[Dialogue] 4/28/16 (corrected date), Spong: Charting a New Reformation, Part XIX - The 5th Thesis, Miracles (continued)

Ellie Stock via Dialogue dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net
Tue May 3 13:24:16 PDT 2016


Sorry for the delay and confusion with the dates for this and the previous Spong email.  
 
 
4/21/16:  Spong:  Charting a New Reformation, Part XVIII
 
4/28/16:  Spong:  Charting a New Reformation, Part XIX
 
Ellie





    
    
                                    
        
          
            
              
                                
                  
                    
                      
                                                
                          
                            
                              
                                

                                
                              
                              
 
                              
                            
                          
                        
                         
                    
                  
                
                                
                  
                    
                      
                                                
                          
                            
                              
                                                                                                                              
                            
                            
                              
                                
                                  
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Charting                                            a New Reformation
                                          
Part                                            XIX - The 5th Thesis,                                            Miracles (continued)
                                                                                     
                                            
“In a post-Newtonian                                                world supernatural                                                invasions of the natural                                                order performed by                                                either the eternal God                                                or the “Incarnate Jesus”                                                are simply not a viable                                                explanation of what                                                actually happened.”
                                          
                                          
We have noted earlier that                                            originally miracles did not                                            appear to have been                                            connected with the memory of                                            Jesus. The first book to                                            portray Jesus as a worker of                                            miracles was the gospel of                                            Mark, written in the early                                            eighth decade or some                                            forty-two years after the                                            crucifixion.
                                          
Matthew, the second gospel                                            writer, who copied almost                                            ninety percent of Mark into                                            his ninth decade gospel,                                            repeated every miracle that                                            Mark had included, while                                            adding only one other.
                                          
Luke the third gospel                                            writer heightens the note of                                            the miraculous greatly in                                            his late ninth to early                                            tenth decade work. Luke’s                                            story of the resurrection,                                            for example, is far more                                            supernatural than anything                                            written prior to Luke. In                                            Luke, the resurrected Jesus                                            appears to be able to                                            materialize into and to                                            dematerialize out of thin                                            air. In Luke, Jesus can also                                            defy gravity and disappear                                            into the sky as if propelled                                            by an unseen rocket force.
                                          
In the later development of                                            these twelve theses, I will                                            explore these heightened                                            stories in regard to the                                            resurrection and the                                            ascension more fully.                                            Suffice it now to limit                                            myself to some general                                            observations in regard to                                            the presence of seemingly                                            supernatural events.
                                          
Once we recognize that                                            miracle stories are a                                            late-developing part of the                                            Jesus tradition, we can look                                            at them with greater                                            objectivity. When we do, a                                            number of things become                                            obvious. First, we note that                                            the miraculous elements in                                            these stories grow as the                                            stories are repeated in a                                            later work. Second, we                                            discover that frequently                                            there are in the gospel                                            miracle stories about Jesus,                                            echoes of a narrative from                                            the Hebrew Scriptures now                                            being retold about Jesus.                                            Third, each miracle story                                            appears to have the                                            interpretive purpose of                                            relating Jesus to the                                            expected messiah. These                                            observations carry us deeper                                            into the gospel texts and                                            give us another way to view                                            miracles other than to                                            relate to them as the deeds                                            being done by God in human                                            disguise, which is the                                            Christological lens through                                            which so many traditional                                            Christians view them today.
                                          
The development of this                                            kind of Christology, that is                                            the study of the divine                                            nature of Jesus, has grown                                            rapidly over the centuries.                                            In the Epistle to the                                            Philippians, Paul spoke of                                            God emptying the divine self                                            into Jesus, but no one can                                            seriously argue that Paul                                            was talking about what later                                            came to be called                                            “incarnation.” Paul was not                                            saying that the divine                                            entered into and took over                                            the human in the life of                                            Jesus. This is made clear in                                            other places in the Pauline                                            corpus when Paul talks about                                            God “designating” Jesus as                                            “the Son of God by the                                            action of the Holy Spirit”                                            by raising Jesus from the                                            dead (Romans 1:1-4). For                                            Paul Jesus did not in and of                                            himself “rise” from the                                            dead. God raised him! If God                                            can designate and “raise”                                            Jesus, then clearly this is                                            not a description of                                            co-equality. Paul was too                                            deeply Jewish to entertain                                            Trinitarian thinking.
                                          
