Many of the characters who appear in the pages of the Fourth Gospel are literary creations of its author and were never intended to be understood as real people, who actually lived in history. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious. Steve has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. var gads = document.createElement("script"); Our motto is: Don't quote it if you can't source it. His great-great-grandfather had emigrated to America from Kent, though the family name may . I want to say something positively, something about the conclusion that I presently hold and bear witness to why I continue to be a member of this community.. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. When charting a new reformation, we must engage in a task of getting even deeper into the vision of universalism, he said. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. The primary reason the old idea of rescuing the fallen is no good is that there never was a time when we fell from perfection into sin. I hope I am not ungracious if in return I remark that I do not think that a single NT author would recognize Spong's Jesus as the figure being proclaimed or written about. We've got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. A = p.createElement(s); The more deeply I can be all that I can be, the more I can make God visible.. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. Tweet. John Shelby Spong 2 I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. //]]>, Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell, Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy: A Journey into a New Christianity Through the Doorway of Matthew's Gospel, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile, Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. The sin of Christianity is that any of us ever claimed that we had somehow captured eternal truth in the forms we had created. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. It was never, even in the New Testament, a finished story. In the way that God brought oneness out of diversity, wholeness out of brokenness and eternity out of time, Spong realized the version of faith he wanted to spread. John Shelby Spong is an influential public speaker, writer and media figure. In 1991's Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture, Spong argued that St. Paul was homosexual, a theme that was satirized in Gore Vidal's novel Live from Golgotha. I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. url = "https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/mobile/phone_images-9e9093f0cfddba8c2b1e815375d976a3.css"; He retired in 2000. John Shelby Spong Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? " John Shelby Spong 2. At 82, retired and enjoying life, Bishop John Shelby Spong doesn't have to be the liberal enfant terrible whose pronouncements for gay rights and against traditional dogmas once . I spend my life studying that book, and every book I've written has in some sense been a book about the Bible, and that's what I mean by reclaiming its value and its essence for a world that no longer treats it literally and no longer reads it traditionally. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. May your reign come. In the first gospel, Mark, the risen Christ appears physically to no one, but by the time we come to the last gospel, John, Thomas is invited to feel the nail prints in Christ's hands and feet and the spear wound in his side. var url; [CDATA[ Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. Rev. var sourcesToHideBuyFeatures = ["ebfg_gr", "ebfg_fb", "ebfg_fbm", "ebfg_tw", pubID: '3211', adServer: 'googletag', bidTimeout: 4e3, params: { aps_privacy: '1YN' } g.parentNode.insertBefore(A, g) [11] Towards these ends, he called for a new Reformation, in which many of Christianity's basic doctrines should be reformulated.[1]. The tour coincided with Hollingworth leaving the diocese to become the Governor-General of Australia. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; function getCookieWithoutJQuery(name) { Rev. if (window.Mobvious === undefined) { googletag.pubads().setTargeting("author", [45659]); }); Above all, words must be recognized as symbolic pointers to truth, not objective containers of truth. Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. John Shelby Spong I cannot say my yes to legends that have been clearly and fancifully created. } else { Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. As a retired bishop, he was a member of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops. In addition, she is a rising senior at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in Phoenix, Arizona, where she most recently served as a breaking news reporter for The Arizona Republic, as well as a documentary producer for Arizona PBS. [CDATA[ googletag.pubads().setTargeting("gr_author", "false"); Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. When Im asked to define God, Im almost wordless. True religion is not about possessing the truth. if (window.csa) { Christ must be served in every person, he said. While Paul left off there, Spong believes there is a lot more to modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines. We've collected the best John Shelby Spong Quotes. