Born in 1940, Matthew Fox is an American Episcopal priest and theologian. Formerly a member of the Dominican Order within the Roman Catholic Church, Fox was an early and influential proponent of a movement that came to be known as “Creation Spirituality”, a theology that considers itself a “green” theology, emphasizing a holy relationship between humankind and nature — where the protection & conservation of the earth & all its inhabitants is considered a Sacred Calling and a direct expression of God’s will. It draws its inspirations from the mystical philosophies of such medieval Catholic visionaries as Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa, as well as the wisdom traditions of the ancient Christian scriptures.

Creation Spirituality is also strongly aligned with the ecological movements of the late 20th century (including conservationism & animal rights) and it embraces numerous spiritual traditions from around the world — including Buddhism, Judaism, Sufism, and Native American spirituality, openly maintaining a “deep ecumenical” focus — which is essentially an interdenominational initiative aimed at having Christianity finally attain a tangible & workable worldwide sense of unity; both amongst its own many sects, as well as with other non-Christian religions.

Typical of many truly Great men & women, Fox’s teachings have frequently brought him into direct conflict with conventional traditions & beliefs — in his case, most often those of the Roman Catholic Church …

In 1976, after having already received masters degrees in both philosophy & theology from the Aquinas Institute of Theology, and later a Doctorate of Philosophy in spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris (graduating summa cum laude, by the way), Fox founded the Institute of Culture and Creation Spirituality at what is now Loyola University in Chicago — a program that began to develop Fox’s radical teachings that frequently diverged from — if not openly challenged — orthodox Catholic theology.

Among Fox’s most controversial teachings was a belief in “Original Blessing”, a concept that directly & fully contradicted the Roman Catholic doctrine of “original sin”. Fox’s other teachings also were considered “too feminist” or “too ecology-centered” or too accepting of homosexuality to harmonize with current Catholic dogma.

It was no small surprise then, when in 1983, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who would later become Pope Benedict XVI) ordered a panel of priests and theologians to perform a two-year review of Fox’s writings. After the initial findings sided with Fox’s interpretations of the scriptures, Ratzinger rejected them and ordered a second review (which was never undertaken). Five years later, Fox boldly wrote a public letter to Cardinal Ratzinger entitled “Is the Catholic Church Today a Dysfunctional Family?”. The contents of the letter were widely disseminated by the National Catholic Reporter, and soon afterwards Cardinal Ratzinger issued an order forbidding Fox to teach or lecture for a year. Fox openly disobeyed this edict (of course) and in 1993, he was expelled from the Dominican Order for “disobedience”, effectively ending his relationship with the Catholic church.

Fox was subsequently accepted into the far more liberal (dare I say, “loving”? I think I do!) Episcopalian Church, and continues to lecture, write and publish books to this day.

“I don’t think that fundamentalism has anything to do with Jesus Christ. Fundamentalists call themselves Christians, but if that’s Christian, count me out. That kind of fundamentalism is built on fear and greed … Creation is all things and us. It is us in relationship with all things. And by ‘all things’, I mean ALL THINGS — the ones we see and the ones we do not; the whirling galaxies and the wild suns, the black holes and the microorganisms, the trees and the stars, the fish and the whales – the molten lava and the towering snow-capped mountains, the children we give birth to and their children, and theirs, and theirs … To connect with the great river we all need a path down to its banks, but once we get down there, we understand that there’s only one river … A civilization built on dualism and war within and between persons, one that puts its most creative minds and its best engineers to sadistic work building more and more destructive weapons, is no civilization at all. It needs a radical transformation from the heart outwards. It needs to outgrow and outlaw war just as in the last century it outlawed slavery. The human race has outgrown war, but it hardly knows it yet … What is within most moment of compassion is not feelings of pity but feelings of togetherness … The only way to learn compassion is through your heart.” ~ Matthew Fox

 

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt