The Second Fundamental: The Literal Accuracy of the Virgin Birth
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 11 2007The story of Jesus’ birth has now been celebrated in pageants, Christmas
cards and in hymns for almost two thousand years. The characters in this
drama like Mary, …
A Second Look at the First of the Five Fundamentals: The Inerrant Bible
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 4 2007I return this week for a second look at the first of the “Five Fundamentals,” that series of principles which in the early 1900’s gave birth …
The First of the Five “Fundamentals:” The Bible is the Inerrant Word of God!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 28 2007“God wrote it! I believe it! That does it!” Those words adorned the
bumper of a car I saw in the deep South. “This is the word of …
The Rise of Fundamentalism, Part III: The Five Fundamentals
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 21 2007I remember well an experience I had as a young lad in the
late 1930’s in the South’s Bible Belt when I first heard about evolution. A
neighbor …
The Rise of Fundamentalism, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 14 2007One of the things we need to embrace in order to understand the
conflicts being waged in most of the main line churches today is that
throughout most …
The Rise of Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism’s Roots — Part I
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 7 2007Is the escalating conflict, which is public in mainline Protestant
Christianity and private in Roman Catholic Christianity, really about
homosexuality? I do not think so. Homosexuality is only …
Why Did You Write JESUS FOR THE NON-RELIGIOUS? The Perennial Question
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 28 2007A new book possesses for its author and sometimes even for
its potential readers a mysterious quality. Writing a book represents such
a large investment of time and …
The Birth of the Book – Jesus for the Non-Religious
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 21 2007It does not matter how many times it has happened before, for me it is
still a transcendent moment. The doorbell rings, a courier bearing a
package so …
An Audacious Institution
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 14 2007The Episcopal Church has been in the news recently.
One diocese on the west coast, led by its bishop, has amended its canons to
remove every reference to …
There is a Time to Grieve: John Harvie Knight 1960-2006.
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 7 2007Life, for all its sweetness and wonder, still strikes us with unbearable
pain from time to time. Tragedies that are so far out of the normal order of
…
There is a Time to Grieve: John Harvie Knight 1960-2006.
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 31 2007The Gospel of John is dramatically different from the gospels of Mark,
Matthew and Luke. It begins by identifying Jesus with the “Word of God”
spoken in creation. …
A Conversation in Grebenstein, Germany
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 10 2007While on a lecture tour of Europe this winter, we had one stop in
Grebenstein, Germany, that was unique in many ways. No lecture, press
conference or even …
Watching Christianity Evolve in Scandinavia
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 3 2007During the early winter of this year, my wife and I went to
Scandinavia for 16 lectures, 5 press interviews and extensive conversations.
I returned with a deeper sense of …
Facing 2007 with Grave Apprehension
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 27 2006The year 2006 began with an unresolved war in Iraq. It ended with that war
not just unresolved, but obviously deteriorating into the unmanageable chaos
of civil war and tribal …
Watching Christmas being Celebrated in Europe
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 20 2006This year I watched Christmas dawn in Europe. It provided me
with new insights into this holy day and an understanding of the state of
Christianity on the …
Fred Kaan: Hymn Writer Par Excellence
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 13 2006If I were to mention the name of Frederik Herman Kaan, I doubt
if the faces of more than one or two of my readers would reveal even a
…
Miracles VI: Bartimaeus and the Healing of the Man Born Blind
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 6 2006In this continuing examination of the miracle stories found in
the gospels, I turn this week to the second “sight to the blind” narrative
in Mark (10: 46-52), the …
Miracles V: Did a Blind Man From Bethsaida Really Receive His Sight?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 29 2006In the fourth installment of my fall series on the miracles of the New Testament, I suggested that the healing miracles attributed to Jesus in the gospels might have …
Debating a Fundamentalist in Orlando
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 22 2006Marcus Borg did it. John Dominic Crossan did it. The clear
implication of the person issuing this invitation was that I should do it
too. He wanted me to …
Miracles IV – Interpreting the Healing Miracles
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 15 2006I voted on Tuesday, November 7, and then, political enthusiast
that I am, I listened to the election results that night until it was clear
that the Democrats had won …
Miracles IV – Interpreting the Healing Miracles
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 8 2006When we begin to dissect the miracle stories of the gospels, it
is easy to notice some fascinating connections. The nature miracles, for
example, are clearly the retelling or …
Three Cheers for the New Jersey Supreme Court
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 1 2006The Supreme Court of my beloved state of New Jersey, in its
historic decision handed down on October 25, 2006, has defined the battle
over gay marriage for the entire nation. …
Sexual Hypocrisy in Church and State
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 25 2006It has long been observed in religious circles that the most
outspoken critics of homosexuality frequently turn out to be themselves
closeted homosexual people. Now we discover that among …
Dallas, Texas: A New Vision
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 18 2006Dallas, Texas, has never been one of my favorite cities. Its
image was firmly set for me during the course of a single month in 1963,
when two events occurred …
Questions and Answers
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 11 2006To My Readers:
The correspondence that this column engenders is both
appreciated and amazing. I feel the need to make sure that my readers know
that all of …