Mark also appears not to be                                            a Trinitarian. At the                                            beginning of his gospel Mark                                            describes Jesus as a fully                                            human, adult male who comes                                            to be baptized by John in                                            the River Jordan. It is in                                            that baptismal act, we are                                            told, that God’s spirit                                            infuses the human Jesus.                                            Incarnational and                                            Trinitarian thinking, this                                            is not!
                                          
In the later gospels of                                            Matthew and Luke major steps                                            are taken toward                                            “incarnational and                                            Trinitarian” thinking. Both                                            added a virgin birth story                                            to the memory of Jesus. God                                            now enters Jesus at                                            conception not at                                            resurrection, as Paul had                                            implied, or at his baptism,                                            which Mark seemed to                                            suggest. As the years go by                                            the gospel miracles became                                            less and less God acting                                            through Jesus and more and                                            more descriptive of Jesus                                            acting on behalf of God. The                                            creator of the world in                                            human form could certainly                                            make the winds and waves                                            obey him. The divine Jesus                                            could surely banish illness,                                            which was thought of in the                                            first century as God’s                                            punishment of human beings                                            for the sinfulness of their                                            lives. The world in which                                            this “divine Jesus” lived                                            had not yet heard of germs,                                            viruses, tumors,                                            cholesterol, or of human                                            cells expanding in a                                            reckless and disorganized                                            manner. Once those things                                            were discovered, then                                            prayers requesting the                                            miracle of healing, or a                                            sacrifice offered to appease                                            the punishing deity, began                                            to be seen as nonsensical.
                                          
By the time the Fourth                                            Gospel was written (95-100                                            CE), miracles had been                                            transformed into “signs.”                                            There is a difference. A                                            miracle is defined as an                                            objective event, which can                                            be observed and documented.                                            A sign is an event that                                            points beyond itself to                                            something that is mysterious                                            and unseen, but not doubted.                                            In the Fourth Gospel, John                                            portrays Jesus as the author                                            and originator of seven                                            powerful signs, two of which                                            are absolutely unique,                                            having never been mentioned                                            or even hinted at in the                                            three earlier gospels. The                                            first of these is the                                            strange story of Jesus                                            changing water into wine.                                            The other is the dramatic                                            story of Jesus calling forth                                            from his burial place, the                                            four-days-dead-and-buried                                            Lazarus. This brief analysis                                            drives us to ask: “Did any                                            of these miraculous events                                            really happen?” The answer                                            to that question is, I now                                            believe, a firm no. Does                                            this mean that the gospel                                            writers were telling us                                            about things that never                                            happened, or does it mean                                            that we have literalized                                            inappropriately the gospels                                            for far too long?
                                          
Earlier in this series, we                                            traced the development of                                            miracles in the entire                                            Bible; they are not                                            omnipresent. Biblical                                            miracles only seem to occur                                            in the cycles of stories                                            that have gathered around                                            the heroic figures in Jewish                                            history. In particular,                                            these figures focus on what                                            might be called the “twin                                            towers of Israel’s religious                                            life,” the law and the                                            prophets. Moses was the                                            father of the law while                                            Elijah was the father of the                                            prophets. These are the                                            major biblical figures                                            around which miracle stories                                            have gathered in Hebrew                                            history. We also noted that                                            these miracles occurred in                                            the lives of Moses and                                            Elijah’s immediate                                            successors. It looks as if                                            the miracles stories                                            identified with Moses were                                            then wrapped around Joshua,                                            while the miracle stories                                            originally identified with                                            Elijah were then wrapped                                            around Elisha.
                                          
When we arrive at the Jesus                                            story, we discover that                                            Moses-Joshua stories have                                            now been wrapped around                                            Jesus. Like Moses, Jesus has                                            power over nature. Moses                                            could split the Red Sea,                                            Jesus could calm the storm                                            and walk on water. Moses                                            could cause manna to fall in                                            the wilderness to feed the                                            hungry children of Israel,                                            while Jesus, in another                                            wilderness, could take a                                            limited number of loaves and                                            fishes and feed a multitude.                                            Are not these gospel writers                                            following an ancient Jewish                                            story-telling tradition, to                                            assert that the same God who                                            was experienced as present                                            in Moses was now clearly                                            present in Jesus? Did these                                            biblical authors ever                                            consider the possibility                                            that these miracle stories                                            would ever be taken                                            literally? Did they think                                            for a moment that they were                                            writing history? No, of                                            course not! They were, in a                                            typically Jewish manner,                                            painting an interpretive                                            portrait.
                                          
