Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. if (a[a9]) return; I grew up in North Carolina being told that the Bible approves slavery and segregation, that it was the will of God. Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. We've murdered them; we've burned them at the stake; we've run them out of town for something over which they have no control. John Shelby Spong (2009). 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. Both are doomed as viable alternatives for the long- range future of anyone. Matthew was sounding the call to a universal humanity, Spong said. window.csa("Events")("setEntity", { Prayer is not adult letters written to Santa Claus, and God is not some parent-like figure up in the sky who's going to take care of us. "[13], Spong debated Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig on the resurrection of Jesus on March 20, 2005.[14]. This page was last edited on 13 September 2021, at 21:11. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Showing 1-30 of 46 "God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. Top John Shelby Spong Quotes. I cannot say my yes to legends that have been clearly and fancifully created. It has been a wonderful trip, and I am sad it is coming to an end.. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. And that's immoral. I honor my tradition, I walk through my tradition, but I don't think my tradition defines God, I think it only points me to God. Learn more. "There is no longer Jew nor Greek. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrowminded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. // The tour coincided with Hollingworth leaving the diocese to become the Governor-General of Australia. 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. John Shelby Spong 2 I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. 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. The God understood as a father figure, who guided ultimate personal decisions, answered our prayers, and promised rewards and punishment based upon our behavior was not designed to call anyone into maturity. "My mind, my integrity, my intellectual questioning, and my God-experience all come together in this new image. Because that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake. page: {requestId: "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY", meaningful: "interactive"} And I have no reason to abandon it because it leads to where I want to go. (1994) 2 External links Quotes [ edit] Chapter seven begins with quotations from the Pauline Epistles, including Gal 5:12, "I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves", Col 3:22, "Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthy masters, not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart", and from 1 Cor 14:35, "It is shameful for a woman to speak in // I do not think so. " I go where I'm invited. John Shelby Spong Related Authors People always like to have a good time and laugh, and, [among] the vast majority of the seven billion people on this earth, one thing that we all have in common is at some . //]]>, 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. The former Episcopal Bishop of Newark (N.J.) has been writing for years for those he calls "believers in exile," people who feel like modern versions of Christianity demand blind faith and require adherents to check their brains at the door. 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