Rush Limbaugh vs. Lawrence O’Donnell – What Would Jesus Cut?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 4 2011The political debate, as it is viewed on the twenty-four hour a day cable news television channels, is frequently more amusing than informative. The necessity of keeping an audience …
Peter J. Gomes, 1942-2011, Preacher Par Excellence
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 28 2011Both the United States and world Christianity lost one of its more preeminent voices recently with the death of Peter J. Gomes, the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at …
Examining the Story of the Cross, Part VII: What Judas Iscariot Meant in the Eighth Ninth & Tenth Decades of Christian Development
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 21 2011Last week we began a biblical analysis of Judas Iscariot. First, we noted that Paul, who wrote and died before any gospel had been written, was totally unaware of …
Examining the Story of the Cross, Part VI: The Enigma Called Judas
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 14 2011The anti-hero of the Christian story in general and of the crucifixion story in particular is one who is known as Judas Iscariot. Scorn and ridicule have been heaped …
Examining the Story of the Cross, Part V: Barabbas – Another Interpretive Figure
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 7 2011In Mark’s original story of the Passion of Jesus, he introduces for the first time in any written Christian record the figure of Barabbas. In this story we …
My Friend: Richard Lester Shimpfky 1940-2011
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 30 2011Recently, I preached at the funeral of one who had been a close friend for more than 40 years. His name was Richard Shimpfky. Let me tell you something of …
Examining the Meaning of the Cross, Part IV: The Symbols of the Hebrew Scriptures in the Crucifixion
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 24 2011The first narrative account of Jesus’ crucifixion in the Bible is found in the gospel of Mark written some 40-43 years, or approximately two generations, after the events it …
Examining the Story of the Cross, Part III: There Never Were “Seven Last Words” From the Cross
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 17 2011One of the most dramatic services of Holy Week for me has always been the Good Friday “Three Hour Service.” It was designed to enable Christian worshipers in some …
Examining the Story of the Cross, Part II: Did the Crucifixion of Jesus Occur at Passover?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 9 2011It is a common assumption that the crucifixion of Jesus took place in the context of the Jewish observance of Passover. That is certainly the point of view developed …
Examining the Story of the Cross, Part I: Analyzing the Details of the Crucifixion
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 3 2011In a few weeks the Christian world will enter the season of Lent that culminates with Holy Week and the liturgical reading of the Passion narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion. …
Should this Column Deal with Political Issues?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 24 2011I value the letters I receive from my readers. They often offer me new perspectives, bringing to my attention new facts that contribute significantly to my understanding or challenge …
Why I Value Valentine’s Day and How I Lost my Hat on Broadway
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 17 2011On February 14, I took my wife to the Valentine concert at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. This concert featured the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the …
The Transition from Tribalism: The Tea Party, States’ Rights, Strict Constructionists and the Reading of the Constitution
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 9 2011Recently, I read Brian Burroughs’ book, The Big Rich, the story of the rise and fall of the major Texas oil fortunes. When I had finished this …
Milton Reese LeRoy, 1922-2010
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 3 2011He was competent, but gentle; successful, but not aggressive; genuine without being pretentious. His name was Milton Reese LeRoy. He graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina in 1943 as …
Watching the United Kingdom Wrestle with its Deficit
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 26 2011All economic downturns have political ramifications. What the actual effect will be is determined to some degree by the psyche of the nation itself. In the Great depression of …
Biblical Ignorance in Public Life
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 19 2011One of the things I look for in my elected representatives in government is that they understand the issues on which they speak with some level of competence. When …
Facing Hard Choices in the 21st Century. It’s Either Hogs or Hines!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 12 2011In the last half of the 19th century a country doctor named Edgar Hines lived with his family that included two sons, Edgar jr. and John Elbridge …
Joseph – An Essential Character in Matthew’s Vision of Jesus
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 5 2011Christmas has faded from our memory. The trees are down, the tinsel and the chaos of the day have been cleared away. The crèche scenes have been stored …
Thoughts at the End of 2010 – Darkness Ahead
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 30 2010Momentarily a new year will dawn. 2010 has been difficult economically for this nation and the world. Now is a traditional time both for looking backward and forward.
When I …
Christpower
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 23 2010Dear Friends,
On December 24th, 1974 I delivered in my Church in Richmond, Virginia, a sermon, which sought to put the Christmas story into a modern context through the medium …
An Adventure At A Law School
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 16 2010Recently, I spoke at the Law School of Marquette University, a Jesuit institution in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My topic was “Homosexuality and the Law.” It was in many ways a …
Birth, Maturity, Transition
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 9 2010The story began in 2001 when Mark Tauber, now my publisher at Harper Collins, but then with BeliefNet.com, came to our home in New Jersey to see if I …
Pandemics and Interdependency
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 2 2010My grandfather, Augustus Maye Spong, died in the influenza epidemic, which accompanied and followed World War I. He was 57. I never knew him since his death occurred twelve years …
My Journey Out of Homophobia
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 25 2010“In the struggle to emancipate gay and lesbian people from oppression, you have been what Martin Luther King, Jr. was in the struggle to emancipate people of color from …
The Bible – A Divine Gift or an Immoral Treatise?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 11 2010Cecil B. DeMille, one of the great motion picture producers of the ages, called the Bible “The Greatest Story Ever Told” when he produced and directed a motion picture …