Bishop Jack Spong
"Here I Stand:
My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love & Equality"
John Shelby Spong, HarperSanFrancisco 2000
A review by Andrew Deuchar of a recent book by one of
the most controversial of Anglican bishops: Bishop Spong of the
Episcopal Church of the USA.
In six years as Archbishop’s Secretary for Anglican Communion
Affairs, I only met Bishop Jack Spong once, face to face. I was, of
course, aware of his brooding presence at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, but
he always seemed - by his own choice, let it be said - to be on the
margins of the Conference (of which he is deeply critical in this, his
autobiography).
My encounter with him took place in New York in 1997, when I was
staying with the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Ed Browning.
Bishop Spong arrived with his wife, to go out to dinner with the Presiding
Bishop. Ed introduced him to me, saying simply ‘This is George Carey’s
Anglican Communion Secretary, Andrew Deuchar.’ I had risen to greet the
famous man, who looked at me and said ‘Is it?’ and walked out of the
room!
In theological approach and in attitude to the Church, there is little
common ground between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the then Bishop of
Newark (New Jersey, not Nottinghamshire!). I suppose it would therefore be
understandable for Bishop Spong to treat a member of the Archbishop’s
staff with reserve, even suspicion. But the rudeness and arrogance which
he displayed shocked me. He knew nothing at all about me as a person, and
little about my church background or theological stance, and he clearly
had no intention of finding out!
On receiving, as a gift, a copy of his autobiography, I was quite ready
to correct my initial impression of the bishop. After all, as it happens,
the sorts of things which he claims to stand for are also close to my
heart. But even the title itself betrays what much of the rest of the book
confirms, that here is a man so sure that he is right, that arrogance is
the only impression he conveys to the neutral reader. Martin Luther it
was, of course, who coined the phrase ‘Here I Stand’, and his stand
can be seen to have been a key hinge in the 16th Century Reformation
process. For Bishop Spong to claim those historic words for his life story
is a dangerous start!
Desmond Tutu, in his commendation of the book, describes it as ‘The
poignant account of someone who loves the church deeply and has been
frequently misunderstood.’ It is a generous comment from one of the few
church leaders of our time who escapes the scathing pen! Jack Spong begins
by quoting some of the wildly opposite comments which have been made to
him in letters. They veer from deep hatred to deep appreciation. One
wonders - because he does not really comment on them - whether the fact
that he did provoke such an extraordinary variety of views, whether he
ever allowed that to affect him, or whether his natural response to
opposing views was simply to dig deeper trenches.
The first target of his own brand of venom is the former Presiding
Bishop, Jack Allin, who had a distinguished ministry in the seventies and
early eighties, whom Spong dismisses as ‘a deeply partisan person with
little or no capacity to embrace reality beyond his perception of it.’
The world, in Jack Spong’s view is a world of goodies and baddies, of
right and wrong. He leads the goodies, who seem to be the only ones who
are right!
His life and ministry have not been easy, and one of the most moving
parts in the book are his descriptions of the distressing mental illness
which his first wife Joan suffered, and which finally led to her death
during the 1988 Lambeth Conference. No-one can really judge what that must
have been like for him and his family, and it was clearly a great release
when in the end she did die, and Bishop found new love and support with
his second wife Christine.
The book only enters ‘my era’ towards the end. But my eyes quickly
alighted on the first reference to my erstwhile boss, George Carey, who
became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1991. Interestingly, his predecessor
does not rate a mention in the book! In commenting on the view that the
Church of England managed to control dissent and subcultures in the church
by choosing bishops generally from the Oxbridge axis of English social
life, he goes on to say, ‘That safeguard was violated by Margaret
Thatcher, who late in her political career appointed a thorough-going
evangelical named George Carey to be archbishop of Canterbury. He would
prove to be both an embarrassment and a disaster to the efforts of the
Anglican Communion to be a bridge church into the future.’ Well, he is
entitled to his view, but it is a view which would be shared by very few
indeed, and most of them would be contained within a minority (on both the
conservative and the liberal sides) of the Episcopal Church in the United
States. That is not to say that Dr Carey gets everything right or that I
agree with everything he says; but he certainly cannot be dismissed with
that one-liner!
One could look at every stage of Bishop Spong’s life story, and note
over and over again his demonisation of those who disagree with him. The
strange episode to which he refers in the last chapter, when, having given
a controversial interview to Andrew Carey of the Church of England
Newspaper, in which he dismissed much of the content of African
Christianity, he found himself on the end of deep anger from many African
bishops at Lambeth 98, and was forced to issue something resembling an
apology (but which he denies was!), is put down to ‘a public
assassination’ by the journalist. Other targets who are verbally
attacked include Ed Browning, the very man who had defended him so often,
his successor as Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, himself renowned for
leading one of the most liberal dioceses in the Episcopal Church, Rowan
Williams, now Archbishop of Wales, and one of the great Anglican
theologians of the current era… and so it goes on. The sad thing is that
the agenda which he wants the church to pursue - doctrinal honesty, and
justice for some oppressed minorities - actually seems to take
second place to this sustained attempt to prove himself over against his
detractors.
So what can one say of the book? Jack Spong undoubtedly sees himself as
a prophet. He can certainly claim to have challenged his church, in
particular and rather narrow fields. But he has chosen to align himself to
Martin Luther. On the Richter scale of theologians and reformers through
history - Paul, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Calvin, Luther, Rahner, even
his own mentor, John Robinson - he is, well, perhaps a tremor!
Andrew Deuchar
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