Wycliffe College principal points out that John Spong is a heretic
Well, the Rev. George Sumner notes that Spong’s views are heretical, so that would make Spong a heretic, albeit a retired heretic.
Now, Bishop Michael Ingham’s views are heretical, as are Bishop Michael Bird’s, making them heretical bishops – something that would be an oxymoron anywhere other than the ACoC or TEC. If only the good Dr. Sumner would admit that, too. Perhaps it would hit too close to home.
From here (page 6):
In the January 2012 issue [The Bible…to be continued, p. 9], we were told how Bishop John Spong, in his most recent book, offers a new kind of Christianity. Its Bible eschews reference to history in favour of ongoing sacred allegory. Its central character is not a divine redeemer but rather human consciousness, which has broken through to a new level of understanding. The name for this perennial option is gnosticism and it was the spiritual new wave of the first and second centuries A.D.
A heretical substitute for the Christian gospel, gnostic interpretation has nothing to do with serious New Testament scholarship, which Spong snidely calls twisting our brains into a 1st-century pretzel. Its elitism is thoroughly consistent with Spong’s ill-informed prejudice about majority-world Christians.
Gnosticism has always had a certain ego-flattering appeal. But this should not be mistaken for good news. Spong’s rejection of the Redeemer, whom he calls the divine invader, is also a rejection of what He offered: grace. His alternatives— the life force, our own consciousness and our own achievement—all depend on…us. If we look honestly around us, or within us, we can see how well that works out.
George Sumner
Toronto
