[Oe List ...] Spong, heresy, RSI, etc.

[frank bremner]

This is a bit picky but ... a French scholar could put me straight.

 

I understood his name was Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.  Or, if you want to be more complete, Pere (Father) Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.  And whenever I saw him referenced, it was a Teilhard, not Chardin.

 

Mind you, I became a fan on the noosphere and other ideas/poetry a long time ago.  

 

Stafford Beer, in Platform for Change, tells the story of the boys in the Curia advising Pope Pius XII to ban Teilhard's books forever, not just for his life.  Austere, stern Pius XII replied "No. One Galileo per millenium is enough".  Beer adds: "I hope this story is true".

 

Cheers

 

Frank Bremner


From: Elliestock at aol.com
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:02:36 -0500
To: Dialogue at wedgeblade.net; OE at wedgeblade.net
Subject: [Oe List ...] Spong, heresy, RSI, etc.


Hi folks--
 
I have been fascinated by the recent interchange re Spong, heresy, RSI, etc.  I don't remember such an exchange during the prior years when Dick Kroeger was forwarding these emails...
 
Frankly, I think RS I was ahead of Spong in many ways.  While Spong is dogmatic in his own way and tends to occasionally jump to conclusions re Mary's pregnancy, Paul's sexuality, and other matters, he jars Christians out of their lazy thinking and complacency.  He doesn't try to build bridges as Borg and Crossan do.  Our adult classes in church have studied most of his recent books (including his most recent one) as well as Borg's books and Borg's and Crossan's LTQ dvd series and have found them thought-provoking, challening, and even life-changing.  Like others, I have attended several events with Borg and Crossan (including a 3-wk trip to Turkey) and with Spong.
 
Personally, it was Whitehead and Chardin who were my philosophical/theological/scientific saints and who catalyzed a theological turning for me in 66-67.  Chardin was another theologian who was called a heretic and banned from teaching, his writing only published after his death.  While the Order quoted him, I don't know that we ever quite "got it" re implications concerning the larger creation and process theology, although we were moving in that direction.  I am grateful for Swimme, Fox, Berry, Dowd, O Murchu, Newell (Celtic Christianity), Armstrong, and many others who help move us towards realizing this less human-centered, more religiously-inclusive (or transparent) and creation-centered approach towards spirituality and justice. 
 
For those still in the local church/Christian context, the season of Advent proclaims Emmanuel--"G-O-D with (among, within, around, through) Us".  The invitation is still to love the Mystery and build the earth incarnationally...
 
Grapes and peas be unto you...
Ellie :)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  		 	   		  
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