var useSSL = "https:" == document.location.protocol; !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? The question must also be raised as to whether we have the actual words of Jesus in any Gospel. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. Spong said the only way his mission can be successful is if his mantra is carried out without any set of boundaries. With the passing of retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong in September 2021, the movement known as Progressive Christianity has lost one of its most revered writers. 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 operate with an emotional fearlessness, and I really feel music; I really feel songs. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.[1]. It is not necessarily words addressed heavenward. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("sid", "osid.a1fff312af8a1d2b3b241fa9193829a2"); Ibid., p. 288. During Chautauquas nine-week summer season, the, Iconic Chita Rivera to provide Chautauquans with one of final Amp performances in 22, Incoming pastor Rt. Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God. John Shelby Spong (16 June 1931 - 12 September 2021) Introduction. Christ must be served in every person, he said. }); Integrity and honesty, not objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the theological enterprise can aspire. True religion is not about possessing the truth. } We were told in the Second Commandment we could make no images of this God, and I don't think that means just building idols, I think that means also trying to believe you've captured God in your words, in the Creeds, in the Scriptures. Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? John Shelby Spong Buddhist, Prayer, Believe Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("signedin", "false"); John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. g.parentNode.insertBefore(A, g) There can be no one regarded as unclean, no prejudice allowed to operate inside this vision of Christianity., Since then, he has answered the call to try to transform the world so that every person living in it will have a better opportunity to live fully, love wastefully and be all each of them was created to be.. var source = getCookieWithoutJQuery("source"); The Christian story did not drop from heaven fully written. It caused his followers to regard his teaching as worthy of being preserved. I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. [CDATA[ I live on the other side of Copernicus and Galileo; I can no longer conceive of God as sort of above the sky, looking down and keeping record books. if (isRetina) { [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. "[17], Spong's ideas have been criticized by some other theologians, notably in 1998 by Rowan Williams, the Bishop of Monmouth, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He retired in 2000. 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. "https://":"http://";i+=f?g:k;i+=j;i+=h;c(i)}if(!e.ue_inline){if(a.loadUEFull){a.loadUEFull()}else{b()}}a.uels=c;e.ue=a})(window,document); I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. Rev. "Events.SushiEndpoint": "https://unagi.amazon.com/1/events/com.amazon.csm.csa.prod", for(var i=0; i The Bible has lost every major battle it has ever fought. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. John Shelby Spong God, Thinking, People 57 Copy quote I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. In academia, I discovered that issues and insights, commonplace among the scholars, are viewed as highly controversial and even as 'heresy' in the churches. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. "[24], Spong died in sleep at his home in Richmond, Virginia, on September 12, 2021, at the age of 90. googletag.enableServices(); There's a Psalm that says "Happy will you be when you take your enemy's children and dash their heads against the stones." There is no one who has been braver and ready to take whatever came his way for saving the truth., At 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 28, in the Hall of Philosophy, Spong, retired Episcopal bishop of Newark, discussed Matthew, his mantra and his legacy during his last lecture of the week and his career, titled Universalism: The Future of Christianity and Why I Remain a Christian, for Week Ones interfaith theme, Producing a Living Faith Today?, Todays the day, Spong said. This is an opportune time for those who identify with liberal Christianity to take a critical look at his legacy. The way that I see Christianity is that its role is to enhance the life of every person. John Shelby Spong (born November 29, 1935) is an American Episcopal priest and author. Apologetic explanations do not develop unless there is a reality that has to be explained and defended. I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my world. I want the traditional family upheld, but I dont want it upheld to the detriment of other people. We've collected the best John Shelby Spong Quotes. John Shelby Spong When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. The Bible is full of dreadful things. Every day we present the best quotes! John Shelby Spong died this past summer at the age of 90. Spong was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and educated in public schools there. shortquotes.blog 1,000,000++ Short Quotes } 30 Quotes By "John Shelby Spong" For People Who Know Exactly How It Feels To Be Cheated On.The best 30 Quotes Of "John Shelby Spong" That Will Help Through Your Entire Damn Life. 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. All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. Rev. 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 . Favorite John Shelby Spong Quotes. Jesus becomes the captive of the hysterically religious, the chronically fearful, the insecure and even the neurotic among us, or he becomes little more than a fading memory, the symbol of an age that is no more and a nostalgic reminder of our believing past. There is no longer male nor female. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. 5:44) and never to call others by demeaning or hurtful names (Matt. I thought it presented Jesus as a visitor from another planet; in addition, Johns gospel is and has been interpreted as a document that fuels anti-Semitism in the church. Idolatry is religion pretending that it has all the answers. Spong's calendar had him lecturing around the world. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends. window.csa("Events")("setEntity", { 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. 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. The trouble with Christianity was that by about 150, there were hardly any Jews left in the Christian church, and so from that time until the last part of the twentieth century, the only people reading the gospels and interpreting the gospels and writing . It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. The question must also be raised as to whether we have the actual words of Jesus in any Gospel. [19][20] After Spong's book Jesus for the Non-Religious was published in 2007, Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, banned Spong from preaching at any churches in his diocese. 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 . In 2005, he wrote: "[I have] immerse[d] myself in contemporary Biblical scholarship at such places as Union Theological Seminary in New York City, Yale Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School and the storied universities in Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge. } John Shelby Spong. 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. I'm interested in penetrating the meaning of certainty. Some people think prayer is telling God what to do. John Shelby Spong Quotes. I don't think much about my physical body going off into the long, green fairways of Heaven to play golf. " I go where I'm invited. It is not necessarily words addressed heavenward. 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. if(cookiePair[0] === name) { 5:22), yet he called his enemies a "brood of snakes" (Matt. What Im trying to do is develop a language that will enable us to talk about God beyond the, what I think, are sterile categories of theism and atheism. The church is like a swimming pool. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1955. "The older I get, the more deeply I believe but the. Now, that job belongs to everyone in the Christian faith who wishes to carry out his vision to fruition. An Episcopal court ruled that homosexuality was not counter to its principles in 1996, and the church recognized same-sex marriages in 2015.[4]. 'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Copyright 2018 Chautauqua Institution "Events.Namespace": "csa", Introducing John Shelby Spong the Rt. Weekly mailing, September 5, 2007. 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. It is love that loves not because it has been earned. Spong, Resurrection Myth or Reality, p. 287. There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrow-minded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. I think religion in general and Christianity in particular must always be evolving. He was 90 years old. John Shelby Spong has long been known as the "nightmare" of the more conservative element of the Anglican Church in America. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Rev. try { " We walk into the mystery of God; we do not define that mystery. Spong claimed that his writings evoked both great support and great condemnation from differing segments of the Christian church. As I look at the history of religion, I observe that new religious insights always and only emerge from the old traditions as they begin to die. The Rt. He believed in a more nuanced approach to scripture, informed by scholarship and compassion, which can be consistent with both Christian tradition and contemporary understandings of the universe. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. 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