Elijah and Elisha expanded                                            the domain of the miraculous                                            from the world of nature, as                                            it was for Moses and Joshua,                                            to the world of human                                            experience. Both Elijah and                                            Elisha were said, for                                            example, to have been able                                            to raise the dead. It was a                                            widow’s only son, who was                                            raised in the Elijah                                            narrative. So are we                                            surprised when Luke wraps                                            that story around Jesus and                                            it becomes Jesus raising the                                            only son of a widow in the                                            village of Nain? Elisha                                            raises a child from the                                            dead. That story is also                                            wrapped around Jesus when                                            Mark, Matthew and Luke all                                            relate a story of Jesus                                            raising a child from the                                            dead. So both the nature                                            miracles and the ability to                                            raise the dead appear to be                                            Jewish stories about past                                            heroes now being retold                                            about Jesus.
                                          
That still leaves us,                                            however, with two categories                                            of miracle stories                                            attributed to Jesus that do                                            not fit into these Hebrew                                            patterns. The first category                                            includes most of the healing                                            miracles, in which Jesus is                                            reported to be able to give                                            sight to the blind, hearing                                            to the deaf, the ability to                                            sing to the mute and the                                            ability to walk to the lame.                                            The second are the “signs”                                            that occur in the Fourth                                            Gospel. What is their                                            source? From whence are they                                            derived? Could these still                                            be viewed as literal                                            accounts of historical                                            events? Time and space                                            require that we separate the                                            two categories, so I will                                            deal with the healing                                            miracles this week and the                                            Johannine signs next week.
                                          
If we were people familiar                                            with the Jewish Scriptures,                                            we would know that messianic                                            thinking had long viewed the                                            promised messiah as the one                                            who would inaugurate the                                            reign of the Kingdom of God                                            in human history as spelled                                            out by Isaiah in the 8th                                            century BCE. When the                                            Kingdom of God dawned,                                            telling signs, Isaiah said,                                            would make all people aware                                            of it. Water, he said, would                                            flow in the desert, allowing                                            the crocuses to grow there.                                            Then human wholeness would                                            transform human brokenness.                                            In the messianic age, Isaiah                                            suggested, the blind would                                            see, the deaf hear, the mute                                            sing and the lame walk. If                                            one believed Jesus was the                                            messiah inaugurating the                                            Kingdom of God, then the                                            signs of that age must                                            surely be attributed to him.                                            This, I now believe, is the                                            primary source of the New                                            Testament healing miracles.                                            This is also why miracles                                            were so late in being                                            attributed to Jesus. They                                            had to wait until this                                            understanding of Christology                                            developed. The healing                                            miracles in the gospels were                                            not ever events that                                            actually happened, they were                                            rather signs of the presence                                            of God bringing the                                            messianic age into being. We                                            have misread them as                                            miracles. It is a new                                            insight – the burden of the                                            miracles is lifted off the                                            memory of Jesus in our age                                            when supernatural thinking                                            does not fit well into our                                            world.
                                          
John Shelby Spong
                                          
Read the essay online here.
                                        
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                                                                
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
                                          
Question                                            & Answer
                                          
Raymond                                              Rakower From Gex, France,                                              writes:
                                             
                                          
Question:
                                          
It’s always a new pleasure                                            and enrichment to read your                                            weekly issues. If you’ll                                            forgive my arrogance, I                                            would like to make a                                            suggestion, a tentative                                            explanation of the                                            unshakable conviction of so                                            many people that there is an                                            almighty theistic God                                            outside our universe
                                          
