Fox: Time to outgrow immature Christianity
Matthew Fox told overflow crowds that perhaps we are wallowing in an immature Christianity – a Christianity that is not loyal to our ancestors in faith nor to the cosmic reality of our existence.
Often referencing Rabbi Abraham Joshua Hecshel, Fox spoke about the eclipse of religion in modern society and how easy it is to put the blame on secular science and anti-religious philosophy rather than looking at how religion has defeated itself and become irrelevant and oppressive. Quoting Heschel, Fox stated, “…when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with a voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.”
Stressing the importance of getting back to the theologies of the historical and cosmic Jesus, Fox suggested a return to the tradition of our Wisdom literature, which is a tradition of cosmology, ecology, feminism and mysticism. “The cosmic Christ is that experience that Jesus released in people who encountered him, directly and indirectly – the Christ that lives when the community is living out his teachings.”
Fox asserted a mature Christianity will
listen to what science has to teach us. He pointed out, in the most recent pronouncements
by the institutional church on homosexuality, there is not one reference to
science. “We are back in Galileo time again,” he said.
According to Fox, another important necessity we sometimes neglect is to teach
awe and wonder and include the mystical traditions. “We should be radically
amazed by existence itself…We are all mystics, just as we are all prophets,”
Fox said. He contends that the future of healthy religion is the gathering of
all the world’s spiritual traditions. A mature Christianity does not set
us up against other faith traditions.
Fox also encouraged his audience to get involved in his latest project which calls for a New Reformation. Last Pentecost he nailed his own 95 theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenburg, Germany. He suggested we follow his lead and post our own calls for reform on local churches this coming Pentecost. “A reformation kicks the ecclesiastical body to see if there is any life left in it…Prophets interfere! Let’s interfere with the abysmal state of Christianity at this time in history.”