If I could not move my search beyond angelic messengers, empty tombs, and ghostlike apparitions, I could not say yes to Easter. Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. Perhaps the most telling witness against the claim of accurate history for the Bible comes when we read the earliest narrative of the crucifixion found in Mark's gospel and discover that it is not based on eyewitness testimony at all. John Shelby Spong has long been known as the "nightmare" of the more conservative element of the Anglican Church in America. .__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.authorModuleDropdownMenu{width:180px;border-left:1px solid #D8D8D8;border-right:1px solid #D8D8D8;border-top:1px solid #D8D8D8}.authorModuleDropdownMenu__dropdownLink,.authorModuleDropdownMenu__dropdownLink:hover{display:block;text-align:left;padding:12px;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", "Helvetica", sans-serif;font-size:14px;color:#000000;cursor:pointer}#authorInfo{display:-webkit-box;display:-moz-box;display:-ms-box;display:box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-moz-flex;display:-ms-flex;display:flex;padding:10px 10px 5px 10px}#authorInfo .authorInfoGroup{-webkit-box-flex:1;-moz-box-flex:1;-ms-box-flex:1;box-flex:1}#authorInfo .authorPhotoGroup{-webkit-box-flex:0;-moz-box-flex:0;-ms-box-flex:0;box-flex:0;margin-right:10px}#authorInfo .authorFollow{display:flex}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer{border-radius:3px;border:1px solid #D6D0C4;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", "Helvetica", sans-serif;font-size:14px;-moz-appearance:none;-o-appearance:none;-webkit-appearance:none;appearance:none;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none;color:#333333;background-color:#F4F1EA;line-height:1;padding:8px 12px;font-size:16px;padding:12px 24px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center;margin-left:0px;padding:0px;min-width:38px;height:32px;background-image:url(/assets/down-caret.png);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;float:right}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:disabled{border-color:#DDDDDD}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:hover{color:#333333;background-color:#ede6d6;text-decoration:none}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:active{background-color:#D6D0C4}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:disabled{background-color:#F3F3F3;color:#cccccc}@media (max-width: 540px){#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer{min-width:20px;width:27px}}#authorBooks{*zoom:1}#authorBooks:after{content:"";display:table;clear:both}#authorBooks .sectionTitle{border-top:1px solid #CCCCCC;padding:10px 10px 0 10px;margin:0}.accordionContent{padding:0 10px}.authorBio{padding:0 10px;margin-bottom:10px}.authorBooksMeta{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;padding:0 10px}.authorBooksMeta a{color:#00635D}.authorBooksTotalReviewCount:before,.authorBooksTotalRatingCount:before{content:"\00b7"}.authorDetailsList dt,.authorDetailsList dd{display:inline;margin:0}.authorDetailsList dd:after{content:'\A';white-space:pre}.authorDetailsList dt{font-weight:bold}.authorDetailsList dd{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;margin-bottom:15px}.authorDetailsList dd a{color:#00635D}.authorSimilarAuthorsLink{padding:0 10px}.authorDistinctWorksLink{padding:0 10px;display:block;margin-bottom:10px}.authorFansLink{font-weight:bold}.authorInterviewsList{list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterview{margin-bottom:15px}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterviewAt{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterviewAt a{color:#00635D}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterviewTitle{display:block}.authorName{margin-bottom:10px}.authorShortBio{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif}.authorShortBio a{color:#00635D}.authorQuotesLink{margin-bottom:15px}.quotesList{border-top:1px solid #CCCCCC;margin-top:15px}.quotesPage{margin-left:10px}.noQuotes{margin-top:15px} I don't think much about my physical body going off into the long, green fairways of Heaven to play golf. The ultimate meaning of the Bible escapes human limits and calls us to a recognition that every life is holy, every life is loved, and every life is called to be all that that life is capable of being. If I could not move my search beyond angelic messengers, empty tombs, and ghostlike apparitions, I could not say yes to Easter. Although he has been a Christian his entire life, he does not believe it makes him superior to anyone. Let me say that I consider myself a deep believer in the reality of God. gads.src = (useSSL ? for(var i=0; i Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. You can't go to church without praying ten or fifteen times for God to have mercy on you. apstag.init({ John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. By popular demand, here are his conservations with Tapestry from 2007 and 2009. Most of the noise comes from the shallow end. Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. . Let's pretend that we possess the objective truth of God in our inerrant Scriptures or in our infallible pronouncements or in our unbroken apostolic traditions. If God is a source of love, then the only way I can worship God is by loving, loving wastefully, he said. var ue_t0=window.ue_t0||+new Date(); It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. I describe God as the source of life and the source of love and the ground of being. stylesheet.type = "text/css"; It opens up all sorts of things that I've never thought about. } Behind the supernatural framework of the first century, behind the language of myth, magic, and superstition, I discovered a life I wanted to know; a life that possessed a power I wanted to possess; a freedom, a wholeness for which I had yearned for years. googletag.enableServices(); //]]> Kelly assists on a wide variety . "The older I get, the more deeply I believe but the. So who is God? It is not necessarily words addressed heavenward. