John McNeill continues to post provocative (and prophetic) theological statements on his new Spiritual Transformation blog. The latest in his theology of fallibility series (about which I’ve blogged several times in the past) focuses on the urgent need to reform the Catholic church.
John grounds his reflections in scripture—particularly in Ezekiel’s call to the Jewish community to look to God as their shepherd when God’s Spirit withdrew from the temple in Jerusalem as the shepherds of Israel focused on their own self-protection and not on safeguarding their flock; and on Jesus’s statement in John’s gospel that his body and the body of all those united to him through the Spirit will become the new temple.
John argues that
Judaism and Christianity are both religions of the collapsing Temple. There is always a connection between the collapse of the Temple and the Spirit of God bringing into existence a new form of shepherding.
I encourage readers to read John’s powerful statement about church reform in its entirety. Jayden Cameron has also provided excerpts with helpful commentary at Open Tabernacle—a posting to which I’d also like to direct readers’ attention.
