silence on
> December 15, 1988.
>
> On December 15, 1989, after a trip to South America, Fox resumed his
> teaching, lecturing, and writing schedule. In 1991 Fr. Goergen ordered Fox 
> to
> leave
> the ICCS in California and return to Chicago or face dismissal from the
> Dominican order.Fox refused, thus the Vatican formally announced his
> dismissal from
> the order in 1993; Fox would remain a priest but would be forbidden to
> perform
> the sacraments 1 . Fox was also ordered to distance himselffrom wicca, a
> practice associated with goddess worship and sometimes witchcraft. He was
> also
> advised to cease disseminating his ideas about human imperfection and sin.
> Then in
> 1994, it seemed as if Fox's troubles were over when he joined the 
> Episcopal
> Church. However, Fox's move was seen as the last straw for many followers 
> of
> his
> career, "The Episcopal Church is being used to give Matthew Fox 
> credibility,"
> says Reverend Guy Fitch Lytle, who taught at Berkeley and knew Fox. "He
> wantsthe authority of the priesthood without the accountability" 9 . 
> Matthew
> Fox
> continues to be associated with the Episcopal church; his university and
> techings of Creation Spirituality are flourishing as well.
>
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