It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. var cookies = document.cookie.split('; '); 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. He believed that theism had lost credibility as a valid conception of God's nature. Williams described Spong's Twelve Points for Reform as embodying "confusion and misinterpretation". [5] Spong also honors Robinson as a mentor in the opening pages of his 2002 book A New Christianity for a New World. 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. That is what Jesus meant and thats what the original Christ experience was, before we became Scripture defenders, and before the creeds became the essence of our faith.. }); I do not live in a world where people can walk on water, or still a storm, or take five loaves of bread and feed 5000 men plus women and children. 5:44) and never to call others by demeaning or hurtful names (Matt. He held visiting positions and gave lectures at major American theological institutions, most prominently at Harvard Divinity School. -- John Shelby Spong #Giving "I go where I'm invited. Although he has been a Christian his entire life, he does not believe it makes him superior to anyone. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, There is a mistake in the text of this quote. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. John Shelby Spong Quotes. 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. I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious. It meant to go beyond the boundaries of your religion, to go beyond your security system, to go beyond your fears. Integrity and honesty, not objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the theological enterprise can aspire. 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.. } I don't think much about my physical body going off into the long, green fairways of Heaven to play golf. I think that's not only tough, but ultimately disappointing to most people. I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies. Spong said this means human division must disappear. 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. As far as we know, a creaturewho can: define life, contemplates its beginning, anticipates its termination and raise the question of its meaning, is a rare thing, he said. There is no longer male nor female. Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. "ebfg_email", "ebfg_sms"]; Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people! . Are they people who God just didn't like? }; His admirers acclaim him as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson he's considered the champion of an inclusive faith by many, both . Contents 1 Quotes 1.1 Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (1991) 1.2 Resurrection: Myth or Reality? [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 human beings bear God's image and must be respected for what each person is. He sees himself against nature. It was never, even in the New Testament, a finished story. I prepare for death by living. 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. Weekly mailing, September 5, 2007. } else { We've got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. 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. 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. Therefore, no external description of one's being, whether based on race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, can properly be used as the basis for either rejection or discrimination. if (window.ue && window.ue.tag) { window.ue.tag('author:quotes:signed_out', ue.main_scope);window.ue.tag('author:quotes:signed_out:mobileWeb', ue.main_scope); } window.Mobvious.device_type = 'mobile'; I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. "Q&A on The Parliament of the World's Religions," weekly mailing, 2007-SEP-05, as reported on. 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 I call this God by different words. 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. 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. I believe that is what the God experience does for us. 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In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. 51. googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(true); Paul tried to explain to the Galatians what it meant to put on Christ in the verse that reads, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.. if (isRetina) { It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. 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. Spong was born in North Carolina in 1931. So if God is a source of life, then the only way I can appropriately worship God is by living fully.. While Paul left off there, Spong believes there is a lot more to modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines. According to Spong, when Matthew said to go and make disciples of all nations, he placed words in the mouth of the risen Jesus. John Shelby Spong 27. Weve got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. Use them as an inspiration. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. Bishop John Shelby Spong (1931-2021) One of the Episcopal Church's most controversial liberal bishops, whom IRD frequently critiqued, has died. } Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. 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. Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. To me, neither option is worth pursuing. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. That is a paradigm shift of the first order. It grew and developed year by year over a period of forty-two to seventy years. I do not live in a world where people can walk on water, or still a storm, or take five loaves of bread and feed 5000 men plus women and children. He claims he is a Christian yet he champions causes that historic Christianity has often . And so Christians began to define themselves over against the orthodox party of the Jews as a way of surviving against the Roman onslaught. Matthew was sounding the call to a universal humanity, Spong said. As a retired bishop, he was a member of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops. [21], Mark Tooley, a Methodist who is president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a think tank noted for its critique of liberal religious groups, criticized Spong in 2010 as "brandishing the stale theologies and ideologies of a half-century ago". A I don't think you can locate God or define God. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. It is not necessarily words addressed heavenward. url = "https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/mobile/phone_images-9e9093f0cfddba8c2b1e815375d976a3.css"; John Shelby Spong is an influential public speaker, writer and media figure. Bishop John Shelby Spong, an Episcopal Church prelate whose liberal views rankled orthodox Episcopalians and others, died in his sleep Sunday morning, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Morris. That is a paradigm shift of the first order. If the resurrection of Jesus cannot be believed except by assenting to the fantastic descriptions included in the Gospels, then Christianity is doomed. g = p.