Unexpected Serendipities from Australia
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 3 2007My lecture tour of Australia apparently tapped
into a spiritual hunger that seems to be omni-present in that
land. Book store lecture events in Sydney, Melbourne, Malvern,
Frankston …
Pitt Street Uniting Church, Sydney, Australia The Face of Tomorrow’s Congregation
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 26 2007Some twenty years or so ago the leaders of Australia’s
Uniting Church, a body that came into being in 1979 as a merger
of Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists, with
samplings …
Common Dreams, Sydney, Australia, 2007
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 19 2007It was the best conference I have attended in my
entire career. Entitled “Common Dreams” and attracting 1500
plus people to Sydney, it was the brainchild of a committee of
…
If Christianity Cannot Change, It Will Die.
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 12 2007Author’s note: While in Australia, the Sydney Morning
Herald invited me to write an op-ed piece on the future of
Christianity. I found that a particularly interesting …
A Public Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 5 2007Dear Rowan,
I am delighted that you have agreed to meet with the House
of Bishops of the American Episcopal Church in September, even
if you appear …
Why Should People Pay Any Attention to the Christian Church on Sexual Matters?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 29 2007In recent decades the primary battles that have been fought
in the Christian Church have not been about theology, but about
issues of human sexuality. Huge debates polarize …
The Fourth Fundamental: Miracles and the Resurrection, Part IV
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 22 2007The idea that one can raise a deceased person to
life entered the biblical story in two narratives from the
Elijah-Elisha cycle of stories. It is then picked …
The Fourth Fundamental: Miracles and the Resurrection, Part III
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 15 2007In this series we first sought to identify the places in the
Bible where miracles seem to appear in groups. There are only
three: The Moses-Joshua cycle of …
The Fourth Fundamental: The Nature Miracles were not meant to be read as Events of History, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 8 2007In fundamentalist religion there are a number of strange
claims made that arise primarily out of a lack of biblical
knowledge. One of them is the claim that …
Miracles and the Resurrection The Fourth Fundamental, Part I
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 1 2007I return this week to our running series on the Five
Fundamentals, that supposedly irreducible set of principles that
believers were told had to be accepted as literally …
Flavius Josephus, Judas Iscariot and Anti-Semitism
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 25 2007During this summer I have read Flavius Josephus’
history of the first century war fought between the Romans and
the Jews. That war began in Galilee in 66 C. …
On Spending Three Days with DignityUSA
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 18 2007“My name is Sam Sinnett and I am a gay
Catholic.” These words, reminiscent of the way members
introduce themselves at AA meetings, opened a luncheon at a
…
In Praise of the United Church of Christ
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 11 2007Throughout the course of my professional career I have always
been impressed by that
faith community which calls itself the United Church of Christ
or the Congregational Church. …
Examining Politics in America on our 231st Birthday
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 4 2007As our nation pauses to celebrate its birthday many things
vie for our people’s attention. There is the drain of human
life and treasure in the ill-begotten, mismanaged …
This is Not the Word of the Lord!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 27 2007I went to my own parish church on a Sunday in June. The music was
excellent. The sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. James Jones, an honorary
and …
The Lambeth Conference of 2008 and the Curious Behavior of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 20 2007The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Honorable and Most
Reverend Rowan Williams, announced recently that he would not invite the Rt.
Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Bishop …
The Third Fundamental: The Substitution by Death of Jesus on the Cross Brings Salvation, Part III
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 13 2007Like the first two of the five Fundamentals that we have thus far examined, this third one has also become not just unbelievable but bizarre to modern ears. …
The Third Fundamental: The Substitution by Death of Jesus on the Cross Brings Salvation, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 6 2007Last week we began our analysis of the third fundamental that
traditional Christians stated, in the Tractarian Movement in the early years
of the 20th century, was basic …
The Substitutionary Death of Jesus on the Cross Alone Brings Salvation: Part One
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 30 2007It is hard in our generation to put into a single sentence the substance
of the Third Fundamental that traditional Christians, at the beginning of
the 20th century, …
The Death of Jerry Falwell
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 23 2007He represented everything that repels me about religion. He was
closed-minded, bigoted and abusive as religious people tend to be when they
believe that they possess God’s truth. Yet, …
SA Weekend in Minneapolis with the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 16 2007“I’m not afraid of your Yahweh, I’m not afraid of your Allah, I’m not
afraid of your Jesus, But I am afraid of what you do in …
Special Question and Answers from Bishop Spong
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 9 2007Dear Friends,
This week I will break momentarily my series on the rise of
fundamentalism in America to cover a few pressing issues that I experience
and …
Discussing Biblical Theology on CBS Television
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 2 2007The medium of television is a fascinating place through which
to seek to dispel the ignorance of biblical fundamentalism. The time is
always short, the network needs to …
The Second Fundamental: The Literal Accuracy of the Virgin Birth, Part Two
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 25 2007For years now the book entitled “The Holy Bible” has topped
America’s best selling list by a wide margin. The pity is that this book is
seldom read …
Tragedy on a University Campus
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 18 2007It is arguably among America’s most beautiful universities, nestled as
it is in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia. Its official name is
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, …