Thoughts on Baptizing Chapman Thomas Brinegar

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 30 2015

This past summer in a lovely chapel quite literally on the coast of Maine, I had the pleasure of baptizing Chapman Thomas Brinegar. A baptism is something I hardly …

Resurrection: Pious Dream or Reality? Part XI, Conclusion

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 23 2015

In this column, I turn to the Fourth Gospel to complete our journey through the New Testament. Our purpose has been to see what the New Testament really says …

Resurrection: A Reality or a Pious Dream? Part X The Story of the Ascension

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 9 2015

“Ideas Have Consequences.” That was the title of a book that I was required to read early in my theological education. It was not a profound book, but its …

Resurrection: A Reality or a Pious Dream, Part VIII: Luke – Mystery Recedes – Literalism Grows

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 18 2015

When we come to Luke, the third gospel writer and, counting Paul, the fourth biblical witness to the meaning of Easter, we discover a dramatic shift in the language …

Resurrection: A Reality or A Pious Dream, Part VII: Matthew Interprets and Expands Mark

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 11 2015

Matthew is the first gospel writer to narrate an appearance of the risen Christ to anyone. This aspect of the developing Christian story does not begin until the middle …

Resurrection: A Reality or A Pious Dream? Part VI: Matthew’s Story of the Galilean Appearances

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 4 2015

Mark’s messenger of the resurrection, described in that gospel as “a young man in a white robe,” had promised a future appearance of the raised Christ to the …

“Resurrection” A Reality or a Pious Dream? Part I

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 23 2015

On Easter Sunday, a couple of weeks ago now, I was in my parish church, St. Peter’s in Morristown, New Jersey. I was not alone. Into that church, at …

Part XLVI Matthew – Other Minor Characters in the Passion Drama

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 2 2015

Once we begin to see the Passion narrative not as history, but as liturgy that was created to interpret the meaning of Jesus, the literal imprisonment that has been …

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