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 2010Matthew’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 XXI: Introducing the Gospel of Matthew
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 29 2010The second gospel to be written is called Matthew. It made its debut into the world a decade or so after Mark, which would date it in the 82-85 …
Rabbi Jack Daniel Spiro
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 22 2010Earlier this spring I returned to Richmond, Virginia, the place where I had served as rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, located in the heart of that city, until …
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 2010The 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 2010Has 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 2010The 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 2010It 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 …
R.I.P. Michael Douglas Goulder 1927-2010
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 18 2010I recently learned of the death of Michael Douglas Goulder, one of the world’s most provocative biblical scholars. He was, however, even more than that to me. The three …
Common Dreams II, Melbourne, Australia, 2010
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 11 2010Australia is a unique and wondrous country to which I have had the privilege of traveling on nine different occasions and in which I have lectured extensively. It is …
Theologian in Residence, Coral Gables
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 4 2010It was — for me, at least — a new idea. In the last ten years I have been a wandering teacher, giving over 2000 public lectures in hundreds of …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part XVI: The Elder Paul — Philemon and Philippians
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 25 2010The 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 …
“Let Them Eat Cake!”
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 18 2010These words, probably apocryphal, are attributed to Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI of France. They were said to have been spoken during the early days of the …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part XV: Who Is Christ for Paul? The Gospel in Romans
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 11 2010It was Paul’s experience-based conviction that somehow and in some way everything that he meant by the word “God” had been met and was present in the life of …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part XIV: What Does Salvation Mean to Paul?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 4 2010Paul was a person who discovered in his Christ experience new dimension of life unknown to him before. In that sense he was a classic mystic. Every human experience, …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part XIII: The Theology of Paul as Revealed in Romans
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 28 2010Paul of Tarsus was a first century man. He thought in categories consistent with the world view of his time. He believed that he lived in a three-tiered universe …
Uganda, Homophobia and the Incompetence of Certain Christian Leaders
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 21 2010Does the Ku Klux Klan have the right to parade through a black community, hurling racist insults at the people of the neighborhood and raising racist fervor throughout the …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part XII: Romans — Paul’s Most Thorough Epistle
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 14 2010If there is one book in the New Testament that might be called “The Gospel of Paul,” it is the Epistle to the Romans. This letter is different from …
Thoughts on the Passing of 2009
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 7 2010It was an incredible year, that weary old 2009. It dawned with the high expectations surrounding the new president-elect. We reveled in the pomp and circumstance of his inauguration. The …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part XI: Resurrection as Paul Understood It
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 31 2009It is quite easy to see how one could read Paul, especially those epistles known as I Thessalonians and Galatians, and come away believing that Paul saw the resurrection …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part X: Resurrection According to Paul — I Corinthians
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 24 2009The first written account that we have of the Easter event in the Bible — Paul addressing the congregation in Corinth around the year 54-55 — gives us material …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part IX: Paul on the Final Events in Jesus’ Life
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 17 2009“I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.” With those words Paul set out in writing to the Corinthians the earliest account we have of …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part VIII: The Corinthian Letters
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 10 2009Paul was a complicated mixture of many things. He was a missionary who traveled hundreds of miles by foot and by boat to tell his story. He was, as …
The Origins of the New Testament, Part VII: Paul’s Early Epistles, I Thessalonians and Galatians
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 3 2009In our Origins of the New Testament series, I now turn to the epistles of Paul since he was the first author to write any part of the New …
A Church Tower in a Shopping Center! A Restaurant in a Church! Is This Evolving Christianity?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 26 2009I have just completed a whirlwind tour of the United Kingdom — nine lectures in eight days in places as far east as Colchester, as far north as Edinburgh, …
Canterbury and Rome: Ecclesiastical Kindergarten Games
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 19 2009Let me see if I have this straight. The Pope has a clergy shortage and the Anglicans have a small group of alienated clergy who cannot adjust to women …