Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today

by John Shelby Spong

For example, I can say that I am a Trinitarian because that term describes my experience of God. The Father element of the Trinity means the experience of God as an external Other that is beyond anything that I can imagine. The Spirit means the experience of God as an internal reality that is deep within me and inseparable from my humanity. The Son means the experience of God made manifest in a particular life. The Trinity is not a description of my God, then, but of my God experience. It does not mean that God is a Trinity. That would be an idolatrous claim. My experience of God and God are not the same. God is not beyond my ability to experience, but the nature of God is beyond my ability to describe.