'Here We Stood'

In his new autobiography, "Here I Stand: My Struggle for A Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality," (HarperSanFrancisco, 448 pp, $25) the Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong outshines his previous books, which all call for reforming Christian doctrine. A cross between Jacqueline Susann and St. Augustine, "Here I Stand" blends ecclesiastical tell-all, personal confession, and talk-show theology in a pugnacious attack on organized religion.

"Here I Stand" recounts Spong's journey from the southern fundamentalism of his childhood to the theological liberalism that made him such a controversial figure as Bishop of Newark, N.J. until his retirement last week. Along the way, Spong shares a number of personal tragedies: the early death of his alcoholic father, the subsequent poverty suffered by his family, his wife's 15-year struggle with acute paranoia, and her death from breast cancer.

Yet Spong rises above his circumstances, dedicating himself to a life of the mind and the spirit. He becomes an Episcopal priest. He comes to terms with his prejudices, embraces the civil-rights movement, gains spiritual insight through biblical criticism and modern theology, and leads several southern congregations through the tumult of the 1960s. In 1975, the diocese of Newark elects him to serve as bishop. He becomes internationally known as a religious provocateur, a proponent of the ordination of women and gays and lesbians, and an outspoken critic of traditional beliefs such as the Virgin Birth and the resurrection.

The bishop doesn't rely on his controversial career to provide a climax for his book, however. Having established himself as the Great Man, who pulled himself up by his theological bootstraps and pointed Christianity toward salvation, Spong uses his final chapter to position himself as a modern Martin Luther. He calls for a "new Reformation," based on "Twelve Theses" upon which the "Church of the future" should be built-the overall point being that Christianity must reform or die. To make sure we get that Spong is a courageous theologian standing on principle before a corrupt institution, he borrows his title from Luther's famous reply to Catholic authorities when pressed to recant his beliefs: "Here I stand. I can do no other."

And indeed, "Here I Stand" is a raw, often belligerent, theological clarion call to the church-not unlike Luther's Reformation tracts. But the call is not about Christianity's future. It is about its immediate past.

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