God Beyond Theism? Bishop Spong, Paul Tillich, and the Unicorn
Dawes, Gregory W.

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Dawes, G. W. (2002). God Beyond Theism? Bishop Spong, Paul Tillich, and the Unicorn. Pacifica, 15(1), 65–71.
Permanent link to OUR Archive version:
http://hdl.handle.net/10523/566
Abstract:
John Shelby Spong has recently advocated belief in a ‘God beyond theism’. While rejecting traditional theism, he also distinguishes his position from atheism. He suggests that there is a divine reality, which may be described as ‘being itself’ and which reveals itself in our commitment to unconditional ideals. The paper argues that this notion of God is vacuous, the product of a confused belief that ‘being’ is a characteristic of individual beings which may be universalized. Belief in such a God is also unmotivated, since there exist naturalistic explanations of the phenomena to which the Bishop appeals.
Date:
2002
Publisher:
Pacifica Theological Studies Association
Pages:
65-71
ISSN:
1030-570X
Rights Statement:
Pacifica is already open access.
Keywords:
atheism; theism; antirealism; non-cognitivism
Research Type:
Journal Article
Languages:
English
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