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); } var ue_sid = "242-2972433-4130551"; Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes in the bullet points above are from Kitchen, "The Future Church and Bishop John Shelby Spong," p. 17. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Weve murdered them; weve burned them at the stake; weve run them out of town for something over which they have no control. 23:33), "blind fools" (Matt. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1955. 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. The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two thousand years. When I stand in the presence of this God who inhabits the heart of life, I know just why I define myself as a joyful . googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; var googletag = googletag || {}; [3], Spong was one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy, in 1977, and he was the first to ordain an openly gay man, Robert Williams, in 1989. if (sourcesToHideBuyFeatures[i] == source) I live on the other side of Copernicus and Galileo; I can no longer conceive of God as sort of above the sky, looking down and keeping record books. I want the traditional family upheld, but I don't want it upheld to the detriment of other people. In a 2013 interview with Religion News Service, Spong spoke about his own spirituality and beliefs, which he said had grown deeper as he aged. The former Episcopal Bishop of Newark (N.J.) has been writing for years for those he calls "believers in exile," people who feel like modern versions of Christianity demand blind faith and require adherents to check their brains at the door. John Shelby Spong (born November 29, 1935) is an American Episcopal priest and author. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. 14 "John Shelby Spong" Quotes And Sayings. My religious schizophrenia is at an end. He has also lectured at universities, conference centers, and churches in North . Most of the noise comes from the shallow end. } John Shelby Spong Quotes. Let me try to do just that. 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. I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious. And so Christians began to define themselves over against the orthodox party of the Jews as a way of surviving against the Roman onslaught. var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. There is no way that the Fourth Gospel was written by John Zebedee or by any of the disciples of Jesus. Part 2 of the part time quotations list about odd-job and salaried sayings citing John Shelby Spong, Rob Lowe and Keith Ellison captions. What Im trying to do is develop a language that will enable us to talk about God beyond the, what I think, are sterile categories of theism and atheism. The Christ path is the path I've walked all my life, so it's normal and natural. In a 2013 interview, Spong credited the Anglican bishop John Robinson as his mentor in this journey and said reading Robinson's writings in the 1960s led to a friendship and mentoring relationship with him over many years. Now, that job belongs to everyone in the Christian faith who wishes to carry out his vision to fruition. 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. There's a Psalm that says "Happy will you be when you take your enemy's children and dash their heads against the stones." Give us today tomorrow's bread. That is not within the capacity of the human mind to embrace the nature of God.. In addition, she is a rising senior at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in Phoenix, Arizona, where she most recently served as a breaking news reporter for The Arizona Republic, as well as a documentary producer for Arizona PBS. 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. I was confirmed as an adolescent; I was active in my church's youth group and in my university student group. // page settings "[24], Spong died in sleep at his home in Richmond, Virginia, on September 12, 2021, at the age of 90. Above all, words must be recognized as symbolic pointers to truth, not objective containers of truth. It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. If I were a child of Tibet or of Arabia, I suspect the path Id walk would be the Buddhist path or the Muslim path. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("author", [45659]); [11] Towards these ends, he called for a new Reformation, in which many of Christianity's basic doctrines should be reformulated.[1]. I find that children have very little trouble understanding non-literal stories. I spend my life studying that book, and every book I've written has in some sense been a book about the Bible, and that's what I mean by reclaiming its value and its essence for a world that no longer treats it literally and no longer reads it traditionally. It meant to go beyond the boundaries of your religion, to go beyond your security system, to go beyond your fears. All Things Quotes Page 253. John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. , "One day Jesus was praying, and when he had finished, one of the disciples asked, "Rabbi, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Abba God, hallowed be your Name! document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(stylesheet); " John Shelby Spong 83. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("surface", "mw"); return false; googletag.cmd.push(function() { I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. function(a9, a, p, s, t, A, g) { 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. 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. By contrast, Phillip Aspinall, the Primate of Australia, invited Spong in 2007 to deliver two sermons at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. googletag.pubads().enableAsyncRendering(); With the need for constant evolution in mind, Spong created his personal mantra. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. I live on the other side of Copernicus and Galileo; I can no longer conceive of God as sort of above the sky, looking down and keeping record books. There is a mistake in the text of this quote. John Shelby Spong God, Thinking, People 57 Copy quote I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. I believe that is what the God experience does for us. I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies. Hollingworth said that it was not an appropriate moment for Spong to "engage congregations in matters that could prove theologically controversial". 