On Teaching at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 21 2014They came mostly from the West Coast, although one was a Methodist minister from Chesterfield, Virginia. They represented the vast array of the traditions in American Christianity. Two were …
Chautauqua Institution – 2014
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 14 2014It has many elements of a fantasy land. Once one enters the guarded gates, the world seems to fall away quickly. A person living in this community does not …
A Meditation on Patriotism in a Changing World
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 7 2014Patriotism is a powerful force that manifests itself in a variety of ways. One is extreme nationalism. We see that in the behavior of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, …
Carrying My Understanding of Christianity to France
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 31 2014In two lectures in Paris, France, this summer and through various other media, I sought to place into the religious conversation of that nation a new way of looking …
Introducing Jesus for the Non-Religious to France
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 24 2014(The following is the speech delivered in Paris at the launching of the French Translation of Jesus for the Non-Religious.)
How can those of us living in …
On Launching a Book in Paris
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 17 2014There is nothing quite like Paris in the springtime. The flowers of the season are in full bloom. The sidewalk cafes are filled with people drinking wine, sipping café …
Part XXV Matthew – Atonement Theology, Conclusion: Seeking New Possibilities
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 10 2014Have you ever wondered why the work of Charles Darwin has been so threatening to traditional Christians and to institutional Christianity? In fundamentalist and Bible belt regions of the …
Part XXIV Matthew – Interpreting Atonement Theology, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 3 2014“Atonement Theology” assumes that human life, though created in the image of God, is now both fallen and evil. It assumes that God is a being who can be “ …
Part XXIII Matthew – Analyzing the Implications of Atonement Theology: Part I
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 26 2014In recent columns, we have looked at the origins of what has come to be called “The Doctrine of the Atonement.” We noted that the day, in the calendar …
Part XXII Matthew – Jesus through the Lens of Yom Kippur
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 19 2014Matthew observes Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, with a flashback story in which John the Baptist, the quintessential Rosh Hashanah figure, although in prison, sends messengers to Jesus …
Part XXI Matthew – Yom Kippur and Sacrificial Blood
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 12 2014The primary Christian mantra incorporated into our hymns, prayers and sermons is some variation of the phrase: “Jesus died for my sins!” It comes out of a Christian definition …
Part XX Matthew – Introducing Yom Kippur and the Jewish Concept of Atonement
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 5 2014We return this week to our ongoing study of the gospel of Matthew after a six week hiatus in which we examined, first the use of the concept of …
Two Popes Made Saints in a Dramatic Act
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 29 2014It was an exciting day in the Vatican on April 27, 2014, probably the most exciting day since the election of Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina to be Pope Francis a little …
On Spending the Day with Amos, i.e. Professor James H. Cone
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 22 2014So much of Christianity is a delusion, built as it is around power images and institutional claims to possess either an infallible Pope or an inerrant Bible. The Christian …
An Evening with Barbara Walters
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 15 2014She was born to non-practicing Jewish parents. Because her father owned a series of night clubs from Boston to Miami, she grew up in the company of show business …
Jewish Symbols of the Lamb Applied to Jesus- Part III
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 8 2014The Lamb Before Its Accusers
In addition to the Passover lamb and the lamb of Yom Kippur, there is a third lamb of God in the Jewish …
Jewish Symbols of the Lamb Applied to Jesus- Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 1 2014Part II: The Lamb of Yom Kippur
Have you ever heard someone say: “Jesus died for my sin?” Have you ever asked what those words meant or …
Jewish Symbols of the Lamb Applied to Jesus
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 24 2014Part I: The Lamb of Passover
I want to interrupt our study of Matthew for a few weeks in order to turn our attention to the great …
Part XIX Matthew – Did Jesus Really Do Miracles?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 17 2014Most people, who are related at least tangentially to the Christian faith, assume that Jesus was a miracle worker. By this they mean that he possessed the ability to …
The Reverend Fred Phelps, 1929 – 2014
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 10 2014“I believe that all homosexuals should be castrated with rusty barbed wire.” Those words came at me from a television screen a number of years ago. The spokesman was …
Part XVIII Matthew – Matthew’s Flashback to John the Baptist
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 3 2014We suggested last week that Mark, the author of the first gospel to be written, introduced his story of Jesus with a narrative appropriate to the Jewish New Year …
Part XVII Matthew – The Story of Jesus from Shavuot to Rosh Hashanah
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 27 2014After a three-week hiatus to consider some pressing theological questions and political issues we return this week to our story of Matthew’s gospel. It was indeed a good …
Thoughts While Listening to America’s Health Care Debate
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 20 2014We had one of our closest personal friends to dinner recently. He is a stock analyst, a very successful and wealthy man with a passion for understanding the economy. …
Is the Jesus Story a Myth? Did a Man Named Jesus Ever Live?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 13 2014Recently in my parish church, St. Peter’s in Morristown, New Jersey, I completed a seven week-lecture series on Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth. In those lectures I pointed to …
Is the Jesus Story a Myth? Did a Man Named Jesus Ever Live?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 13 2014Recently in my parish church, St. Peter’s in Morristown, New Jersey, I completed a seven week-lecture series on Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth. In those lectures I pointed to …