Confessions1997

Visionary, activist, and one of the most important religious thinkers and teachers of our time, Matthew Fox has devoted his career to unleashing the suppressed mystical and life-affirming traditions within Christianity. His theology of "Creation Spirituality" - notably the belief that we are born in "original blessing" - has reinvigorated the faith of countless Christians and earned him the headline-making censure of the Vatican, who officially "silenced" Fox in 1989 and precipitated his dismissal by the Dominican Order in 1993. In this always compelling memoir, Fox, now an Episcopal priest, traces the roots of his radical theology, from his 195Os childhood in Madison, Wisconsin, through formative years spent training in a late-sixties Paris rocked by revolutionary fervor, to taking on the Vatican (which he likens to standing in front of a train), to his most recent experiences as a leader of "rave masses" for urban young people. Written with his characteristic candor and insight, Confessions details Fox's spiritual, intellectual, political, and cultural evolution as an envelope-pushing member of a generation "bold enough to question many things and to seek spirituality over religion.". Fox's story mirrors the questions and concerns of those millions of contemporary seekers with a "passion for holiness"; a yearning for a Christian spirituality committed to social justice, feminism, and environmentalism; and a desire for ritual that heals, celebrates, and honors the gifts of being in each of us. Always relentlessly ahead of his time, Fox embraces his role as a "post-denominational priest," passionately exploring the present and future role of faith, church, and a spirituality grounded in the emphatic belief that finding God is still possible.