Creation Spiritualist Seeks to Unleash God

By Mark Hoerrner

Has Christianity lost its way? Certainly, there are many who argue that our Earth-centric beliefs of God’s interest in the 3rd rock from the sun are a human way of seeking to keep Earth the center of the universe.

This belief, however, locks an otherwise omnipotent and omnipresent God into a pretty small box says Creation Spirituality founder Matthew Fox. Rasied Catholic by an Irish Catholic father and a devout mother, it was a visit from a Dominican father that would later prompt Fox to join the Dominican order. In 1967, he was ordained and later earned a master’s degree in philosophy and theology in the United States and then traveled to France to study at the Institut Catholique de Paris where he completed a doctorate in spirituality.

His musings in On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear laid the groundwork for the founding in 1977 of the Institute of Culture and Creation Spirituality (ICCS) at Mundelein College in Chicago. ICCS later moved to Holy Names College in Oakland, Calif.

It was not long after, however, that Fox attracted the attention of the Vatican. He was silenced for a year as a result of the Papal investigations. The silence gave Fox a chance to study abroad and he found himself in Brazil with the Rev. Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian minister who advocated liberation theology.

In 1991, Fox wrote Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth in where he describes a vision of a mystical, ecologically aware breed of Christianity. By 1993, Fox was drummed out of the Dominican Order, only to surface again as an Episcopal priest. He moved ICCS out of Holy Names and established a new independent educational institution, the University of Creation Spirituality.

He contends that Creation Spirituality is not a new religion, as some have accused, but is concerned with a more cosmic view of the Godhead and how it relates throughout the cosmos, not just on Earth.

"All the prophets as well as Jesus were creation-centered in what they preached," Fox says. "It is also at the heart of the mystical traditions of both the East and the West, as well as being the essence of what native peoples on this continent lived for thousandsof years before Christianity arrived. As Meister Eckhart said, 'God is a great underground river,' and the wisdom of all religions taps into this one source."

Fox has been at odds with the Vatican ever since. As he has developed the idea of Creation Spirituality, he has endorsed homosexual unions, downplayed original sin and has identified humans as "mothers of God." He’s troubled by the heavy emphasis on sin and redemption in Christianity

Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict the XVI, ordered the Dominicans to investigate Fox's writings. The Dominicans found no problems with his theology. Ratzinger, however, continued to object to Fox's teachings

It was not until the Vatican became aware that Fox had a witch on his staff. Ratzinger asked the Dominican Master General to stop Fox from teaching. Fr. Donald Goergen, came to Fox’s aid and allowed him to continue to teach.

In 1991 Fr. Goergen issued an ultimatum under pressure from the Vatican: stop Fox or else. Fr. Goergen ordered Fox to leave the ICCS in California and return to Chicago or face dismissal from the order. Fox refused and was not ousted by Fr. Goergen, but by the Vatican itself. He would remain a priest but could not perform the sacraments. But the Vatican wasn’t done. Fox was told to cease any association with witchcraft and wicca and to cease teaching about sin and humanity.

His Creation Spirituality was also labeled as a "New Age" practice, something the Holy Roman Church looks down upon.

"I'm not New Age and because I believe in tradition," Fox says. "And the Anglican tradition is very close to the Roman Catholic. Half my books are about the medieval mystical tradition in Christianity. To teach, you have to be connected with a tradition. That's why I fought like hell to stay within the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Church."