Customer Reviews

Original Blessing

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'Just to be is a blessing.
Just to live is holy.'
-- Abraham Heschel

I first discovered the book 'Original Blessing' by Matthew Fox about a dozen years ago; originally published in 1983, it has become a widely read and used spiritual guide for many. My first experience of this book (and I do consider it a genuine experience) coincided with my first trip to St. Gregory's Abbey, a benedictine monastery with which I've maintained a connexion over the years. This book was a wonderful accompaniment for that spiritual retreat, and has remained a favourite book to be packed for reference and review each time I go on another.

Fox has organised the book into four broad sections, or paths:

Path I: Befriending Creation--the Via Positiva
This path explores creation, activity, beauty and justice, panentheism (the idea of God in everything), a sense of realised eschatology (something akin to the saying that 'the kingdom of God is in you'), incarnation and personal freedom and worthiness.

Path II: Befriending Darkness, Letting Go and Letting Be--the Via Negativa
This path explores those things which sometimes get in the way, such as pain, emptiness, silence, negative things--however, new perspective is sought (for example, it is into the silence that God often speaks; without silence, the voice is not heard). This is perhaps the most beautiful part of the book for me at times, as it helps in times of trouble -- as Meister Eckhart states, 'Remember this: All suffering comes to an end. And whatever you suffer authentically, God has suffered from it first.'

Path III: Befriending Creativity, Befriending our Divinity--the Via Creativa
This path is perhaps the most fun part of the book, as it engages the creative flow of art, music, conversation and writing. It explores how our lives as works of art bring beauty back into the world, and how creativity is a form of birthing that which was not here before. In a unique perspective, Fox uses an analogy of creativity as being co-creators of the cosmos with God.

Path IV: Befriending New Creation--Compassion, Celebration, Erotic Justice, the Via Transformativa
This path shows the way of the future as a time that can be present, images of God in motion in the world and at work in people everywhere, and explores issues of process and liberation theologies which look for justice and loving community.

Fox attributes the Via Positiva as being part of a theology of creation and incarnation, the Via Negativa as being part of a theology of the cross, the Via Creativa as part of a theology of resurrection, and the Via Transformativa as a theology of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps the one great theme that permeates all writing is that of life as a blessing. This is the original blessing, from which all other blessings derive. Fox calls on people to live prophetic lives, calling upon the works of historians, artists, writers, prophets, and others through the ages. These people have conversations with each other on the pages of this book, and a truly remarkable spirit comes to life through this book.

It's been a long time since I first read this book--almost twenty years--and I'd forgotten just how brilliant it is until I recently returned to it. If anything, my admiration for it this second time around has increased. I honestly think the book is one of the most original theological reflections to come out of the twentieth century.

Like all works of genius, the thesis is simple and elegant. Fox's central claim is that Christianity in the west (not so much in the orthodox east) has focused upon the nonscriptural notion of original sin at the expense of scripture's exuberant message of joyful original blessing. Original sin, which appears to be the fifth-century contribution of Augustine, generates a worldview centering around a primordial fall salvaged by a bloody sacrifice (Christ's). From this way of approaching reality, humans are depraved, the world is fallen, and experiences such as beauty or the erotic are immediately suspect as temptations. The original blessing model, which Fox claims can be traced back to the Genesis account of God's creation of a "good" universe, argues instead for a panentheism that sees God--and God's goodness, light, beauty, and love--in (but not exhausted by) the created order, thereby opening up the possibility that humans are good because made in God's image, and that the world and all of God's gifts should be celebrated rather than condemned.

Put slightly differently: the original sin model sees fallenness as the norm and goodness (which, given our depraved nature, is possibly only by grace, which in turn becomes a kind of magic bullet) the exception. The original blessing model sees goodness and continuous grace as the norms, and fallenness as the exception.

Fox isn't naive. He recognizes that sin exists, and that it does great damage in the world. But he sees the cause of sin in dualism--the artificial splintering or fragmentation of God's reality into opposing and hence warring dyads--heaven and earth, eros and agape, man and woman, us and them, human and nature. This fragmentation not only violates the wholeness (and holiness) of creation, but sets in motion psychological and social currents that lead to violence.