5:22), yet he called his enemies a "brood of snakes" (Matt. He believed in a more nuanced approach to scripture, informed by scholarship and compassion, which can be consistent with both Christian tradition and contemporary understandings of the universe. John Shelby Spong died this past summer at the age of 90. To me, neither option is worth pursuing. Q & A for 2-14-2013 electronic newsletter, A New Christianity For a New World, Last edited on 15 February 2023, at 00:06, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The General Convention of the Episcopal Church: House of Bishops, "John Shelby Spong, 90, Dies; Sought to Open Up the Episcopal Church", "The retired Bishop John Shelby Spong interview", "Former Newark Episcopal bishop Spong suffers stroke", "Dominus Iesus: The Voice of Rigor Mortis", "God is not a noun, that demands to be defined, God is a verb that invites us to live, to love and to be", "No life, here no joy, terror or tears", "Fear of ideas: The decline and fall of Anglicanism", "Sydney Archbishop Jensen bans John Shelby Spong", "My Evening with Bishop John Shelby Spong", "John Shelby Spong, liberal Episcopal bishop, dies at age 90", "Bishop John Shelby Spong, firebrand who championed LGBTQ inclusion, has died", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Shelby_Spong&oldid=1139405551, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 00:06. John Shelby Spong Quotes "God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. About us. Matthew was sounding the call to a universal humanity, Spong said. function isShowingBuyableFeatures() { It is not by pitching the old insights out but by journeying deeply through them into new visions that we are able to change religion's direction. 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. The Bible tells me that every life is holy; the Bible tells me that every life is loved; the Bible tells me that every life is called to be all that it can be. John Shelby Spong Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? His views on the future of Christianity were "that we have to start where we are. That identification means . 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. return cookiePair[1]; When the Gospel of Luke was being written, the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples of Jesus and all the world. From 1979 to 2000 he was Bishop of Newark (based in Newark, New Jersey). That is a paradigm shift of the first order. Gate tickets and other revenue cover only a portion of the cost of your Chautauqua experience. ", Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. 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. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, There is a mistake in the text of this quote. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. 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. I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. Eugene Taylor Sutton to give closing sermon of 22, Sacred Song, Three Taps close season by reflecting, rejoicing, Josh Stafford, on Massey, to present comedic Keaton classic, Playwrights Hnath, Hamill take stage to talk writing, theater with Kahn, A true people person: friends and family reflect on the life of vic gelb, Robinson to close with message of Chautauquas unique role in the world, Stafford, Robinson reflect on 2021 season, look ahead to final Sacred Song Service, 2022, Alumni Association of CLSC raises record-breaking amount at auction, Eberhardt reflects on social psychology of American racial biases, African American Heritage House strives for diversity at Chautauqua. There is no longer Jew nor Greek. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. The question must also be raised as to whether we have the actual words of Jesus in any Gospel. apstag.init({ John Shelby Spong Quotes. 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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. You can't sing "Amazing Grace" without reminding yourself that the reason God's grace is amazing is it saves a wretch like you. February 7, 2019 You learn that you either are going to have a police state where you don't have any freedom left, or you're going to build a world that doesn't create terrorists - and that means a whole different way of 'getting along.' John Shelby Spong/ freedom var ue_id = "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY"; 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. 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. Now they are people who have not found in institutional religion a God big enough to be God for their world. He looks at the vastness of the universe and it looks hostile. "Q&A on The Parliament of the World's Religions," weekly mailing, 2007-SEP-05, as reported on. window.Mobvious.device_type = 'mobile'; He is also Bishop of Newark in New Jersey [Ed. It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. George Stroumboulopoulos. 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. - John Shelby Spong. I experience God as the source of life calling me to live fully and thus to respect life in every form as embodying the holy. In the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. " We walk into the mystery of God; we do not define that mystery. [18], During a speaking tour in Australia in 2001, Spong was banned by Peter Hollingworth, the Archbishop of Brisbane, from speaking at churches in the diocese. I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. Our English language really says if youre not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground.I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. }); However, there was one last thing he wanted to add. The Bible was quoted to defend slavery and the bible lost. } else { [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. Have these people simply not read the text? gads.async = true; A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. "[13], Spong debated Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig on the resurrection of Jesus on March 20, 2005.[14]. 23:17). "Another [book on Matthew] is Amy-Jill Levine, who is a Jewish woman who teaches New Testament at the Vanderbilt School of Religion. www.huffingtonpost.com. And other revenue cover only a portion of the first order was sounding the call to a universal,. The text of this quote nature is not within the capacity of the Episcopal church a factual way human... 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