[Dialogue] 5/14/16, Spong: Charting A New Reformation, Part XVIII - The Fifth Thesis, Miracles (continued)

Ellie Stock via Dialogue dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net
Tue May 3 12:55:19 PDT 2016


 







                                    
        
          
            
              
                                
                  
                    
                      
                                                
                          
                            
                              
                                

                                
                              
                              
 
                              
                            
                          
                        
                         
                    
                  
                
                                
                  
                    
                      
                                                
                          
                            
                              
                                                                                                                              
                            
                            
                              
                                
                                  
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Charting                                            A New Reformation 
                                          
Part XVIII                                            - The Fifth Thesis, Miracles                                            (continued)
                                          
Following the Exodus,                                            Moses’ miraculous power was                                            never again so powerfully                                            displayed in the biblical                                            story, but it did not                                            disappear. In a battle                                            against the Amalekites                                            (Exod. 17:8-14) when Moses                                            held his hands up, the                                            Hebrew army won the day, but                                            when fatigue forced him to                                            lower his arms, his enemies                                            prevailed. This problem was                                            solved when Aaron and Hur                                            stood by his side and held                                            his arms up. God was still                                            directing the affairs of                                            human beings from above the                                            sky and Moses was God’s                                            vessel. Other nature                                            miracles adorn the Moses                                            story. When the Hebrew                                            people had no food in the                                            wilderness God, at Moses’                                            request, rained heavenly                                            bread called manna, upon                                            them. When there was a                                            shortage of water, Moses                                            struck a rock at a place                                            called Meribah and water                                            flowed forth in abundance                                            (Exod. 17:1-7). This was,                                            however, a strange miracle                                            for although God appears to                                            have ordered it, a Hebrew                                            norm was violated. Moses                                            demanded that God bring                                            water out of this rock. It                                            was not proper for a human                                            being to give God orders.                                            The norm was for God to                                            command and for human beings                                            to obey. Moses had, quite                                            improperly, put “God to the                                            test.” God was not pleased.                                            The story said that God had                                            clothed Moses with                                            miraculous power, but                                            because of this serious                                            indiscretion, Moses was to                                            be punished by being forever                                            prohibited from entering the                                            “Promised Land.”
                                          
While miracles were clearly                                            associated with the memory                                            of Moses, it would not have                                            occurred to anyone to speak                                            of him as “the son of God.”                                            He was simply a human                                            channel through whom God’s                                            power was allowed to work.                                            There was no confusion of                                            the medium with the message.                                            Miraculous power belonged to                                            God; it was not thought of                                            as Moses’ possession.
                                          
When Moses died (Deut. 34),                                            he was succeeded by Joshua,                                            who had been his military                                            captain. There is always                                            great anxiety in a nation                                            when it loses its leader,                                            especially a long time and                                            successful leader like                                            Moses. One of the ways in                                            the story-telling tradition                                            of the Jews that anxiety was                                            dissipated was to wrap                                            stories about the deceased                                            leader around his successor.                                            The ancients did not see                                            this as dishonest. What this                                            practice was designed to do                                            was to convey the message                                            that the God of Moses was                                            still with them, but now as                                            the God of Joshua. So                                            Joshua’s life was said to be                                            marked with the same power                                            that had once marked the                                            life of Moses. The power to                                            manipulate the forces of                                            nature had been a sign of                                            God’s presence with Moses.                                            Moses had been portrayed as                                            able to command the forces                                            of nature. Joshua would now                                            exhibit a similar power. He                                            would command the sun to                                            stand still in the sky on                                            its journey around the earth                                            (Joshua 10). This would                                            enable Joshua’s army more                                            daylight in which his                                            soldiers were able to kill                                            more retreating Amorites                                            before they found safety                                            under the cover of darkness.                                            It was a power similar to                                            that of Moses.
                                          
The second example was an                                            even more obvious Moses                                            story. Moses had split the                                            waters of the Red Sea to                                            allow the children of Israel                                            to escape death at the hands                                            of the Egyptians and to walk                                            through that sea into the                                            safety of the wilderness.                                            Joshua confronted another                                            body of water that impeded                                            the Israelites’ progress.                                            This time it was the Jordan                                            River. Those who have seen                                            the Jordan River are not                                            impressed with either its                                            size or its difficulty to                                            navigate. In some seasons of                                            the year, one can literally                                            step across the tiny stream                                            in the midst of the river                                            basin. So the author of the                                            book of Joshua had to                                            heighten the size and degree                                            of difficulty. He states                                            that this miracle occurred                                            when the river was in flood                                            season and was a massive                                            body of rushing water. In                                            Moses-like fashion, Joshua                                            stepped into this flooded                                            river and the waters parted                                            so that Joshua and his army                                            could invade the territory                                            populated by the Canaanites                                            by walking on dry land. In                                            these narratives, Joshua,                                            like Moses, was seen as                                            possessing supernatural                                            power, but he too, was                                            simply a vehicle, a channel,                                            through which the miraculous                                            power of God could be made                                            available in human history.                                            Thus, miracles in the Bible                                            were originally not a sign                                            of the human becoming                                            divine, but rather the sign                                            that God could work through                                            a human life to establish                                            God’s power over nature.
                                          
