All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. It caused his followers to regard his teaching as worthy of being preserved. 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. BrainyQuote has been providing inspirational quotes since 2001 to our worldwide community. John Shelby Spong Quotes. 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. 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. 25:30)? You cant have a world where 50 percent of the people are dieting and 50 percent of the people are starving if you want stability. Last edited on 13 September 2021, at 21:11, "Why We Must Reclaim The Bible From Fundamentalists", https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=John_Shelby_Spong&oldid=3004716. It meant to go beyond the boundaries of your religion, to go beyond your security system, to go beyond your fears. " I go where I'm invited. Is there a different Bible? 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. "//securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"; I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. 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. [5] Spong also honors Robinson as a mentor in the opening pages of his 2002 book A New Christianity for a New World. Although he has been a Christian his entire life, he does not believe it makes him superior to anyone. 23:33), "blind fools" (Matt. if (window.Mobvious === undefined) { Tweets by @chqdaily Theism is dead, I joyfully proclaim, but God is real. But the fact is I can no more abandon the literal patterns than I could fly to the moon. Tweet. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. 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. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. And so Christians began to define themselves over against the orthodox party of the Jews as a way of surviving against the Roman onslaught. [25] The notice was announced by the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, where Spong had once been rector.[26][27]. John Shelby Spong Quotes. var ue_id = "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY"; Incarnation will never give us that.. John Shelby Spong (16 June 1931 - 12 September 2021) Introduction. [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. a[a9]._Q.push([c, r]) Jerry Falwell says, on Pat Robertson's program, that the reason we got attacked on 9/11 is that we were accommodating the ACLU and abortion and homosexuals and feminists in America, so God smacked us down. Why dont we understand that? Because that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake. From 1979 to 2000 he was Bishop of Newark (based in Newark, New Jersey). His views on the future of Christianity were "that we have to start where we are. Use them as an inspiration. for(var i=0; i= 2; // retina display [9], A prominent theme in Spong's writing was that the popular and literal interpretations of Christian scripture are not sustainable and do not speak honestly to the situation of modern Christian communities. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. 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 don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. 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. To me, neither option is worth pursuing. 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. Above all, words must be recognized as symbolic pointers to truth, not objective containers of truth. var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; 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 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.. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. However, there was one last thing he wanted to add. " John Shelby Spong 2. He has had honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees conferred on him by Virginia Theological Seminary and Saint Paul's College, Virginia, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters conferred by Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. "Application": "GoodreadsMonolith", John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. A.src = t; , var gptAdSlots = gptAdSlots || []; 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 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. While Paul left off there, Spong believes there is a lot more to modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines. He was a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author. I think the worst way to go is to have somebody think they speak for God. This self-denigration stuff - Jesus died for my sins - is nothing but a guilt message. 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. Even in the widest variety of our humanity, in our deepest set of beliefs, there is no outcast in this community, he said. } var e = document.createElement("script"); e.src = "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mrkPcyPwL.js"; document.head.appendChild(e); if (isRetina) { John Shelby "Jack" Spongis a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church. 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