Forcing the evolution is the dialog between yesterday's words and today's knowledge. 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. The author made sure that it was understood as a universal happening, Spong said. A I don't think you can locate God or define God. And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. John Shelby Spong (16 June 1931 - 12 September 2021) Introduction. I think one of the things we've got to look out for is human beings claiming that they know how God operates. I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. "The older I get, the more deeply I believe but the. "There is no longer Jew nor Greek. From 1979 to 2000, he was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. 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." John Shelby Spong Quotes. John Shelby Spong Quote of the day Teach him to think for himself? He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952. There is a mistake in the text of this quote. There is no way that the Fourth Gospel was written by John Zebedee or by any of the disciples of Jesus. googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); 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. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. googletag.cmd.push(function() { Part 2 of the all things quotations list about every-one and in-its-entirety sayings citing Jay Baruchel, David Frum and David Frum captions. It is love that loves not because it has been earned. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (1991), Remarkable Last Words (or Near-Last Words), Why Christianity Must Change or Die (1998), A New Christianity for a New World (2001), The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic (2013). V. Gene Robinson was able to publicly thank the man he said are the shoulders on which (Robinson) stands.. Terrorism is a real despair. if (isRetina) { And I don't mind saying that I don't invalidate any of those paths. } catch (err) { John Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture . Every day we present the best quotes! He looks at the vastness of the universe and it looks hostile. 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. Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, There is a mistake in the text of this quote. 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. var ue_furl = "fls-na.amazon.com"; All we can ever say is how we believe we have experienced God, doing our best to dispel our human delusions. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Even in the widest variety of our humanity, in our deepest set of beliefs, there is no outcast in this community, he said. Favorite John Shelby Spong Quotes. 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." According to Spong, when Matthew said to go and make disciples of all nations, he placed words in the mouth of the risen Jesus. "Christ must be served in every person," he said. Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. 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.. In the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. } else { 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. He claims he is a Christian yet he champions causes that historic Christianity has often . 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. I do not think so. Spong claimed that his writings evoked both great support and great condemnation from differing segments of the Christian church. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. return true; I think that's not only tough, but ultimately disappointing to most people. 51. 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. The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new dimensions of life which our religious boundaries - creeds, atonement theologies - have kept us from experiencing. Spong was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and educated in public schools there. All you can do is define the human experience of God, and that might be delusional. God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("sid", "osid.a1fff312af8a1d2b3b241fa9193829a2"); 23:17). How divine is the message that says for your finite failings you will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 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 . 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. Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. 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. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("surface", "mw"); 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 . for(var i=0; i