It would be about four                                            hundred years before                                            miracles would make a second                                            appearance in the biblical                                            story. Once again miracles                                            were associated with the                                            lives of Jewish heroes.                                            These heroes were also a                                            connected pair of figures,                                            who were at the heart of                                            Israel’s national life.
                                          
While Moses would become                                            known as the father of the                                            law, this man, Elijah, would                                            become known as the father                                            of Israel’s prophetic                                            movement. He would be linked                                            with his successor, Elisha,                                            to form the second tandem to                                            which miracles would be                                            attached. What constituted a                                            miracle, however, began to                                            be greatly expanded.
                                          
First, there was in the                                            lives of these two figures a                                            repetition of the nature                                            miracles that marked the                                            previous heroes, Moses and                                            Joshua. For example, Elijah                                            and Elisha had the power to                                            expand the food supply, a                                            cruse of oil and a supply of                                            grain were not diminished                                            with use. Perhaps the most                                            obvious sign of the                                            continuity of the                                            Moses-Joshua tradition was                                            seen in that both Elijah and                                            Elisha, when impeded from                                            their goals by the Jordan                                            River, responded by sweeping                                            a mantle over the water of                                            that river and standing back                                            to watch the waters part,                                            which enabled them to                                            overcome this watery barrier                                            and to walk across the river                                            bed on dry land. This Moses                                            story, wrapped originally                                            around Israel’s founding                                            hero at the Red Sea, was                                            later wrapped around Joshua,                                            then wrapped around Elijah                                            and finally wrapped around                                            Elisha. There are thus                                            four-splitting-of-the-waters                                            stories in the Hebrew                                            Scriptures.
                                          
Other miraculous acts were                                            attributed to this 8th                                            century BCE duo of Jewish                                            heroes. Elijah and Elisha                                            could both perform                                            supernatural acts of healing                                            that were seen as miracles.                                            Both were also said to be                                            able to raise the dead.                                            Elijah raised the only son                                            of a widow from the dead.                                            Elisha raised a child from                                            the dead. So by the eighth                                            century, before the Common                                            Era, the Hebrew Scriptures                                            spoke of the miraculous                                            power being within the                                            capability of the lives of                                            the foremost heroes of                                            Israel. Once again, it was                                            God’s power acting through                                            God’s servants in the Hebrew                                            Scriptures, although                                            increasingly as the stories                                            were told, that power was                                            more and more attributed to                                            the people themselves.
                                          
After Elijah and Elisha, we                                            note that miracles largely                                            disappeared from the                                            biblical story until the                                            first century when they were                                            told again, first about                                            Jesus of Nazareth in the                                            gospel tradition and then                                            about his immediate                                            successors, the apostles, in                                            the book of Acts. The                                            patterns were quite similar.                                            The supernatural acts fell                                            into three categories.                                            First, there were nature                                            miracles: the stilling of                                            the storm and the ability to                                            walk on water. There were                                            also narratives about the                                            ability to expand the food                                            supply. Six times in the                                            gospels an account was given                                            of Jesus feeding an almost                                            unlimited multitude — 5000                                            on four occasions, 4000 on                                            two occasions — with a                                            limited number of loaves and                                            fishes.
                                          
Next in the Jesus narrative                                            were the raising of the dead                                            stories, five to be specific                                            are related in the four                                            gospels, but only three                                            people were said to have                                            been raised from the dead.                                            That was because the                                            narrative of Jesus raising a                                            child, the daughter of                                            Jairus, from the dead, was                                            told three times, once in                                            Mark, once in Matthew and                                            once in Luke. The details                                            vary, but only slightly. The                                            main story line is, however,                                            almost identical with the                                            account of Elisha raising a                                            child from the dead. The                                            second raising of the dead                                            story is told only by Luke                                            and involved Jesus raising                                            from the dead the only son                                            of a widow, which supposedly                                            took place in the village of                                            Nain. This narrative, upon a                                            closer examination, appears                                            to be based on the story of                                            Elijah raising from the dead                                            the only son of a widow. The                                            third raising of the dead                                            story is only told by John                                            and is the familiar account                                            of the raising the                                            four-days-dead Lazarus, who                                            was said to have literally                                            walked out of his tomb. This                                            story appears to have had no                                            antecedent in the Hebrew                                            Scriptures whatsoever, but                                            perhaps it was based on                                            Luke’s parable of Lazarus                                            and the rich man. Finally                                            there is a series of miracle                                            stories associated with                                            Jesus that are the most                                            familiar of the miracle                                            stories in the Bible. I                                            refer to those narratives in                                            which the blind are enabled                                            to see, the deaf to hear,                                            the mute to sing and the                                            crippled or lame to leap.                                            Many of these healing                                            miracles are later                                            attributed to the disciples                                            in the book of Acts, which                                            serve to give us the third                                            pairing of miracles stories                                            to keep the pattern intact.                                            Clearly the same power,                                            observed in Jesus, was said                                            to have been present in the                                            leaders of the early                                            Christian Church.
                                          
