This is your first post on this thread, so how are your posts being "disregarded in favor of third-party critiques?"
Considering the fact that Bishop Spong denies both the Virgin Birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, etc..., it is clear he gives different meaning to those portions of the Creeds. I defined what I meant by believing the creeds this way, "
as they have been historically understood by Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches."
For Spong to recite either creed it is clear that he has to define their meanings in ways that would be alien the church prior to the rise of modern theological liberalism.
One of the things I like best about Anglican/Episcopal churches is their allowance for a good deal of diversity. I do believe that today that acceptance has been stretched beyond the breaking point (which is evident all around us).
Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead--there is no such thing as the Christian faith. To deny the resurrection is to place oneself outside the faith.
One thing I respect about the 17th and 18th century New Englanders who were descended from the Puritans is, when they ceased to believe the historic doctrines taught in the creeds, they admitted the fact and became Unitarians. That was honest.
Today, we have many Christians who deny all, or most, of the doctrines that Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians have considered essential for 2 millennia.
I am glad to know that Bishop Spong is well liked in his old churches and I am sure he has many friends and supporters. I am all so certain that he has done some good in his life. These are good things, but his teachings are, at a number of points, antithetical to the Christian faith as it has been understood since the Apostles.
I have no ill feelings toward the man, and I am sure we could have a nice visit were we to meet in person, but these things do not change the reality that he believes and teaches ideas that are a clear denial of the Christian faith as it is found in the through the ages.
A denial of the virgin birth and resurrection ( etc.) does but him in a closer relationship with many groups outside the Christian faith. Gnostics denied both those doctrines, modern Unitarians also reject these teachings, as do a number of other non-Christian faiths.
Anyway, I have likely already said too much.
Coram Deo,
Kenith