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; 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. 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. I believe God is real, but I believe God calls me beyond myself to take responsibility for my life and to try top work to allow other people to be themselves and to take responsibility for their lives. Let me say that I consider myself a deep believer in the reality of God. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. He retired in 2000. "[24], Spong died in sleep at his home in Richmond, Virginia, on September 12, 2021, at the age of 90. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. Next, was his belief that God is a source of life. 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. Then there was Paul. 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. " John Shelby Spong 83. No religion does that. 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. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. Spong said this means human division must disappear. He is representative of a stream of thought with roots in the medieval universalism of Peter Abelard and the existentialism of Paul Tillich, whom he called his favorite theologian. In the way that God brought oneness out of diversity, wholeness out of brokenness and eternity out of time, Spong realized the version of faith he wanted to spread. [22] Following Spong's death, Tooley told The Washington Times that "he [Spong] claimed that he was making religion relevant for a new generation who could not believe in the supernatural, often citing his daughters. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. Our motto is: Don't quote it if you can't source it. It opens up all sorts of things that I've never thought about. I describe God as the source of life and the source of love and the ground of being. Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. Both papal infallibility and biblical inerrancy require widespread and unchallenged ignorance to sustain their claims to power. The Christian story did not drop from heaven fully written. - John Shelby Spong. Idolatry is religion pretending that it has all the answers. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. "Application": "GoodreadsMonolith", Now, that job belongs to everyone in the Christian faith who wishes to carry out his vision to fruition. The church is like a swimming pool. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("signedin", "false"); The Rt. Almost any poll of regular churchgoers will reveal that their favorite book in the New Testament is the Gospel of John. Favorite John Shelby Spong Quotes. John Shelby Spong Quote of the day Teach him to think for himself? Recipient of many awards, including 1999 Humanist of the Year,[6] Spong was a contributor to the Living the Questions DVD program and was a guest on numerous national television broadcasts (including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Dateline, 60 Minutes, and Larry King Live). Shelby Harris. Above all, words must be recognized as symbolic pointers to truth, not objective containers of truth. Spong claimed that his writings evoked both great support and great condemnation from differing segments of the Christian church. } For the reformation to work, Spong said creeds can no longer be used to bring Christians together. 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. From 1979 to 2000 he was Bishop of Newark (based in Newark, New Jersey). googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); Because that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake. Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Our English language really says if youre not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. 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. function getCookieWithoutJQuery(name) { John Shelby Spong has long been known as the "nightmare" of the more conservative element of the Anglican Church in America. After love, he shared his beliefs about experiencing God. John Shelby Spong 2 I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. It was this Easter experience that invested Jesus with a sense of ultimacy. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. var source = getCookieWithoutJQuery("source"); "Whatever it was that people experience in Jesus has today come to be identified with medieval doctrines based on premodern assumptions that are no longer believable. I rather experience God as the source of life willing me to live fully, the source of love calling me to love wastefully and to borrow a phrase from the theologian, Paul Tillich, as the Ground of being, calling me to be all that I can be. So who is God? I'm not in the comfort-giving business. [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. Jamie Landers is entering her third season as a reporter for The Chautauquan Daily, covering all things music-related within the online platform. 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. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. I think one of the things we've got to look out for is human beings claiming that they know how God operates. John Shelby Spong was born on June 16 1931 at Charlotte, North Carolina, the elder of two boys. And that's where it turns demonic. God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. I don't think so. John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. John Shelby Spong 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. I am content to learn from them and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us. (1994) 2 External links Quotes [ edit] It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. }, Some people think prayer is telling God what to do. shortquotes.blog 1,000,000++ Short Quotes This is an opportune time for those who identify with liberal Christianity to take a critical look at his legacy. That is not within human competence. And that's immoral. John Shelby Spong Believe, Trying, Calling 45 Copy quote I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. Many of the characters who appear in the pages of the Fourth Gospel are literary creations of its author and were never intended to be understood as real people, who actually lived in history. 14 "John Shelby Spong" Quotes And Sayings. 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. Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit organization, dependent upon your gifts to fulfill its mission. 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. He was 90 years old. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. The way you become divine is to become wholly human. if (window.csa) { I call this God by different words. Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. My experience is my ability to perceive God, but the nature of God is beyond my ability to describe., The same thing is true of Christianitys fundamental doctrine, known as the Incarnation., That doctrine makes Jesus not unlike the comic strip character Clark Kent who turned out to be Superman in the skies, he said. setDisplayBids: function() {}, It is the book that is most often used at Christian funerals. Plenty of people out there think of me as the Antichrist or the devil incarnate because I do not affirm the literal patterns of the Bible. And I don't mind saying that I don't invalidate any of those paths. John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 - September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. An Episcopal court ruled that homosexuality was not counter to its principles in 1996, and the church recognized same-sex marriages in 2015.[4]. I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. "Why We Must Reclaim The Bible From Fundamentalists". And thats immoral. // page settings //]]> if(cookiePair[0] === name) { As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three images of the Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward. He looks at the vastness of the universe and it looks hostile. Both are doomed as viable alternatives for the long- range future of anyone. 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. "Q&A on The Parliament of the World's Religions". window.csa("Events")("setEntity", { I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. The question must also be raised as to whether we have the actual words of Jesus in any Gospel. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("gr_author", "false"); (function() { 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. 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. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("resource", "author_45659"); googletag.enableServices(); Introducing John Shelby Spong the Rt. .__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.__prevent_empty_css_file{width:0}.authorModuleDropdownMenu{width:180px;border-left:1px solid #D8D8D8;border-right:1px solid #D8D8D8;border-top:1px solid #D8D8D8}.authorModuleDropdownMenu__dropdownLink,.authorModuleDropdownMenu__dropdownLink:hover{display:block;text-align:left;padding:12px;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", "Helvetica", sans-serif;font-size:14px;color:#000000;cursor:pointer}#authorInfo{display:-webkit-box;display:-moz-box;display:-ms-box;display:box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-moz-flex;display:-ms-flex;display:flex;padding:10px 10px 5px 10px}#authorInfo .authorInfoGroup{-webkit-box-flex:1;-moz-box-flex:1;-ms-box-flex:1;box-flex:1}#authorInfo .authorPhotoGroup{-webkit-box-flex:0;-moz-box-flex:0;-ms-box-flex:0;box-flex:0;margin-right:10px}#authorInfo .authorFollow{display:flex}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer{border-radius:3px;border:1px solid #D6D0C4;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", "Helvetica", sans-serif;font-size:14px;-moz-appearance:none;-o-appearance:none;-webkit-appearance:none;appearance:none;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none;color:#333333;background-color:#F4F1EA;line-height:1;padding:8px 12px;font-size:16px;padding:12px 24px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center;margin-left:0px;padding:0px;min-width:38px;height:32px;background-image:url(/assets/down-caret.png);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;float:right}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:disabled{border-color:#DDDDDD}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:hover{color:#333333;background-color:#ede6d6;text-decoration:none}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:active{background-color:#D6D0C4}#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer:disabled{background-color:#F3F3F3;color:#cccccc}@media (max-width: 540px){#authorInfo .authorFollow .authorDropdownContainer{min-width:20px;width:27px}}#authorBooks{*zoom:1}#authorBooks:after{content:"";display:table;clear:both}#authorBooks .sectionTitle{border-top:1px solid #CCCCCC;padding:10px 10px 0 10px;margin:0}.accordionContent{padding:0 10px}.authorBio{padding:0 10px;margin-bottom:10px}.authorBooksMeta{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;padding:0 10px}.authorBooksMeta a{color:#00635D}.authorBooksTotalReviewCount:before,.authorBooksTotalRatingCount:before{content:"\00b7"}.authorDetailsList dt,.authorDetailsList dd{display:inline;margin:0}.authorDetailsList dd:after{content:'\A';white-space:pre}.authorDetailsList dt{font-weight:bold}.authorDetailsList dd{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;margin-bottom:15px}.authorDetailsList dd a{color:#00635D}.authorSimilarAuthorsLink{padding:0 10px}.authorDistinctWorksLink{padding:0 10px;display:block;margin-bottom:10px}.authorFansLink{font-weight:bold}.authorInterviewsList{list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterview{margin-bottom:15px}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterviewAt{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterviewAt a{color:#00635D}.authorInterviewsList .authorInterviewTitle{display:block}.authorName{margin-bottom:10px}.authorShortBio{color:#999999;font-family:"Lato", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif}.authorShortBio a{color:#00635D}.authorQuotesLink{margin-bottom:15px}.quotesList{border-top:1px solid #CCCCCC;margin-top:15px}.quotesPage{margin-left:10px}.noQuotes{margin-top:15px} Elaborating on this last idea, he affirmed that Jesus was adopted by God as his son (Born of a Woman 1992), and he says that this would be the way God was fully incarnated in Jesus Christ. We've collected the best John Shelby Spong Quotes. And this came after I had written a book called "Living In Sin" on the whole gay. [CDATA[ I know rather that the sun, around which my planet Earth revolves, is a middle sized star in a galaxy called the Milky Way that has over a hundred billion other suns or stars within it. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. A.async = !0; I just go beyond them. "//securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"; } " Live life to it's fullest, love wastefully, and be all we can be. It meant go beyond the boundaries that you directed in your biologically driven search for survival.. There's an awful lot of biblical ignorance, and the church perpetuates that ignorance. 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.. note: he retired years after this article was first written]. The biblical texts that we Christians have used for centuries to justify our hostility toward the Jews need to be banished forever from the sacred writings of the Christian church. Rev. John Shelby Spong > Quotes (?) Learn more. //

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