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. "There is no longer Jew nor Greek. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; This page was last edited on 13 September 2021, at 21:11. If that is a requirement of my commitment to Jesus, I . I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God. window.csa("Config", { I know rather that the sun, around which my planet Earth revolves, is a middle sized star in a galaxy called the Milky Way that has over a hundred billion other suns or stars within it. He is representative of a stream of thought with roots in the medieval universalism of Peter Abelard and the existentialism of Paul Tillich, whom he called his favorite theologian. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. John Shelby Spong 26. In a 2013 interview with Religion News Service, Spong spoke about his own spirituality and beliefs, which he said had grown deeper as he aged. If God is the ground of being, then the only way I can worship God is by having the courage to be all that I can be, Spong said. And that's where it turns demonic. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Learn more. You learn that you either are going to have a police state where you dont have any freedom left, or youre going to build a world that doesnt create terrorists and that means a whole different way of getting along.. I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my world. // Idolatry is religion pretending that it has all the answers. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("grsession", "osid.a1fff312af8a1d2b3b241fa9193829a2"); " They amuse themselves by playing an irrelevant ecclesiastical game called "Let's Pretend." John Shelby Spong Life, Want, Reason, Normal Generate image I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. It calls us beyond our limits into the fullness of life - into a capacity to love people we are not taught to love - and into an ability to be who we are. Introducing John Shelby Spong the Rt. The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Spong said this means human division must disappear. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. When Im asked to define God, Im almost wordless. He is a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author. The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love, p.12, Harper Collins. Spong said this means human division must disappear. node.parentNode.insertBefore(gads, node); John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 - September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. } catch (err) { Christianity has always been an evolving story. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. "Bishop John Shelby Spong On: The Resurrection" The Christian Faith was born in the experience that we have come to call Easter. Giving It All Quotes Page 34 Part 2 of the giving it all quotations list about premature-birth and baby-shower sayings citing John Shelby Spong, Eve Ensler and Milo Ventimiglia captions Now, the fourth gospel says that the moment that Jesus is glorified is the moment he's put to death on the cross, not the resurrection. John Shelby Spong Related Authors googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); [3], Spong was one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy, in 1977, and he was the first to ordain an openly gay man, Robert Williams, in 1989. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. var useSSL = "https:" == document.location.protocol; } I live on the other side of Charles Darwin and I can no longer see human light as having been created perfect and falling into sin, I see us rather emerging into higher and higher levels of consciousness and higher and higher levels of complication. Tweet. I describe God as the source of life and the source of love and the ground of being." John Shelby Spong Life Love God Day "Mother Nature is not sweet." 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. A.async = !0; window.Mobvious.device_type = 'mobile'; Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. 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. And thats immoral. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. "Events.SushiEndpoint": "https://unagi.amazon.com/1/events/com.amazon.csm.csa.prod", God is also a source of love, Spong said. True religion is not about possessing the truth. googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); I live on the other side of Charles Darwin and I can no longer see human light as having been created perfect and falling into sin, I see us rather emerging into higher and higher levels of consciousness and higher and higher levels of complication. Every day we present the best quotes! I could not believe that anyone who has read this book would be so foolish as to proclaim that the Bible in every literal word was the divinely inspired, inerrant word of God. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. I was baptized as an infant. John Shelby Spong 27. Are they blinded by a combination of ego needs and navet? There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrowminded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Rev. The author of this book is not a single individual, but is at least three different writers/editors, who did their layered work over a period of 25 to 30 years. 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. 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