And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. "The older I get, the more deeply I believe but the. // Now they are people who have not found in institutional religion a God big enough to be God for their world. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1955. Jesus could not have imagined such an idea as Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. ", Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Almost any poll of regular churchgoers will reveal that their favorite book in the New Testament is the Gospel of John. He believed that theism had lost credibility as a valid conception of God's nature. I just go beyond them. I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my world. John Shelby Spong Quotes "God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. }, Rev. 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. Rev. }); He sees himself against nature. By contrast, Phillip Aspinall, the Primate of Australia, invited Spong in 2007 to deliver two sermons at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. At its very core the story of Easter has nothing to do with angelic announcements or empty tombs. A lot of people hear me attacking their certainty. Spong said this means human division must disappear. Papal infallibility and biblical inerrancy are the two ecclesiastical versions of this human idolatry. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. } During Chautauquas nine-week summer season, the, Iconic Chita Rivera to provide Chautauquans with one of final Amp performances in 22, Incoming pastor Rt. About us. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. By popular demand, here are his conservations with Tapestry from 2007 and 2009. How tasteless and ill-bred it is! JOHN SHELBY SPONG: The first homosexual person that I ordained knowingly was a man named Robert Williams. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. J.B. Heller Quotes James Whitfield Thomson Quotes Jeanne A. Estes Quotes John Shelby Spong Quotes Julien Temple Quotes Lenny Kravitz Quotes Merrell Fankhauser Quotes Nicole Green Quotes Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn Quotes Priya Rawal Quotes S. Andrew Swann Quotes Scott F. Gilbert Quotes })(); Our English language really says if youre not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. Learn more. There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrowminded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. 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. Integrity and honesty, not objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the theological enterprise can aspire. My mantra is intended only to be my statement at this time, of where I am today (and) the place of which I have arrived on what might be the last days of my journey, he said. "My mind, my integrity, my intellectual questioning, and my God-experience all come together in this new image. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. window.csa("Config", { That is not what most Christians have been taught to think, but it is factual. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends. [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). I do not think so. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; It meant to go beyond the boundaries of your religion, to go beyond your security system, to go beyond your fears. John Shelby Spong Quotes. 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. All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. If I could not move my search beyond angelic messengers, empty tombs, and ghostlike apparitions, I could not say yes to Easter. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? (function() { The creeds were 3rd- and 4th-century love songs that people composed to sing to their understanding of God. When charting a new reformation, we must engage in a task of getting even deeper into the vision of universalism, he said. The Christianity of the future cannot live inside the doctrines of the past, Spong said. window.csa("Events")("setEntity", { 5:22), yet he called his enemies a "brood of snakes" (Matt. Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. //=0){return}if("ue_https" in e){f=e.ue_https}else{f=e.location&&e.location.protocol=="https:"?1:0}i=f? Spong described his own life as a journey from the literalism and conservative theology of his childhood to an expansive view of Christianity. "//securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"; From 1979 to 2000, he was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. I might define God quite differently from the way some people in the Christian faith would do so, but I do not doubt the reality of that experience. In academia, I discovered that issues and insights, commonplace among the scholars, are viewed as highly controversial and even as heresy in the churches. The Bible has lost every major battle it has ever fought. That's the thing we've got to get out from under. var ue_sn = "www.goodreads.com"; } John Shelby Spong 1 Mother Nature is not sweet. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. . 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