MATTHEW FOX

A leader of a spiritual movement emphasizing creativity, holism, ecology, and feminism sounds off in this wide-ranging digest.

Fox, a major contemporary theorist of progressive spirituality, began his career as a Dominican priest but was expelled from the priesthood by the Vatican for deviating from Catholic doctrine. He went on to become an Episcopal priest and founded the University of Creation Spirituality. Burack’s volume gathers excerpts from Fox’s many books and interviews in which he critiques traditional Christianity, which he views as excessively focused on original sin, the fall and redemption of man, private salvation, repression of passion, an “uber masculine and phallic” patriarchal perspective, and a separation of spirituality from nature and the body. Challenging this orthodoxy, Fox proffers a “creation spirituality” that posits creativity as the organizing principle of the universe, which he sees as inherently good and steeped in “original blessing.” His creation spirituality is feminist, revering God the Mother; full of ecstatic passion and sensuality; intent on furthering social justice; warmly accepting of the body; vigilant about protecting Mother Earth from ecological crises; and centered on “the Cosmic Christ,” who is immanent in all things. (Fox is known for his celebrations of “the Cosmic Mass,” a worship service that resembles a rave with dancing and light shows.) Fox grounds all of this in intellectually sophisticated but lucid and engaging discussions of medieval Catholic thinkers, like Thomas Aquinas and Hildegard of Bingen, Native American and Eastern religions, and quantum physics, which, he contends, provides a scientific rationale for the mystical oneness of all being. Traditionalists may sometimes wince at his revisions of Catholic verities—“Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us co-creators now and at the hour of our creativity” is his rendering of the Hail Mary prayer, which came to him during a vision quest—but his religious effusions have their own resonant grandeur. (“A new commandment has been given to us: thou shalt love your life with all your strength and energy, growing daily in appreciation of the joys of life; and you shall allow and aid where possible your neighbor to love his/hers and do the same, using common norms of justice to determine life’s priorities.”) Readers will find here a captivating introduction to Fox’s multifaceted ideas.

A vibrant, sonorous, philosophically rich introduction to Fox’s teachings.