Understanding The Christian Roots of My Political Depression
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 8 2004The Republican Convention in New York City forced me to face the fact that my feelings about the Bush Administration have reached a visceral negativity, the intensity of …
Republicans at Prayer in Madison Square Garden
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 1 2004The Republican Party in New York City this week looks very much like the Democratic Party looked in Boston last month. Strip away the posters; mute the rhetoric …
A View from Europe
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 25 2004“What is it about George W. Bush that causes you to be so negative?”
That was the question I posed this summer at a dinner party …
Christianity in Sweden – A Sign of Hope
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 18 2004In recent years it has been my privilege to observe first hand the state of Christianity in the various nations of Europe. It is not an encouraging picture. …
The Crisis in the Church of Denmark
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 11 2004Denmark is a charming and beautiful country in Europe bounded by Germany, Sweden and the North Sea. Its image was imprinted in my memory positively during the dark …
Impressions from the Democratic National Convention
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 4 2004It was half family reunion and half religious revival. The ‘Vestments” worn for “worship” included hats decorated with everything from American flags to donkeys. Some were so bizarre …
Senator Kerry on the Place of Religion in America
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 28 2004For my column this week I have written a speech on the place of religion in American life that I would like to see Senator John Kerry make …
The Bible, Corporal Punishment and Human Guilt – Part 6
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 21 2004If God is not a punishing and rescuing deity, then who or what is God? If the biblical explanation of the source of evil is no longer operative, …
The Bible, Corporal Punishment and Human Guilt – Part 5
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 14 2004“Those whom I love, I will reprove and chasten so be zealous and repent (Rev.3: 19).”
Can you imagine that something as life denying as …
The Bible, Corporal Punishment and Human Guilt – Part 4
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 7 2004Is it accident, coincidence or strange fate that Christianity has managed to preside over centuries of history in which physical punishment has been the primary means of discipline …
The Bible, Corporal Punishment and Human Guilt – Part 3
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 30 2004In the most deeply patriarchal part of our male-dominant Western history, women were also considered to be fit subjects for corporal punishment at the hands of their husbands. …
The Bible, Corporal Punishment and Human Guilt – Part 2
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 23 2004The physical abuse of children under the guise of “proper discipline” has been practiced in western history so frequently as to be thought of as normative. It has …
The Bible, Corporal Punishment and Human Guilt – Part 1
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 16 2004“He who spares the rod, hates his son; but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. (Prov. 13:24).”
“Do not withhold …
The Ultimate Source of Anti-Semitism – The Circumstances That Brought Judas Into the Jesus Story
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 9 2004I return today to a subject that I have covered before. It is essential however, to this series on the sources of anti-Semitism, so I ask my reader’s …
Questions from the Readers: The War in Iraq
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 2 2004Dear Friends,
Recent columns on the Iraq war have elicited great volumes of mail. I have picked representative samples of that mail and my response to them …
Unmasking the Source of Christian Anti-Semitism – Part III
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 26 2004When I was a child attending an Evangelical Episcopal (Anglican) Sunday school in North Carolina, I was taught that it was OK to hate Jews. If I questioned …
The Yankees, Iraq and Patriotism
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 19 2004Bob Shepherd is the resonant Voice of the New York Yankees, heard over the public address system welcoming fans to Yankee Stations and to the YES Network. He exhorts …
Unmasking the Sources of Christian Anti-Semitism – Part 2
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 12 2004Intolerance and bigotry seem to be written into the very fabric of religious life, causing people to act in ways that are diametrically opposed to what they say they …
The Disaster of Iraq – Enough is Enough!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 5 2004I have reached the point when I can no longer tolerate the Iraqi War. The final straw was the abuse of Iraqis in the prison camp at Abu …
Unmasking the Sources of Christian Anti-Semitism – Part 1
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 28 2004“His blood be upon us and upon our children (Mt.27: 25).”
The darkest, most disillusioning side of Christianity is revealed in the way that Christians …
Questions from the Readers: Passion of the Christ, Christian Reformation
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 21 2004Dear Readers,
This week I want to get to your questions for a change. I had so many questions on the series on The Passion of the Christ …
The Bible and Homosexuality – The Church’s Dance in the 21st Century – Part 3
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 14 2004“They glorified God not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:21 KJV).”
“For this …
The Bible and Homosexuality – The Church’s Dance in the 21st Century – Part 2
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 7 2004“The men of the city — of Sodom, compassed the town round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter; And they called unto Lot …
The Bible and Homosexuality – The Church’s Dance in the 21st Century – Part 1
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 31 2004“Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: It is an abomination (Lev.18: 22 KJV).”
“If a man also lie with mankind as …
What Mel Gibson Does Not Understand About Biblical History
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 24 2004In the year 66 C.E. guerilla activities that had been festering in Galilee for more than 40 years broke out in a full-scale war. While that war was engaged in …