Customer Reviews

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ

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Uniting mysticism and spiritual development with ethical and exemplary witness, the "creation spirituality" articulated by Matthew Fox presents an inspiring vision of an alternative Christianity for the postmodern world. Freeing himself from the chains of stale Christian dogma while protesting the cold emptiness of agnostic modernism, Fox fashions a theology and spirituality that combines mysticism with a "first world" liberation theology. Fox is a panentheist, experiencing the Divine in all of nature and humanity. The Cosmic Christ is that incarnation of God in the universe and especially in Mother Earth. He develops a relevant, postmodern interpretation of the Paschal Mystery, imaging Mother Earth as Christ crucified, resurrected, and come again. Fox's union of mysticism, science, and art, and the four spiritual paths he outlined in "Original Blessing" open up individual and communal possibilities for a spirituality that is inwardly personal and contemplative, yet outwardly driven by justice and compassion. If you want to reconnect to a progressive Christianity, this book ties together ethics, myth, and theology like no other.

In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which universal redemption may be ushered in via the spirit of Christ in terms of the return to mysticism, the expression of creativity as the highest spiritual value, the blessing of Mother Earth and the recovery of eros, the feminine aspect of deity. Rather than alluding to prophecy or a literal second coming as the title might suggest, Fox outlines in painstaking yet illuminating detail the conceptual contents of what that event or it's cultural revolutionary equivalent might bring to mankind at the millenium. This includes the necessity of a Christian apology towards the indigenous peoples and Earth-based spiritual cultures throughout the Christian era that have been the victims of literal and spiritual genocide, hypocritically commited by supposed followers of the Messiah of love and forgiveness. These ideas issuing from the collective unconscious signal the death of fundamentalism which must occur in order for Christianity to be "born again in the spirit" of mysticism from which it originallly issued forth. Fox has stepped away from hardened dogma and taken the heat for teaching the path of love, a path far closer to the words and actions of the Master than the path of those who label Fox a heretic. This is a must read for those who still believe that God is Love and grow weary of the abusive doctrines of vengeance

In academic, seminary thesis-style prose, Fox weaves together the insights of a variety of traditions to present a vision of today in terms of the Cosmic Christ. What this book lacks in humor it makes up for in resourcefulness, as Fox exhaustively cites mystics, scholars, theologians, saints, politicians, scientists, poets, the gospels, and Christ himself. The point, which appears with mantra-like frequency throughout the book, is that the Cosmic Christ is in everything and that everything is in the Cosmic Christ. We are to see our times as one of mother earth crucified, according to Fox- a paradigm for the religious institutions of the west and culture at large, both of which he charges at length for devouring the youth, and dismissing sexuality, creativity and feminine strength in exchange for patriarchy and its left-brained, domineering competitiveness.

On the whole, this is a valuable read for anyone who wants to understand where religion might (hopefully) be headed in the next century, as we move towards the embrace of a "living cosmology" that draws on science, mysticism, and imaginative art. Although Fox clearly describes a healthy vision of transformation for our institutions, the message lacks `bite' regarding tangible solutions, elements which are noticeably missing from his hopeful forecast. But who has solutions, anyway?

If one can get past the style of delivery, which borders on prosaic, then there is a wealth of readable insight that may or may not be news, but is certainly important for our times. Will it make you laugh or cry? Probably not. Will it enthrall readers? On occasion. It is definitely recommended- if for no other reason that it's one of those controversial works that people tend to love or hate. It's sure to have the clergy ruffled and scratching their heads.

"When I encountered this book in the late 80s, I knew that God was leading me to a different kind of faith than I had encountered in my churches ... ,and gave a name to the thing which had been tugging at my soul for several years" Jon Zuck



On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ:
Commenting on the above Selected Writings from St. Maximus the Confessor, An Amazon.com reviewer pointed " Maximus was something of a "bridge" theologian between east and west and, having been exiled from Constantinople, played an important part in trying to revive the Church in North Africa....he died a heroic death, earning the title of "Confessor." With great intellectual sophistication, he defended the hypostatic union of the two natures, human and divine, in Christ-or, more precisely, the union that is (The Cosmic) Christ."
For the traditionalist Reviewer, who iterates that, "to use meaningless jargon, superlative expressions which seemed meaningful because of their superlativity, rather than because of any possible meaning, etc. You know, newagers who confuse jargon with substance," I quoted St. Maximus to assure him that Fox committed no innovation but followed the (oldagers) eastern Church Fathers, and continued in the spirit of Vatican II.