Is there a source in the                                            Hebrew Scriptures that might                                            give meaning to this final                                            type of healing miracles                                            attributed to Jesus? I think                                            there is. In the 35th                                            chapter of Isaiah, the                                            prophet is addressing the                                            subject of the signs that                                            will mark the emergence of                                            the Kingdom of God on earth.                                            This was, in apocalyptic                                            Jewish thought, nothing less                                            than the birth of the                                            messianic age. Isaiah                                            responded that the world                                            would recognize the                                            in-breaking of the Kingdom                                            in these ways: water would                                            flow in the desert, the                                            crocuses would bloom in                                            places where they had never                                            bloomed before and human                                            wholeness would appear in                                            places that had been marked                                            with human brokenness. That                                            is “the blind would see, the                                            deaf would hear, the mute                                            would shout and the lame                                            would leap.” For Isaiah                                            these would be the signs                                            that would signal the                                            messiah’s arrival on earth                                            to inaugurate the “Kingdom                                            of God.” Are these miracle                                            stories then interpretive                                            signs rather than literal                                            events? I think they are. We                                            will pursue this                                            conversation further next                                            week, when we discover that                                            Jesus himself is said to                                            have made this                                            identification. When one                                            really reads the text of the                                            gospels, much of the                                            miraculous framework that we                                            have traditionally placed on                                            the Bible gives way to a                                            very different                                            understanding.
                                          
~John Shelby Spong
                                          
Read the essay online here.
                                        
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                                                                
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
                                          
Question                                            & Answer
                                          
Albert                                              Ringewald of Cocoa Beach,                                              Florida writes:
                                          

                                            Question:
                                          
I would appreciate it if                                            you could provide me with                                            your views on Christian                                            forgiveness.
                                          
It seems to me on this                                            issue that Christians are                                            all over the map. Some are                                            quick to offer forgiveness                                            as shown to us recently over                                            closed circuit TV by the                                            relatives of the nine                                            victims of Charleston’s                                            Emmanuel African Methodist                                            Episcopal Church to the                                            shooter, who specifically                                            expressed no remorse during                                            his court hearing; to the                                            author, Roxanne Gay, who                                            wrote in a New York Times                                            Op-Ed (June 23, 2015) that                                            her Catholic upbringing had                                            taught her that “forgiveness                                            requires reconciliation by                                            way of confession and                                            penance.” I think the almost                                            instantaneous expression of                                            forgiveness by the relatives                                            of the church shooter’s                                            victims perplexed many of us                                            as sincere, yet somehow                                            contrived because of its                                            suddenness.”
                                          
Complicating matters                                            further, Kristin Neff, out                                            of the University of Texas,                                            has written extensively                                            about self-compassion and to                                            forgive is to lay down the                                            burden of anger toward the                                            offender and thereby                                            changing your role as                                            “victim” to finding                                            compassion for yourself and                                            possibly even for the                                            offender.
                                          
Finally, we seem to be                                            taught the essentials of                                            forgiveness through the                                            parable of “The                                              Prodigal Son”                                            contained in the gospel of                                            Luke, in which the father                                            forgives the wayward son                                            only after the son                                            acknowledges his wrongdoings                                            and begs for forgiveness.                                            Would forgiveness have been                                            proffered by the father                                            without contrition on the                                            part of the son?
                                          
Does forgiveness require                                            acknowledgement of the wrong                                            doing by the offender? Does                                            forgiveness require the                                            offender to ask for it in                                            order that it be effective?                                            Psychologists are quick to                                            describe the benefits of                                            forgiveness, but they fail                                            to describe the                                            requirements, if any.
                                          
 
                                          
Answer:
                                          
