Examining Politics in America on our 231st Birthday
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 4 2007As our nation pauses to celebrate its birthday many things
vie for our people’s attention. There is the drain of human
life and treasure in the ill-begotten, mismanaged …
This is Not the Word of the Lord!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 27 2007I went to my own parish church on a Sunday in June. The music was
excellent. The sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. James Jones, an honorary
and …
The Lambeth Conference of 2008 and the Curious Behavior of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 20 2007The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Honorable and Most
Reverend Rowan Williams, announced recently that he would not invite the Rt.
Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Bishop …
The Third Fundamental: The Substitution by Death of Jesus on the Cross Brings Salvation, Part III
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 13 2007Like the first two of the five Fundamentals that we have thus far examined, this third one has also become not just unbelievable but bizarre to modern ears. …
The Third Fundamental: The Substitution by Death of Jesus on the Cross Brings Salvation, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 6 2007Last week we began our analysis of the third fundamental that
traditional Christians stated, in the Tractarian Movement in the early years
of the 20th century, was basic …
The Substitutionary Death of Jesus on the Cross Alone Brings Salvation: Part One
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 30 2007It is hard in our generation to put into a single sentence the substance
of the Third Fundamental that traditional Christians, at the beginning of
the 20th century, …
The Death of Jerry Falwell
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 23 2007He represented everything that repels me about religion. He was
closed-minded, bigoted and abusive as religious people tend to be when they
believe that they possess God’s truth. Yet, …
SA Weekend in Minneapolis with the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 16 2007“I’m not afraid of your Yahweh, I’m not afraid of your Allah, I’m not
afraid of your Jesus, But I am afraid of what you do in …
Special Question and Answers from Bishop Spong
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 9 2007Dear Friends,
This week I will break momentarily my series on the rise of
fundamentalism in America to cover a few pressing issues that I experience
and …
Discussing Biblical Theology on CBS Television
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 2 2007The medium of television is a fascinating place through which
to seek to dispel the ignorance of biblical fundamentalism. The time is
always short, the network needs to …
The Second Fundamental: The Literal Accuracy of the Virgin Birth, Part Two
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 25 2007For years now the book entitled “The Holy Bible” has topped
America’s best selling list by a wide margin. The pity is that this book is
seldom read …
Tragedy on a University Campus
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 18 2007It is arguably among America’s most beautiful universities, nestled as
it is in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia. Its official name is
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, …
The Second Fundamental: The Literal Accuracy of the Virgin Birth
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 11 2007The story of Jesus’ birth has now been celebrated in pageants, Christmas
cards and in hymns for almost two thousand years. The characters in this
drama like Mary, …
A Second Look at the First of the Five Fundamentals: The Inerrant Bible
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 4 2007I return this week for a second look at the first of the “Five Fundamentals,” that series of principles which in the early 1900’s gave birth …
The First of the Five “Fundamentals:” The Bible is the Inerrant Word of God!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 28 2007“God wrote it! I believe it! That does it!” Those words adorned the
bumper of a car I saw in the deep South. “This is the word of …
The Rise of Fundamentalism, Part III: The Five Fundamentals
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 21 2007I remember well an experience I had as a young lad in the
late 1930’s in the South’s Bible Belt when I first heard about evolution. A
neighbor …
The Rise of Fundamentalism, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 14 2007One of the things we need to embrace in order to understand the
conflicts being waged in most of the main line churches today is that
throughout most …
The Rise of Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism’s Roots — Part I
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 7 2007Is the escalating conflict, which is public in mainline Protestant
Christianity and private in Roman Catholic Christianity, really about
homosexuality? I do not think so. Homosexuality is only …
Why Did You Write JESUS FOR THE NON-RELIGIOUS? The Perennial Question
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 28 2007A new book possesses for its author and sometimes even for
its potential readers a mysterious quality. Writing a book represents such
a large investment of time and …
The Birth of the Book – Jesus for the Non-Religious
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 21 2007It does not matter how many times it has happened before, for me it is
still a transcendent moment. The doorbell rings, a courier bearing a
package so …
An Audacious Institution
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 14 2007The Episcopal Church has been in the news recently.
One diocese on the west coast, led by its bishop, has amended its canons to
remove every reference to …
There is a Time to Grieve: John Harvie Knight 1960-2006.
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 7 2007Life, for all its sweetness and wonder, still strikes us with unbearable
pain from time to time. Tragedies that are so far out of the normal order of
…
There is a Time to Grieve: John Harvie Knight 1960-2006.
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 31 2007The Gospel of John is dramatically different from the gospels of Mark,
Matthew and Luke. It begins by identifying Jesus with the “Word of God”
spoken in creation. …
A Conversation in Grebenstein, Germany
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 10 2007While on a lecture tour of Europe this winter, we had one stop in
Grebenstein, Germany, that was unique in many ways. No lecture, press
conference or even …
Watching Christianity Evolve in Scandinavia
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 3 2007During the early winter of this year, my wife and I went to
Scandinavia for 16 lectures, 5 press interviews and extensive conversations.
I returned with a deeper sense of …