A Different Interpretation of the Incarnation
John Shelby Spong in his latest book, Eternal Life: A New Vision1, makes a case for the notion that God has never been separate from creation. He develops the concepts of consciousness, self consciousness and universal consciousness. Somewhere in the evolution of life, there came a separation between conscious and unconscious beings (animal life vs. plant life). Much later, there developed a species that became self-conscious (human beings). We are the only species who are conscious of our own existence and consequently aware of our impending death.
Human beings in every culture have developed a concept of God and have some awareness of an existence larger than ourselves. Spong calls it a universal consciousness that goes to the heart of being human. Rather than searching somewhere "out there," it is by going deep within ourselves that we find the infinite (God).
He says that Jesus had such a developed awareness of that relationship to God that he could make statements such as "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" - John 14:11. Later in John 14:20, Jesus says,"On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." The promise is that by living in the spirit of Jesus, we also will participate in that universal consciousness of God within us.
Spong says that rather than God coming from a separate existence into the life of mankind, he was already part of the human condition. Because Jesus was so aware of that relationship to God, universal consciousness found its fulfillment in his life. Because that universal consciousness includes the eternal God, he lived beyond his physical death. We call it the resurrection.
In Galatians 2:19, 20 the apostle Paul makes a similar observation when he says, "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Therefore, it is in following Jesus on the road to death and resurrection that we too attain that universal consciousness and find what Jesus called Eternal life.
This is a rather quick summary of what Spong says. I would suggest that you pick up a copy of this book and read it for yourself. I have read it twice, and I plan to read it a third time. The more I read it, the more sense this concept makes. So many of our beliefs put God in a box and limit who he is. I find this new way of looking at God and his relationship to the human being as an intriguing one.
1. Spong, John Shelby Eternal Life: A New Vision Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell, San Francisco,Harper One, 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-076206-3
- The Old Professor
Copyright © Jay D Weaver - December 19, 2009
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