He began by admitting he still has no way of knowing who or what God is. 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. So who is God? 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 . Are they blinded by a combination of ego needs and navet? If you begin to give people hope that there is a brighter future, there is a new tomorrow, then the people who were yesterday's terrorists become tomorrow's elected officials and they're part of the system. return false; //= 2; // retina display The tour coincided with Hollingworth leaving the diocese to become the Governor-General of Australia. g = p.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; He is as radically liberal as it is possible to be and still maintain a nominal identification with the name "Christian.". I think religion in general and Christianity in particular must always be evolving. window.csa("Config", { "CacheDetection.RequestID": "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY", The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history. John Shelby Spong 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. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. After love, he shared his beliefs about experiencing God. // url = "https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/mobile/phone_hd_images-2b89833762f600506d44865a33582d11.css"; Is there a different Bible? init: function() { The Bible was written between 3,000 and 2,000 years ago, and it's filled with the knowledge that people had in that period of time, some of which you and I rejected long ago. 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. I'm interested in penetrating the meaning of certainty. God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. 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.. Almost any poll of regular churchgoers will reveal that their favorite book in the New Testament is the Gospel of John. He stated that he was a Christian because he believes that Jesus Christ fully expressed the presence of a God of compassion and selfless love and that this is the meaning of the early Christian proclamation, "Jesus is Lord" (Spong, 1994 and Spong, 1991). 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. [CDATA[ God Is Real. - John Shelby Spong. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. John Shelby Spong 82. 5:22), yet he called his enemies a "brood of snakes" (Matt. John Shelby Spong 25. 1. There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrow-minded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. That is not within human competence. 12 Vaganova Ballet Famous Sayings, Quotes and Quotation. I believe that God is very real. He was the eleventh Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, New York from 1988 until 2000. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. Every day we present the best quotes! Weve got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; If God is a source of love, then the only way I can worship God is by loving, loving wastefully, he said. 14 "John Shelby Spong" Quotes And Sayings. The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Previously, she recapped the Chautauqua Lecture Series in 2019 and the Interfaith Lecture Series in 2018. a[a9] = { _Q: [] All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. And I have no reason to abandon it because it leads to where I want to go. document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(stylesheet); Weekly mailing, September 5, 2007. BrainyQuote has been providing inspirational quotes since 2001 to our worldwide community. He is also Bishop of Newark in New Jersey [Ed. a[a9]._Q.push([c, r]) } John Shelby Spong Quotes 1. He was a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author. [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. 25:30)? var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. Steve has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. John Shelby Spong 26. }("apstag", window, document, "script", "//c.amazon-adsystem.com/aax2/apstag.js"); Rev. if (sourcesToHideBuyFeatures[i] == source) We do not have to literalize their words to perceive their meaning or their intention to join in the singing of their creedal song. John Shelby Spong. googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); "My mind, my integrity, my intellectual questioning, and my God-experience all come together in this new image. "There is no longer Jew nor Greek. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. He called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. 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. Have these people simply not read the text? 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. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. Jamie Landers is entering her third season as a reporter for The Chautauquan Daily, covering all things music-related within the online platform. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1955. Rev. Spong was born in North Carolina in 1931. I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God. [CDATA[ If the resurrection of Jesus cannot be believed except by assenting to the fantastic descriptions included in the Gospels, then Christianity is doomed. shortquotes.blog 1,000,000++ Short Quotes })(); 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. Doctrines are never a description or definitionof our God experience. But the fact is I can no more abandon the literal patterns than I could fly to the moon. return cookiePair[1]; 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. q("i", arguments) I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. [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. JOHN SHELBY SPONG: The first homosexual person that I ordained knowingly was a man named Robert Williams. (wikipedia) Born On June 16, 1931. All you can do is define the human experience of God, and that might be delusional. The john shelby spong quotes Diocese of Rochester, New York from 1988 until 2000 is the word of Episcopal. And the Bible was quoted to defend slavery and the Bible from (. 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