Dear Albert,
                                          
Thank you for your                                            questions and for posing the                                            issue so powerfully with                                            your very contemporary                                            examples. Let me try to                                            separate the wheat from the                                            chaff. First forgiveness is                                            in my opinion, ultimately a                                            godlike response. As such it                                            is freely given, always                                            available and requires                                            nothing. Our ability to                                            receive or to access this                                            ever-present forgiveness may                                            require repentance and an                                            attempt at restitution, but                                            that is a requirement of our                                            receptiveness, it is not a                                            requirement located in                                            forgiveness itself. So it                                            seems to me that the                                            families of the victims of                                            the shooting in the                                            Charleston, S.C. African                                            Methodist Episcopal Church                                            acted out of a profound                                            understanding of what the                                            forgiveness of God is like.                                            It was that very powerful                                            witness to this ultimate                                            meaning of forgiveness that                                            moved the people of South                                            Carolina to look at their                                            own behavior vis-à-vis                                            people of African descent                                            and to bring to the ground                                            the long-flying flags of the                                            Confederacy. The forgiveness                                            of God, which they                                            articulated, does not                                            require confession from the                                            guilty one in order for it                                            to be given; but it may                                            require confession in order                                            for that forgiveness to be                                            received by the guilty one                                            to whom it was so freely                                            offered.
                                          
That is the picture of                                            forgiveness I find in the                                            New Testament. In the                                            episode of the woman taken                                            in the act of adultery,                                            forgiveness is offered long                                            before she was told, “go and                                            sin no more.” Jesus is                                            portrayed in Luke as                                            offering forgiveness to the                                            soldiers who crucified him.                                            There is no indication that                                            he required them to repent                                            first. Forgiveness is a gift                                            of God. It is grace; no                                            prerequisites are required.
                                          
The life of Jesus reveals                                            this to me quite powerfully.                                            He was betrayed and he loved                                            his betrayer. He was denied                                            and he loved his denier. He                                            was forsaken and he loved                                            those who forsook him. He                                            was tortured and he loved                                            his torturers. He was                                            murdered and he loved his                                            murderers. That is a                                            portrait of the forgiveness                                            of God being lived out in a                                            human life. What the God                                            presence in Jesus says to                                            each of us is this: “There                                            is nothing you can do and                                            nothing you can be that will                                            place you outside the                                            boundaries of God’s love.”                                            We are loved as the hymn                                            says: “Just as I am without                                            one plea.”
                                          
It is not your business or                                            mine to judge whether                                            forgiveness is deserved. It                                            is not your business or mine                                            to determine whether                                            repentance is adequate.                                            Those are the results of the                                            rules of religion that often                                            appear to have been elevated                                            to a status they have never                                            merited.
                                          
Even in the parable of the                                            Prodigal Son, which you                                            cite, the wayward son “comes                                            to himself,” that is, he                                            turns toward the forgiveness                                            that was always there even                                            when he could not see it.
                                          
It is human to judge, but                                            judging is finally an act of                                            idolatry. It assumes that                                            you have the right to judge.                                            It assumes that you can                                            place limits on the                                            forgiveness of God. It                                            assumes that your                                            righteousness is greater                                            than God’s righteousness.                                            The response of religion is                                            never to be identified with                                            the response of God.                                            Religion gave us                                            anti-Semitism, the                                            Muslim-hating Crusades, the                                            moralistic Puritans, the                                            justification of slavery,                                            segregation and Apartheid,                                            the diminution of women and                                            the repression of homosexual                                            persons. Judgment arises out                                            of the human tendency to                                            place onto God the limits                                            that you yourself cannot                                            transcend.
                                          
“How often shall my brother                                            sin against me and I forgive                                            him?” asked the disciples.                                            Then trying to answer their                                            own question, they said,                                            “until seven times?” Jesus’                                            response was “Until seventy                                            times seven.” Did he mean                                            that we must forgive 490                                            times, but not 491? No, he                                            was calling his disciples                                            beyond any limits because                                            forgiveness with limits is                                            never forgiveness.
                                          
There are no requirements                                            in the forgiveness of God.                                            That is the truth that calls                                            you and me beyond our own                                            limits and beyond the                                            perilous suggestion that you                                            or I have the right to judge                                            anyone.
                                          
~John Shelby Spong
                                        
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                                                                
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
                                          
Announcements
                                          
Meet                                                Bishop Spong at a                                                private VIP reception
                                            
                                            Bishop                                              Spong will be the keynote                                              speaker at the upcoming Death and                                                Afterlife Awareness                                                Conference in St.                                              Louis, May 12-15, 2016.
                                              
                                              He will also be the guest                                              of honor at an intimate                                              VIP reception limited to                                              only 30 guests.
                                              
                                              This is a rare opportunity                                              to meet at chat with him,                                              so reserve your tickets                                              early!  
                                            
                                            Click here for                                              details!
                                          
                                        
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                              
                            
                          
                        
                         
                    
                    
                      
                                                
                          
                            
                              
                                                                
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
 
                                      
                                    
                                    
                                      
 
                                        
 

 
                                              

                                    
                                    
                                      
                                        
 
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                              
                            
                          
                        
                         
                    
                  
                
                
              
            
          
        
      
      
 
        
        
        
        
        
        
          
            
              

              
            
          
        
         
            
    
    
  





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