How different both Christianity and the world would be today had our foremothers and fathers counted their original blessings instead of morbidly fixating on original sin! Hopefully, the Church is becoming more aware of its forgotten identity. Please, read this book and discover a new and liberating way to live and think your faith.

Fox presents his Creation-Centered theory of spirituality in an easy to understand manner. His ideas on spirituality apply to all religions and denominations. It is a very uplifting and positive way of interpreting our spirituality and existence in the spiritual world. His books also lays out what he refers to as "Paths" which we experience throughout life, and he gives insight on how to deal with, and grow from our experiences as spiritual people. I was also pleased that it focused on the positive aspects of spirituality, of life itself, rather than the sin and guilt that surrounded the beliefs of my Catholic upbrining. I gained a more thorough understanding of my place in life on earth from this book - it is one I will continue to reread throughout my lifetime.

I'm not good at giving insightful reviews of anything. But I just had to say something about this book.

I originally heard of this book while researching for myself alternate ways of approaching my Christianity. I had been raised in a very strict church upbringing and had long since lost any real enthusiasm for the denomination I had attended, as well as any I had attended since leaving home. With my upbringing as well as attending two separate Christian universities, it seemed to me that many people were missing at least one or two very important things ... perhaps more. ..when it came to how they viewed themselves in context to the rest of the world and even to God from within the shroud of Christianity. Eventually, I decided to go it alone, and tried to hammer out my own path: Hardly a new religion, but very much a new philosophy. One that worked, and inspired one to good works and a good life, and not just reward or bragging rights in a congregation's hierarchy of `most spirit filled people'. Certainly not one that lead to the sort of empty `righteousness' I was so used to seeing and hearing.
(I had spent some time out and about in the world and with many sorts of people, and by the time I returned to my nice safe Christian home, my viewpoint had been forever changed.)

When I first bought this book I had never heard of Fox, and I approached it with a level of polite skepticism; primarily because there are so many books out there in the genre of Christianity in general that finding a good one is almost a miracle in itself.
Behold one such miracle.

There is another review on this page (by FrKurt Messick-a top 100 reviewer, even!) that covers the sections of the book, so I won't go into that. I will say that due to untimely circumstances, it took me quite a while to read it in its entirety. But during that time, I had the opportunity to test and examine its contents: All very well thought, well researched. and true. Do not be fooled into thinking that Fox is trying to start a new religion-- Simply a new philosophy on the same religion. With the way the world is today, I feel that the contents therein are timely and perhaps even necessary for all to at least consider for a few moments.

On completing Original Blessing early yesterday morning, years of uncertainty about myself in my faith had been banished. As an artist, minority, and admittedly unconventional thinker, I readily say that I needed the message of this book. I felt that finally, finally, someone had gotten something right. Not only that, but I was impressed that he was willing to share fully his insight, without watering it down to be more acceptable to the masses. Oddly enough, I take his defrocking as a sign that he had something important to say. I'm all too familiar with the practice of dismissing someone on the basis of their spiritual beliefs in order to hush them up. More often than not, the one dismissed blesses the ones he comes in contact with afterward.

I will say that if you are very traditional -meaning that you believe as others around you do, and that's final-then you will not like this book. I say this for traditional conservatives, mainstream, Pentecostal, and others. Fox invites too much personal boundary-testing for those who are not used to it. He invites you to experience life, God, creation, self & others-definitely not something that I've ever truly seen among the people I'm used to being around.
Religion should never be used to `keep people in line' or to accomplish the kind of mindless, aimless conversion that happens all too often: What are we showing anyone? A list of rules to follow? A lifestyle that prohibits enjoyment of most if not all kinds? A life that cuts us off from creation and those who share the world around us? One that locks us away from ourselves presumably for our own good?
This is not acceptable. God is for everyone in every circumstance, and reveals himself in many ways to many people. It's time to accept and embrace that. As much as some would like to believe, this will not mean the end of morality, ethics, or of `bible basics'. Rather, lead to thier enrichment and true frutition.

I highly recommend this book to any faithful Christian seeking a new, fresh way to view their world. I hope this book finds you ready to start your journey with the wind at your back.

