Charges filed against UMC Bishop Sprague

Christian Century, Feb 8, 2003

Official charges of heresy have been filed against the United Methodist bishop of Chicago, accusing him of abandoning some Christian doctrines.

On the basis of a speech he gave a year ago and a recently published book, 28 Methodists say C. Joseph Sprague should renounce his views or resign his office for not believing in such traditional doctrines as the virgin birth of Jesus, his bodily resurrection and his exclusive role in salvation.

Sprague gave the speech in January 2002 at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Sprague, a prominent social activist, also laid out his beliefs in Affirmations of a Dissenter, published by Abingdon Press. "He maintains that Jesus Christ is not the only way to salvation and appears to deny the substitutionary atonement of Christ through his sacrificial death on the cross," the charges said, according to United Methodist News Service.

Sprague, who last year rebuffed calls for his resignation, recently told United Methodist News Service that he has chosen to say nothing. "There are many things that could be said, but my understanding is that the complaint process is supposed to be confidential," he said.

A preliminary investigation and mediation process will now be launched by Bishop Bruce Ough of western Ohio, the bishops' regional president. If the case is not settled there, an investigative committee could lead to a trial by 13 clergy members; nine votes would be needed for conviction.

Other bishops called the charges extreme. Bishop Timothy Whitaker of Florida, who has denounced Sprague's comments, said he does not need to resign but should further explain his beliefs. Richard Wilke, a retired bishop, reviewed a manuscript of Sprague's book and concluded that the bishop is "under the influence of Jesus."

Wilke further told the news service that Sprague's Christology is "not the same as mine or as most Methodists'." But Wilke added that he was "thrilled with the book because of its social witness."--RNS

RELATED ARTICLE: Among the bishop's views.

In Affirmations of a Dissenter, Bishop Sprague contends that written complaints of heresy against him come from "neoliteralists, persons who fail to understand the symbolic nature of religious language." Excerpts from his book:

* "I believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but I cannot affirm that his resurrection involved the resuscitation of his physical body."

* "God was uniquely and normatively revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God.... [But] I must dissent from Christocentric exclusivism, which holds that Jesus is the only way to God's gift of salvation. Such an arrogant claim ... limits God in ways that humans cannot."

* Noting that the virgin birth is found in neither Mark nor John, Sprague says that "this powerful myth was not intended as historical fact, but was employed by Matthew and Luke in different ways to point poetically to the truth about Jesus as experienced in the emerging church."

* While calling sacrifice an act of discipleship essential for Jesus and believers, Sprague views "the concept of blood sacrifice to appease God as superstitious at best." The church has other models of atonement, he argues. "The time has come for progressives courageously to claim the atonement of Jesus as that which is reflective of everything he did and all he was, namely, the One who was in such at-one-ness with God that he could suffer and die for others."