Matthew Fox: Creation Spirituality and Catholic Controversy

Introduction: Fox as a Theological Groundbreaker

Matthew Fox is a literary groundbreaker in the world of theology, and in particular within the doctrines of the Catholic Church. His 1983 book Original Blessing offers a sustained examination of the blessings of life rather than the concept of original sin. The notion of original sin is a central tenet of Catholic doctrine, and in 1989 the Vatican silenced Fox for one full year because of his teachings drawn from Original Blessing.

In Original Blessing, Fox divides his argument into four sections: befriending creation (the via positiva); befriending darkness, letting go, and letting be (the via negativa); befriending creativity and befriending our divinity (the via creativa); and befriending new creation through compassion, celebration, and erotic justice (the via transformativa). He argues that awe and goodness are the greatest antidotes to our society's predominantly pessimistic and fearful mood.

Fox believes that Jesus teaches us to live the "beautiful life." By this he means that deeds performed for good and moral reasons are beautiful and represent the finest expressions of creation. He holds outspoken views on such subjects as the environment, humanity, good and evil, and the concepts of compassion and work. To Fox, living a spiritual life is not a matter of religion but a matter of actions. The sections that follow examine his views on these subjects using referenced quotations from his own words.

Background and Early Life

Although much is known about Fox's public persona as a former Dominican priest and now an Episcopal priest, it is difficult to find detailed information about his personal life — his interests, hobbies, and family. Perhaps the best way to know Matthew Fox is through his books, his classes, and his interviews. He is candid at all times and seems open to the idea that his views are not mainstream. He has been quoted acknowledging that his ideas are new, and some have called him the "Maverick Priest."

Born in 1940 at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, Fox contracted polio as a youth. The experience began to change him: he came to appreciate more deeply the spiritual dimensions of life and the wonder of creation. In his autobiographical work Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest, Fox describes his early years as shaped by a television culture stretching from Ed Sullivan and Bishop Sheen to Elvis Presley and the Beatles, from JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. to Vietnam and Watergate, and from Pope John XXIII to Pope Paul II. He explains this formative context by stating:

"My generation was bold enough to question many things and to seek spirituality over religion."

Perhaps it was this boldness, combined with the turbulent era in which Fox came of age, that enabled him to feel comfortable in the role of radical theologian. Fox was dismissed from the Roman Catholic Dominican Order in 1993 and later became a Protestant Episcopal priest. He continues to speak about Original Blessing and other topics relevant to his theological followers through the University of Creation Spirituality, which he helped found in June 1984 through an organization he created called Friends of Creation Spirituality, Inc.

Fox Responds to the Outcry

Fox's response to questions about his change of faith is perhaps best summed up in a series of letters he was compiling into a book to be titled Letters to My Catholic Brothers and Sisters:

"Never have so many Catholics been set so far adrift, desperately searching for answers at a time when the Church has lost much of its moral authority."

In Original Blessing, Fox appears to foreshadow his own fate when he articulates his theologian's view of the Western world:

"Western civilization has preferred love of death to love of life to the very extent that its religious traditions have preferred redemption to creation, sin to ecstasy, and individual introspection to cosmic awareness and appreciation. Religion has failed people in the West as often as it has been silent about pleasure or about the cosmic creation, about the ongoing power of the flowing energy of the Creator, about original blessing."

Fox holds a Master's degree in philosophy and theology from Aquinas Institute and a doctorate in spirituality, awarded summa cum laude. He has stated that his training in Paris during the late 1960s — a period of revolutionary ferment — began to shape his beliefs and opinions about the world and creation.