As far as Fox goes, I cannot say that I will read his other books, as I am not one to rely heavily on non-canonical texts; but this one was worth the wait to hear about.

My copy of Original Blessing is falling to pieces as it's been read so often - I bought it some time ago from a church jumble sale, and I can't believe anyone could throw it out! This is a beautiful and deeply spiritual book and Fox is one of my great heroes, with others like bishop Shelby Spong and here in the UK Richard Holloway. All are 'post modern Christians' and would that the mean spirited, literalist homophobics/mysogynists who claim to speak for Christians everywhere would listen to them. If you think that the Christian message is all about sin and sado-masochism suspend your disbelief and read Fox's alternative account which truly honours the Divine Creator. Matthew Fox is a holy person and a great prophet and this is one of his best books.

First up, a little about me, the reader! If I do a BeleifoMatic quiz I come up as "100% Mainline Conservative Protestant", so that's the position from which I read this book. The main message that I took from this book is that the churches have and are focusing (particularly the Evangelical ones) solely on justification to the detriment of sanctification. Where sanctification is focused on it is seen as a negative exercise (i.e., pursuit of a mortified body rather than a resurrected one). So many churches are very keen to "get" people saved, but are weak on what it means to thereafter "be" saved on a day to day life basis.
Fox corrects this, showing that the biblical vision of salvation is that we are saved for sanctification and that sanctification involves becoming an integral part of God's solution for a creation that, altough fallen, is still one sustained through His presence within it. Seeing God as being present in creation as well as transcending was something great that reading this book enabled me to do. So why only 4 stars?
Well, the book is a product of its times and regardless of the wonderful content, the form is one of 70s new age narrative. Sometimes reading between the lines is needed to see that what is being said has relevance beyond this context. Also, whilst Fox has some profound and thought provoking insights from a biblical perspective on issues such as original sin, in other areas he lacks the same incisiveness (e.g., sexuality), so that what he has to say might be appealing, but not wholly convincing. Still, this book is in my top 10 of Christian books, and I have read a lot!

This book is undoubtedly a masterpiece and a classic. In the book, Fox describes, in depth, his views on religion and the concept of "Original Blessing", which states that humans are birthed in blessing and are naturally good. These views, to the utmost delight of many, fly straight in the face of Catholicism's "Original Sin", and if one looks at the reviews on his 35-or-so other books, including 'One River, Many Wells', 'The Coming of the Cosmic Christ' and 'Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest' (his spiritual autobiography), I can personally guarantee you that virtually everyone who gives his book a poor rating is a devout Catholic, stereotypical as that might sound. Regardless, 'Original Blessing' is a book that every priest, theologian, minister, rabbi, and [any other religious career] *must* read, and everybody else (including me) *should* read. The eloquence of the writing and the well-supported views make this book one to treasure for generations to come.

I read the first edition of this when I was in college and it floored me. The concept that God created us with an Original Blessing, and that this Blessing is what should carry over into our lives is compelling. It discusses deep spiritual issues, including why despair or pain are also part of that blessing. It makes SOOO much more sense than the concept that we are all stained by original sin. This book is a real mind blower, and the most captivating book I have ever read. I still can't believe the catholic church kicked this guy out.

