The Virgin in the New Testament

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 14 2005

As the Christmas season arrives, the icon of the Virgin Mary enters the consciousness of the Christian world in a significant way. She is universally recognized with her …

Was Jesus a Feminist in a Patriarchal World?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 7 2005

If, as I have argued, organized religion is almost
universally anti-female and even misogynistic, was Jesus
different? Did he stand outside that pattern? Certainly, the
religion developed by …

How Religion defined Women as the Source of Evil

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 30 2005

We began this series of columns by searching for the
source of the almost universally negative definition of women
that is held in religious circles. Somehow it has …

The Bias Against Women in the Judeo-Christian Tradition

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 23 2005

Last week I began an exploration of the origins of that
incessant religious negativity toward women. I located its
deepest root in the evolutionary process where survival
becomes …

Women: Religion’s Traditional Victims

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 15 2005

Have you ever noticed that organized religion has
historically been a major force in the oppression of
women? Have you ever wondered why? The battle over
abortion being …

Troy D. Perry – One of God’s Original Saints

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 9 2005

It all began on October 6, 1968. On that day, twelve
people gathered in a house in Los Angeles in response to an
advertisement in a four-page magazine for homosexuals …

2000 Deaths Later, the Time Has Come to Render to Caesar His Due!

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 2 2005

A well-known and oft-quoted verse in Matthew’s Gospel
portrays Jesus, responding to a question designed to trap him
between competing loyalties. Where does the line fall between
what …

Surveying Fifty Years with the Class of 1955

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 19 2005

Nothing forces an awareness of the passing of time into
one’s consciousness quite like a school reunion. Recently my
classmates from our seminary days gathered to recognize the
50 …

Is History Repeating Itself?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 12 2005

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat
it.” These words of philosopher George Santayana are
terrifyingly true. Recently, I have looked again at what
happened …

The Christian Church in Sweden

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 5 2005

Recently Christine and I spent fifteen days on a lecture
tour across the beautiful, gracious land of Sweden stopping
in the cities of Vasteras, Rattvik, Stockholm, Uppsala and

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