It might be the vague                                            recollection, an echo of the                                            last weeks or months of our                                            fetus life when our universe                                            was limited to our mother’s                                            placenta but with an                                            acoustic system already                                            operational and connected to                                            our primitive brain. We                                            heard the voice of our                                            father coming from outside                                            of this universe and many a                                            time with a deep caring male                                            voice. This recollection                                            would be later incorporated                                            in the baby after a couple                                            of years when its                                            unconscious mind would                                            develop. Hence so many                                            people will never accept to                                            abandon their belief. I got                                            this idea whilst reading                                            (and translating into French                                            at my favorite publisher’s                                            request) the book of Aletha                                            J. Solter, PhD, The                                              Attachment Play,                                            based on the behavior                                            theory. She demonstrates in                                            this book the fact that                                            after the birth, the baby                                            remembers sometimes for                                            clearly a couple of years                                            what happened before and                                            during its birth! She used                                            this remarkable memory of                                            the early childhood to heal                                            some children’s behavior                                            problems.
                                          
My second point in this                                            email concerns your Q&A,                                            in your response to the                                            question of Sue Stover. I                                            recently read a book, which                                            analyses many details that                                            are quite familiar to you:                                            The Yahweh vs. the Elohim                                            traditions of the Old                                            Testament. Its title is Who                                              Wrote the Bible by                                            Richard Elliott Friedman. It                                            may contain some interesting                                            hypotheses about this topic.
                                          
 
                                          
Answer:
                                          
Dear Ray,
                                          
Thank you for your letter                                            with your provocative                                            insights. My readers need to                                            know that I have had the                                            chance to know you and to                                            talk with you about these                                            and many other things in the                                            years of our friendship.                                            They also need to know that                                            you were the first                                            translator of my books into                                            French. You have always been                                            a resource to my life and                                            both Christine and I look                                            forward to our opportunity                                            to see you in Basel,                                            Switzerland next October.
                                          
In regard to the comments                                            and questions expressed in                                            your letter, let me say that                                            I am certain that there is                                            something called “pre-birth                                            memory.” Evidence for that                                            seems well established. I am                                            also convinced that there is                                            something real about what                                            Carl Jung called “the                                            collective unconscious,”                                            which looks at some other                                            interconnections. I have                                            not, however, read deeply                                            enough on that subject to                                            have formed sufficiently                                            well-researched opinions                                            that I would be comfortable                                            sharing with others. In the                                            field of theology we are oft                                            times tempted to say more                                            than we know and even to                                            become dogmatic in the face                                            of mystery. The Christian                                            life, I remind myself daily,                                            is a journey into a                                            dimension of truth that no                                            human mind can ever fully                                            possess. So I have no great                                            light that I want to flash                                            before your fascinating                                            suggestion that the idea of                                            a theistic God is derived                                            from the suggestion that an                                            unborn child experiences his                                            or her father first as a                                            presence from a universe                                            different from the one the                                            fetus occupies. I find that                                            suggestion intriguing, but                                            not convincing. It seems to                                            me that there are many                                            sources of that idea, not                                            just one. Above all I am                                            convinced that every idea of                                            God ultimately arises from a                                            human experience, but that                                            does not mean God is no more                                            than a mythologized human                                            experience. Over the years                                            of human history every human                                            definition of God has                                            finally died, or been                                            radically revised in the                                            light of new knowledge and                                            expanded human experience.                                            So in my mind there is a                                            reality to God that                                            transcends every definition.                                            God does not die when any                                            human definition of God,                                            like “theism” dies. I make a                                            clear distinction between                                            God and every human idea of                                            God. So I will take your                                            idea under advisement, just                                            because it is your idea, and                                            I will explore it further.                                            Perhaps we can discuss it                                            more in October. Until then                                            we send you our best wishes.
                                          
John Shelby Spong
                                          
 
                                        
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                                                                
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
                                          
Announcements
                                                                                     
Bishop                                              John Shelby Spong to speak                                              at and receive the                                              Religious Liberty Award at                                              the American Humanist                                              Society's 75th Anniversary                                              Conference, May 26th -                                              29th in Chicago, IL.
                                          
                                          
                                           
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                           
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                              
                            
                          
                        
                         
                    
                    
                      
                                                
                          
                            
                              
                                                                
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
 
                                      
                                    
                                    
                                      
 
                                        
 
                                      
                                    
                                    
                                      
                                        
 
                                      
                                    
                                  
                                
                                                              
                            
                          
                        
                         
                    
                  
                
                
              
            
          
        
      
      
 
        
        
        
        
        
        
          
            
              

              
            
          
        
         
            
    
    
  





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