Original Blessing (Paperback)

~ Matthew Fox (Author) "It is a great pleasure to welcome this new edition of my book Original Blessing from Tarcher/Putnam..." (more)
Key Phrases: royal personhood, creation spiritual tradition, cosmic hospitality, Via Negativa, Meister Eckhart, Via Positiva (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Here is a reissue of the critically acclaimed bestseller, named one of the "20 books that changed the world" in New Age Journal's Annual Source Book for 1995. Maverick theologian Matthew Fox provides a daring view of historical Christianity and a theologically sound basis for personal discovery of spiritual liberation.

In this revolutionary work, Fox shows how Christianity once celebrated beauty, compassion, justice, and provided a path of positive knowledge and ecstatic connection with all creation. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Matthew Fox is the author of fifteen books, including Western Spirituality, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, and Original Blessing. A celebrated Episcopal priest and theologian, he is president of the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, California. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 353 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Co; 23rd Printing edition (December 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939680076
• ISBN-13: 978-0939680078
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,234,703 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blessings of creation, July 9, 2003

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions (Paperback)

'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.

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A revolutionary rediscovery of Christianity, February 15, 2004

By	Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

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This review is from: Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions (Paperback)

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.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very refreshing point of view on spirituality, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality (Paperback)

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.