The Influence of The Jewish Festival of Sukkoth on the Passion Narrative: Part III
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 16 2005Western Christians find it hard to understand that the gospel writers were not writing objective history. Yet nothing we know about the formation of the New Testament supports …
The Connection Between the Crucifixion and the Passover, Part II
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 9 2005Last week I began the analysis of the crucifixion of Jesus as it appears in all four gospels, examining in particular the claim that this founding moment in …
The Connection between the Crucifixion and the Passover, Part I
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 2 2005The symbols of Christmas have been stored away. In Christian churches we are in the poorly defined season of Epiphany, waiting for Lent to appear on the horizon. …
Leading a Conference for Black, Pentecostal, Gay Clergy
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 26 2005Sometimes, my wife Christine and I have the privilege of entering into an experience that is unexpected, but so moving and profound that it opens doors to new …
Re-Imaging God in a Post-Tsunami World
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 19 2005The final part of a three-part series about the Tsunami
“If God is God, he is not good! If God is good, …
Weeping Over The Grave of God
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 12 2005Part II of a series about the Tsunami
In a 20th century drama entitled, “Conversation at Midnight,” playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay …
The Theological Message in the Destructive Tsunami
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 5 2005The earthquake near Sumatra and the resulting tidal wave that have wreaked devastation in many nations on two separate continents was the final major event in the tumultuous …
The Shadows over Iraq Darken the New Year
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 29 2004When a new year arrives, there is normally a sense of hope that the future will be better. That, however, is not my feeling as New Year’s Day, 2005, …
The Meaning of the Christmas Myths
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 22 2004It is a beautiful time of the year. The celebration is in full swing. The symbols, some sacred, some quite secular, mingle in the market place: Bethlehem and …
Homophobia – No Compromise Possible
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 15 2004I recently listened to a series of insightful lectures on the American Civil War given by Dr. Gary Gallagher, a professor of History at the University of Virginia. …
International Anglicanism’s Flirtation with Ignorance!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 8 2004The commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to determine how the Anglican Communion can maintain its unity while recognizing wide diversity of opinion about …
Election 2004 Part 4 – An Analysis of the Rise of Evangelical Religion
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 1 2004If religious fervor is a response to human insecurity as I have argued, and if it covers prejudices with God talk and piety, then what are the specific …
Election 2004 Part 3 – An Analysis of the Evangelical Vote in the 2004 Election
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 24 2004The rise of the evangelical, religious vote in the United States can be viewed externally and historically, my task this week; or internally and emotionally, my task next …
Election 2004 Part 2 – An Analysis of the Evangelical Vote in the Campaign of 2004
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 17 2004Last week I began an analysis of the rise in religious and evangelical fervor that was so powerfully displayed in the presidential election in November. For many it …
Election 2004 Part 1 – Understanding the Divided Electorate
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 10 2004The votes are in. The presidency of George W. Bush will extend for four more years. His victory was significant in both the popular vote and the Electoral …
The Gospels and Punctuation
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 3 2004Elizabeth Robinson, a friend of mine who teaches English as a second language to the children of immigrants in New Zealand, recently sent me an exercise on the …
It is Time to Vote!
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 27 2004The political campaign is almost over. Soon the constant barrage of character-assassinating rage so omnipresent on our television screens will end. If the pollsters are accurate half of …
Making Much of What Cannot Matter Much to God
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 20 2004I ask my readers’ indulgence this week as I roam over some of the terrain of my own ministry. My reminiscence revolves around a simple phrase: “when we …
Bishop Spong Answers Your Questions
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 13 2004Dear Friends,
I now have more than 5000 questions on file from my readers. If I limit myself to one each week, my present supply will not …
Do we have the moral right to choose to die?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 6 2004Is death a natural and normal part of human life or is it an enemy that we must always seek to defeat? That is an issue being debated …
The Place of the Bible in the Right to Die Debate
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 29 2004Alan Meisel is the Dickey, McCarey and Chicote Professor of Bioethics and Law at the University of Pittsburgh. I met him recently when we were both addressing a …
Were there twelve disciples? – Was Mary Magdalene one of them?
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 22 2004Dear Friends,
Sometimes I receive a question that requires a whole column to answer. Such was the case with a question received late this summer. I …
Bishop V. Gene Robinson – One Year Later
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 15 2004It has been more than a year since Gene Robinson was elected Bishop of New Hampshire by the clergy and lay deputies of the Episcopal Church in that …
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 …