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("sid", "osid.a1fff312af8a1d2b3b241fa9193829a2"); gads.type = "text/javascript"; I don't have any interest in doing that. }, Eugene Taylor Sutton to give closing sermon of 22, Sacred Song, Three Taps close season by reflecting, rejoicing, Josh Stafford, on Massey, to present comedic Keaton classic, Playwrights Hnath, Hamill take stage to talk writing, theater with Kahn, A true people person: friends and family reflect on the life of vic gelb, Robinson to close with message of Chautauquas unique role in the world, Stafford, Robinson reflect on 2021 season, look ahead to final Sacred Song Service, 2022, Alumni Association of CLSC raises record-breaking amount at auction, Eberhardt reflects on social psychology of American racial biases, African American Heritage House strives for diversity at Chautauqua. Weve murdered them; weve burned them at the stake; weve run them out of town for something over which they have no control. Terrorism is a real despair. John Shelby Spong You can't have a world where 50 percent of the people are dieting and 50 percent of the people are starving if you want stability. If the resurrection of Jesus cannot be believed except by assenting to the fantastic descriptions included in the Gospels, then Christianity is doomed. googletag.pubads().enableAsyncRendering(); If that is a requirement of my commitment to Jesus, I find it difficult to stretch my mind outside the capacities of my world view. I do not live in a world where people can walk on water, or still a storm, or take five loaves of bread and feed 5000 men plus women and children. After love, he shared his beliefs about experiencing God. } var googletag = googletag || {}; There is no mention of him in any source before the 8th decade. 25:30)? //]]> From this perspective, all human claims to possess objectivity, certainty, or infallibility are revealed as nothing but the weak and pitiable pleas of frantically insecure people who seek to live in an illusion because reality has proved to be too difficult. All Things Quotes Page 253. It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. // page settings With the need for constant evolution in mind, Spong created his personal mantra. "CacheDetection.RequestID": "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY", If you begin to give people hope that there is a brighter future, there is a new tomorrow, then the people who were yesterday's terrorists become tomorrow's elected officials and they're part of the system. There is no longer male nor female. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Jamie Landers is entering her third season as a reporter for The Chautauquan Daily, covering all things music-related within the online platform. The final address of this week, the final address in Chautauqua, the final addressof my life. setDisplayBids: function() {}, To me, neither option is worth pursuing. } Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Spong proffers a third way, one that involves being "fully human." We are not really separated from God, he asserts. It opens up all sorts of things that I've never thought about. The creeds were 3rd- and 4th-century love songs that people composed to sing to their understanding of God. Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic deity to act in human history in a particular way. The biblical texts that we Christians have used for centuries to justify our hostility toward the Jews need to be banished forever from the sacred writings of the Christian church. Showing 1-30 of 46 "God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. " I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies. Death is ultimately a dimension of life through which we journey into timelessness. I'm a bloodydamn Helldiver with an army of giant, mildly . url = "https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/mobile/phone_hd_images-2b89833762f600506d44865a33582d11.css"; gads.src = (useSSL ? It is not necessarily words addressed heavenward. 50. "[24], Spong died in sleep at his home in Richmond, Virginia, on September 12, 2021, at the age of 90. For that view of resurrection is not believable, and if that is all there is, then Christianity, which depends upon the truth and authenticity of Jesus' resurrection, also is not believable. John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. I want the traditional family upheld, but I don't want it upheld to the detriment of other people. This is an opportune time for those who identify with liberal Christianity to take a critical look at his legacy. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. John Shelby Spong. try { [7] Spong was the cousin of the United States Senator from Virginia William B. Spong Jr. His views on the future of Christianity were "that we have to start where we are. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes in the bullet points above are from Kitchen, "The Future Church and Bishop John Shelby Spong," p. 17. Every day we present the best quotes! It meant to go beyond the boundaries of your religion, to go beyond your security system, to go beyond your fears. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. Rather "we are part of what God is and we are at one with all that God is." We. Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. if (sourcesToHideBuyFeatures[i] == source) for(var i=0; i That is what Jesus meant and that's what the original Christ experience was, before we became Scripture defenders, and before the creeds became the essence of our faith." And I have no reason to abandon it because it leads to where I want to go. " True religion is not about possessing the truth. "//securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"; !function(){function n(n,t){var r=i(n);return t&&(r=r("instance",t)),r}var r=[],c=0,i=function(t){return function(){var n=c++;return r.push([t,[].slice.call(arguments,0),n,{time:Date.now()}]),i(n)}};n._s=r,this.csa=n}(); From this perspective, all human claims to possess objectivity, certainty, or infallibility are revealed as nothing but the weak and pitiable pleas of frantically insecure people who seek to live in an illusion because reality has proved to be too difficult. He believed that theism had lost credibility as a valid conception of God's nature. Spong was born in North Carolina in 1931. To be in the forms we had created. Spong Quotes Spong is an opportune time for who! Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 September 12, 2021 ) was an bishop... Dignity is God. i don & # x27 ; t see Jesus as expanding the potential life. Else { prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life transcendence... 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