Like Hans Kung, Matthew Fox has troubled Vatican officials with the unorthodox views he has espoused. I generally to share the Vatican's critique of his works, but (since I rather enjoy diverse perspectives and off-the-wall characters) I've read and appreciated various of Fox's works, including Original Blessing and The Coming of the Cosmic Christ. In Fox's defense, he is one of the few Christian thinkers who has dared to fully incorporate what he calls "creation spirituality" into theological endeavors. This book emerged from an imposed year's silence, during which Fox undertook a study St Thomas Aquinas, seeking to find streams of "creation spirituality" in the Angelic Doctor. Fox is a Dominican, so his interest in his order's chief theologian is understandable. He explored un-translated as well as familiar works, especially Thomas' biblical commentaries, and has published his findings in Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality (San Francisco: HarperCollins, c. 1992).
Following an extensive introduction, Fox engages Thomas in an imaginary dialogue. All the quotations ascribed to Thomas are, Fox insists, Aquinas' own words. (In his translating, however, one must assume Fox chooses words such as "Godself" rather than "Father" and "humankind" rather than "man" to suit his own ends. Fox openly flaunts his heterodoxy, his contempt for hierarchical authority, but he'd never violate the strictest canons of politically correct language!) All too frequently Fox forgets his role as interviewer, slipping into the pulpit to espouse his own notions, so I found myself skimming over Fox's proclamations so as to focus on Aquinas, whose words are what makes this book worthwhile. Thus, in this review, I'll cite Aquinas' works as well as indicate appropriate pages in Fox.
The first conversation addresses the "Via Positiva," suggesting that creation affords us positive, even propositional knowledge of God. To Aquinas, "Sacred writings are bound in two volumes--that of creation and that of the Holy Scriptures" (Summa Contra Gentiles, II,iv,5; Fox, p. 59). Anyone reading Aquinas finds how fully Scripture saturated all his thoughts--he quotes texts more incessantly than most Fundamentalist preachers! But he also insisted that creation itself reveals truth concerning the God who created and sustains it. "God is an artist and the universe is God's work of art" (Summa Theologica, I, q.45, a.6; Fox, p. 65). Thus God is everywhere, in all things as their universal cause, continually present wherever anything is. God must never be reduced to his handiwork, as in pantheism, but He must be clearly recognized as the source of its being. "God is above all things by the excellence of the divine nature; but God is in all things as the cause of the being of all things" (Summa Theologica, I, q.8, a.1; Fox, p. 71). In short: God's transcendence must be balanced with His immanence.
Since God is, in fact, present in creation, "One meditates on creation in order to view and marvel at divine wisdom" (Summa Contra Gentiles, II,ii,2; Fox, p. 78). We know God and His ways by the careful contemplation of creation. "All creatures confess that they are made by God. Human beings ask questions of creatures when they consider them diligently" (Commentary on Job, 12, 2; Fox, p. 81). "Just as someone looking at a book knows the wisdom of the writer, so when we see creatures, we know the wisdom of God" (Commentary on the Psalms 44, 31; Fox, p. 81).
Attuned to a living world, we recognize God as the Source of life itself. "When we say 'God is Spirit' we say God is a life-giver, because our entire life is from God, as its creative source" (Commentary on John 4.24, n.615; Fox, p. 142). As humans, we receive our spiritual life directly from God, but we are, soul and body, a tightly bonded blend which must be understood holistically. Our souls need bodies, and throughout eternity we will remain embodied souls, attaining our perfection as human beings, not disembodied angelic beings. God himself, as the living Word, entered fully into our humanness in the Incarnation of Jesus. Prompted by His great love, "The son of God became human in order that human beings might become gods and become the children of God" (A Compendium of Theology, I, 214; Fox, p. 154). Through Christ's work, grace is imparted to us, and "Grace renders us like God and a partaker of the divine nature" (On Truth, q.27, a.6; Fox, p. 156). "Grace does not destroy nature but completes it" (Summa Theologica, I, q.l, a.8; Fox, p. 156). Certainly St Thomas celebrated the goodness and revelatory powers of creation, the glorious illumination of the Incarnation, and the graciously communicated co-naturality with God we enjoy as partakers of the divine nature. Thus his confidence in the "via positiva" shines throughout the extensive conversation Fox conducts.
Turning to the second conversation, "On the Via Negativa," we encounter another side to Thomas. Though we know some things, most divine dimensions transcend our intellectual capacities. Some "secrets of Divinity can be reached only through a spiritual rebirth" (Commentary on John, 3.1, n.431; Fox, p. 194), but others can never be known by man. Indeed, "The mind's greatest achievement is to realize that God is far beyond anything we think" (Commentary on Dionysius' De divinus nominibus, n.83, p. 28; Fox, p. 196).
Like Job, Aquinas discovered that God cannot be reduced to tidy human categories. It is, in fact (as he discovered at the end of his life) impossible to describe the incomparable glory and goodness and holiness of God. While he did not focus on the Via Negativa as much as thinkers such as the Pseudo-Dionysius, he certainly make it clear he understood the limits of human reason. Turning to the third conversation, "On the Via Creativa," Fox finds Aquinas encouraging our cooperation in the divinely inspired work of creation. Here, perhaps more than anywhere, one must question Fox's selections and editorial work, for he continually strives to force Thomas to celebrate man's "creativity" when in fact the quotations seem at least open to other interpretations. Nevertheless, it is clear that Thomas believed in a kind of synergism, man's free responses to God's creativity resulting in human creations. God not only created things in the past. He continues to create through "secondary causes," granting "the dignity of causality" to His creatures. In view of that divine strategy, we are privileged to join Him in bringing life, goodness, and beauty into His world. We're called to be artists!
"Art," to Thomas, "is nothing else but the right reason about certain works to be made" (Summa Theologica, I-II, q. 57, a. 3); Fox, p. 308). Like virtually all good work, teaching can be an art, for "The ability to teach belongs to people who are wise and who know something inasmuch as they can express their inner thought in words, so that they can lead somebody else to an understanding of truth" (Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics, I, L. 1, p. 15; Fox, p. 286). The finest of all arts, however, is the art of living virtuously. To work with God, empowered by His grace and truth, enables one to cultivate and perfect the virtues. Like the health which comes from proper diet and exercise, sanctity comes from good teaching and discipline. Indeed: "It is essential to virtue to be about the difficult and the good" (Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 129, a. 2; Fox, p. 350).
In addition to creativity, Fox presents quotations from Thomas "On the Via Transformativa." Here he shows how God seeks to remold us, both individually and collectively, into compassionate, righteous persons. In this section Thomas' deep concern for salvation from sin and its scars shines through, despite Fox's efforts to minimize the importance of the deliverance-from-sin salvation motif. To be transformed, by God's grace, into Christ-like, holy persons is, in Aquinas' teaching, the central concern of Christianity.
This book provides a refreshing compilation of quotations, mined from an incredible amount of material, which provides us with new insights into the philosophy of the most magisterial of the Medieval schoolmen. Had Fox limited himself to asking good questions and arranging Thomas' responses, the book would have been both shorter and better, since he routinely abandons the role of interviewer and assumes a prophet's mantle. But for all its deficiencies, I found the book most interesting and enlightening.