The Cosmic Christ is Coming:
The Cosmic Christ, is with us, his Holy Spirit who sustains and revives the Church, his Cosmic bride in space and through eternal time. How is M. Fox expressing his vision, quoting biblical themes from infancy narratives, of all four Gospels, viewing Jesus life as revealing Cosmic unity in his baptism, temptation, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension is relatively unique in contemporary western theology. He keeps assuring the novel reader that he follow the steps of creation mystics and oriental Church fathers. He mentions the recent writing of Jaroslav Pelikan of Yale, the most prominent doctrine development theologian, who devotes a chapter to the Cosmic Christ who gives meaning to the Cosmos, redeeming its divine order and revelation.
Now Matthew Fox, a Dominican Creation Mystic in the Book's following chapters concludes that the Cosmic Christ is the title for the crucified and resurrected, whose paschal mystery is the prefigured salvation in the Old Testament, even more relevant for third millennium Christianity, redeems redemption of mother earth, and of cosmic pain, reveals the divine in all creation!
So far, so good. His conclusive vision in Part V, mostly in extrapolation of Vatican II; in redeeming of Worship, and deepening of Ecumenism but stays ahead of me, and many, in renaissance of sexual mysticism and artistic creativity.

Mystic Matthew Fox:
Fr. Matthew Fox, a Dominican thinker, became closely linked to Eastern Church mystical theology through his search on western medieval mystics, Meister Eckhart, Hildegard of Bingen, whose spirituality and its apophatic terminology was rooted in mystical expression. His 'Passion for Creation' and 'Sheer Joy', asserts revelation of compassion as the central theme of Christianity in 'A Spirituality Named Compassion', and his culmination in Original Blessing, of an antithesis of 'Original Sin' doctrine added to his alliance with liberation and feminist tone theologies, made him suspect of Vatican's guardians of faith.

Mysticism Expert's View:
Jon Zuck comments that, Matthew Fox's Christian mysticism is to change our souls and our world. "This book is almost certainly the most comprehensive on what a modern mystical Christian worldview can be, and one of the most comprehensive books I've seen on anything, period. There are plenty of books on the trends of evil in this world system, plenty of calls for peacemaking, plenty of appeals for spiritual renewal, but Cosmic Christ addresses all these issues and more, with information, insight, and inspiration." He concludes, "Yet The Coming of the Cosmic Christ is the one almost certainly to be remembered as his masterpiece."

This is a book for serious students of the deeply mystical. It is not for everyone. The average fundamentalist Christian is much too low on the spiritual totem pole and too hypnotically programmed to be able to understand it. Matthew Fox speaks of truths that can only be learned directly from God through meditation and prayer, not through religious double-speak and church dogma. Fox gives us the Aquarian Age message that the Christ is born in each one of us and in His entire creation.
Bible worshippers should look up everything he says because it's all right there.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who thinks that religious wars, repression of individual spirits or rape of the earth are good things. Those who seek peace, harmony, celebration of each of us and respect for our earth will find this hopeful.

not since the book by Ken Wilbur "The Spectrum Of Consciousness" has a book touched me so.. absolutely magical..

Inspiring - and the quotes before each chapter are worth the price of the book itself!

A must read for any fallin' away Catholics. Sadly, those within the confines of the Roman Catholic Church would benefit greatly by one reading. I learned more in a few pages about my own God-Given sexuality than I have learned in my whole life of searching for Truth and where Creator plays into Sexuality. Mother Earth needs this knowledge to come forth in our lives to protect the planet and ourselves.

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ" is a truly exciting and mind opening book. It is not something that challenges past beliefs, but writing that opens up the future. If you are hunting for a better world, if you wonder if what you have been told is all there is, then this is the book for you. I promise you will feel the better for having read it.
Beverley Gledhill OAM Australia