I can only give away the love that I have received. When Im asked to define God, Im almost wordless. He is as radically liberal as it is possible to be and still maintain a nominal identification with the name "Christian.". If the resurrection of Jesus cannot be believed except by assenting to the fantastic descriptions included in the Gospels, then Christianity is doomed. John Shelby Spong 26. When the dust settles and the pages of history are written, it will not be the angry defenders of intolerance who have made the difference. He looks at the vastness of the universe and it looks hostile. It has nothing to do with time periods, whether three days, forty days, or fifty days. } (1994) 2 External links Quotes [ edit] It was this Easter experience that invested Jesus with a sense of ultimacy. Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit organization, dependent upon your gifts to fulfill its mission. I want the traditional family upheld, but I dont want it upheld to the detriment of other people. The reward will go to those who dared to step outside the safety of their privacy in order to expose and rout the prevailing prejudices. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. } if (sourcesToHideBuyFeatures[i] == source) It opens up all sorts of things that I've never thought about. The way you become divine is to become wholly human. In academia, I discovered that issues and insights, commonplace among the scholars, are viewed as highly controversial and even as 'heresy' in the churches. var ue_id = "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY"; It is not by pitching the old insights out but by journeying deeply through them into new visions that we are able to change religion's direction. }, May your reign come. It is because of that early work that he did and all of the work that built on it that lets me wear a purple shirt today, said Robinson, who currently serves as Chautauquas vice president of religion and senior pastor. 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." John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. Spong described his own life as a journey from the literalism and conservative theology of his childhood to an expansive view of Christianity. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. 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. 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. var cookies = document.cookie.split('; '); The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Because as he becomes self-conscious, hes no longer part of nature. Have these people simply not read the text? 51. "Events.SushiEndpoint": "https://unagi.amazon.com/1/events/com.amazon.csm.csa.prod", "[24], Spong died in sleep at his home in Richmond, Virginia, on September 12, 2021, at the age of 90. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Christianity has always been an evolving story. Spong claimed that his writings evoked both great support and great condemnation from differing segments of the Christian church. Spong's calendar had him lecturing around the world. It was never, even in the New Testament, a finished story. I operate with an emotional fearlessness, and I really feel music; I really feel songs. }, return null; 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." Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. " Live life to it's fullest, love wastefully, and be all we can be. I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. Almost any poll of regular churchgoers will reveal that their favorite book in the New Testament is the Gospel of John. So who is God? " John Shelby Spong 84. var ue_sn = "www.goodreads.com"; 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 I were a child of Tibet or of Arabia, I suspect the path I'd walk would be the Buddhist path or the Muslim path. The tour coincided with Hollingworth leaving the diocese to become the Governor-General of Australia. 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. Matthew was not alone in his understanding of Jesus message. } Top John Shelby Spong Quotes. True religion is not about possessing the truth. The way you become divine is to become wholly human. That is not within the capacity of the human mind to embrace the nature of God.. q("i", arguments) function(a9, a, p, s, t, A, g) { John Shelby Spong Buddhist, Prayer, Believe Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. googletag.enableServices(); He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. Hollingworth said that it was not an appropriate moment for Spong to "engage congregations in matters that could prove theologically controversial". I was baptized as an infant. Jesus was undeniably a figure of history. 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It's a group of essays by mostly womanly scholars looking at Matthew's gospel through feminists' eyes - very exciting. John Shelby "Jack" Spongis a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church. All human beings bear God's image and must be respected for what each person is. No one can finally say. Our English language really says if youre not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. return true; if (window.Mobvious === undefined) { John Shelby Spong 25. //]]> })(); Now they are people who have not found in institutional religion a God big enough to be God for their world. " John Shelby Spong 83. 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. In the way Jesus, whether being praised with flattery or diminished by the threat of death, remained unchanged, Spong was moved to affirm his faith. "[2], Spong served as rector of St. Joseph's Church in Durham, North Carolina, from 1955 to 1957; rector of Calvary Parish, Tarboro, North Carolina, from 1957 to 1965; rector of St. John's Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, from 1965 to 1969; and rector of St. Paul's Church in Richmond, Virginia, from 1969 to 1976. John Shelby Spong Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? Integrity and honesty, not objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the theological enterprise can aspire. Idolatry is religion pretending that it has all the answers. And all I can tell you is if we accepted every invitation we had, I'd be away every day of my life." -- John Shelby Spong #Accepted #Invitations "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. [8], Spong's writings rely on Biblical and non-Biblical sources and were influenced by modern critical analysis of these sources (see especially Spong, 1991). Above all, words must be recognized as symbolic pointers to truth, not objective containers of truth. var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; Idolatry is religion pretending that it has all the answers. 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. // page settings 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. I think the best way to view the Gospels is to view them as a magnificent portrait being painted by Jewish artists to try to capture the essence of a God experience that they believe they had with Jesus of Nazareth. Introducing John Shelby Spong the Rt. When I stand in the presence of this God who inhabits the heart of life, I know just why I define myself as a joyful . Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. I experience God as the source of life calling me to live fully and thus to respect life in every form as embodying the holy. window.Mobvious = {}; The Christians tried to separate themselves from the Jewish crowd so they wouldn't be the recipients of the persecution of the Romans. He looks at the vastness of the universe and it looks hostile. He sees himself against nature. In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. Learn more. //]]> Bishop John Shelby Spong (1931-2021) One of the Episcopal Church's most controversial liberal bishops, whom IRD frequently critiqued, has died. 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 . for(var i=0; i= 2; // retina display In a 2013 interview, Spong credited the Anglican bishop John Robinson as his mentor in this journey and said reading Robinson's writings in the 1960s led to a friendship and mentoring relationship with him over many years. 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. There's an awful lot of biblical ignorance, and the church perpetuates that ignorance. g.parentNode.insertBefore(A, g) From 1979 to 2000 he was Bishop of Newark. John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 - September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. John Shelby Spong Quotes. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. session: { id: "242-2972433-4130551" }, John Shelby Spong > Quotes (?) _Q: [] But I'm not fighting as the man he knew today, as a Gold. "Walking into the Mystery of God" by John Shelby Spong, www.uua.org. He was 90 years old. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("surface", "mw"); Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. [11] Towards these ends, he called for a new Reformation, in which many of Christianity's basic doctrines should be reformulated.[1]. 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. }()); 14 "John Shelby Spong" Quotes And Sayings. var ue_t0=window.ue_t0||+new Date(); Robinson, who is the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop in Christendom, attributes the opportunity he had to serve as a leader in the church to Spong, who he said supported LGBT rights before it was popular. The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two thousand years. At its very core the story of Easter has nothing to do with angelic announcements or empty tombs. Commandments in his courtroom John because I never could find the humanity Jesus. ) ) ; he calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional.! 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