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend. I am not dissapointed. It has a few flaws, but the ideas and concepts introduced by this book more than outweigh them.

The book is to be treated as a spiritual journey. You begin with Path 1, Theme 1 and read on to the end. It is not something that can be read in one sitting, nor should it be. It attempts to reawaken an awareness of different parts of reality to the individual, and while the words used are identical to the words overused by new age groups galore, the concepts themselves are actually very down-to-earth and simple. You don't look for some great, mystical light to appear in addition to the sun, or the lamp in your room. You look at your lamp, and enjoy it. It also attempts to undo the damage of mainstream Christianity's deepset paranoia and set the reader up for pure trust in God.

On the negative side of the ledger, the book feels a little incomplete. I think this isn't due to a lack of depth on Fox's part, but rather an inadvertant assumption that the reader would have the same theological training as Fox and be able to fill in the gaps. This would pose a problem for a reader who does not have that training (which would be most Christians in the world today). Another problem I had with the book is the near-constant criticism of Mainstream Christianity. By choosing to focus part of every chapter on the problems within the Church, Fox breaks the "flow" of his thoughts. Yes, mainstream Christianity has problems, and if it did not, people would not be reading his books.

However, that said, a reader can go through this book and weigh the ideas and concepts within it. There are some amazing gems of truth that will enrich any Christ-follower's life, and if at times the idea doesn't feel like it goes as far as it could, further study of that particular concept (eg. contemplative meditation) might give you what you want. The book is exactly what it says it is: a Primer. I did not read it as an in-depth study of any concept, but rather as an introduction to the concepts and a framework for future study. You read this book knowing you want to go somewhere without knowing how to get there or where "there" is. By the end, you'll have a more definite idea of where to go AND who has written the in-depth material on what you want to study. Even if the concepts within are repellant to you, at least you'll know this is not the way you want to go.

I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a greater relationship with God. It will answer a few of your questions, and more importantly, show you which questions you want to ask next.