One of the commonest responses to a journey into Jack Spong's theological world is the question: "What is left, which we might recognise as a church, when we've removed all the mythology and wiped away all the dubious interpretation from the Christian tradition?"

I was privileged to attend a series of Spong's lectures a few years ago and, as the week progressed, I became aware of a growing 'twitch' among the audience who steadily began to realise that significant chunks of what they identified as their tradition were visibly crumbling in Spong's hands as he held them up to the scrutiny of his thesis. In that same way, this book can have a fascinating yet rather unnerving effect.

The book is Spong's attempt to address the question of what is left of 'the church' when Christianity is stripped of its mythology and its various historical and political accretions. Spong also makes a brave attempt to consider what can be offered in place of the beliefs, structures and liturgies which have emerged from the theistic concepts which he targets.

As with much of Spong's work, we are on a journey with him towards a destination which is not yet clearly visible, probably not yet even fully constructed when you read how many aspects of Spong's post-theistic 'church' he acknowledges as unknown and unknowable. But it's a journey well worth starting and a territory well worth exploring - strange and unnerving though it may be for those of us prone to the odd 'twitch' when our familiar foundations start to crumble.

I would love to see a working model of a cohesive, post-theistic Christian 'ekklesia' which reflects some of Spong's core ideas. My suspicion is that his vision is something which is much easier to embrace as a private theology than it is to develop as a community-based faith - in effect, a personal journey rather than a shared pursuit. This is a critical factor for those who professionally manage those 'shared pursuits' which we presently call 'churches'.

I'm sure Spong will have more to say on this, and I do hope some inspiring models will emerge to show us a way forward. ( )

Contents:
1. A Place to Begin: The Old Is No More; The New Is Not Yet
2. The Signs of the Death of Theism
3. Self-Consciousness and Theism: Siamese Twins at Birth
4. Beyond Theism But Not Beyond God
5. The Original Christ: Before the Theistic Distortion
6. Watching Theism Capture Christianity
7. Changing the Basic Christian Myth
8. Jesus Beyond Incarnation: A Nontheistic Divinity
9. Original Sin Is Out; The Reality of Evil Is In
10. Beyond Evangelism and World Mission to a Post-Theistic Universalism
11. But What About Prayer?
12. The Ecclesia of Tomorrow
13. Why Does It Matter? : The Public Face of Ecclesia
14. The Courage to Move Into the Future

Excellent thesis. Too detailed for me. ( )