The Origins of the New Testament, Part XXIV: Introducing Luke

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 27 2010

By the time the third gospel, the one we call Luke, was written, history had moved to the last years of the 9th decade at the earliest and quite …

The Origins of New Testament, Part XXII: The Figure of Moses as the Interpretive Secret in Matthew

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 6 2010

Matthew’s gospel has always fascinated me more than the others. It is not the most profound of the gospels, but it does open interpretive eyes for me more widely …

The Origins of the New Testament, Part XX: Seeing the Crucifixion as Related Liturgically to the Passover

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 15 2010

The first narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion to be written achieved its shape and form in Mark’s gospel, specifically in 14:17-15:47. Prior to this, all the Christians had in writing …

The Origins of the New Testament, Part XIX: How the Synagogue Shaped the Gospel of Mark

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 8 2010

Has it ever occurred to you that Mark, the first gospel to be written, was in fact a Jewish book created in the synagogue and organized according to the …

The Origins of the New Testament, Part XVIII: Mark, The First Gospel

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 1 2010

The original gospel, the one we know as Mark, was written, I believe, after the fall of Jerusalem and its subsequent destruction by the Roman army under the command …

The Origins of the New Testament, Part XVII: The Birth of Mark, the First Gospel

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 25 2010

It is difficult to study the gospels accurately unless we step outside the Christian Church as we traditionally experience it today. That may sound like a strange statement, but …

The Origins of the New Testament, Part XVI: The Elder Paul — Philemon and Philippians

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 25 2010

The process of aging works wonders on the human spirit. Battles once so emotional that they seemed to pit life against death lose their rancor in time, and the …

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