Charting a New Reformation, Part XXXVI – Thesis #11, Life After Death

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 22 2016

“The traditional understanding of life after death in Western Christianity was created on the premise of human uniqueness. Human beings were understood to be a special creation, …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXXV – Thesis #10, Prayer (concluded)

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 15 2016

Before prayer can be made real our understanding of God, coupled with our understanding of how the world works, must be newly defined. Before prayer can have meaning, it …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXXIII – Thesis #10, Prayer

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 1 2016

“Prayer, understood as a request made to an external, theistic deity, to act in human history, is little more than an hysterical attempt to turn the holy into …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXX – The Ninth Thesis, Ethics (continued)

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 4 2016

We have thus far relativized the mythical claims made for the code by which the people of Israel claimed to live, by noting that even the Bible reveals confusion …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXIX – The Ninth Thesis, Ethics (continued)

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 28 2016

One of the ways the demise of yesterday’s religious power can be determined is to notice that things, once held to be ultimately sacred, now appear in jokes …

ELIE WIESEL 1928-2016 R.I.P.

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 21 2016

He changed the conscience of the entire world, yet he never held a public office. Even Nelson Mandela, perhaps the only other 20th century figure to move the world …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXVII – The Eighth Thesis, The Ascension of Jesus (continued)

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 7 2016

The gospels of Mark and Matthew were composed while the Christian movement was still part of the synagogue. The gospel of Luke may well have been written after the …

Charting a New Reformation, Part XXVI – The Eighth Thesis, The Ascension of Jesus

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 30 2016

“The Biblical story of Jesus’ ascension assumes a three-tiered universe, which was dismissed in intellectual circles some 500 years ago. If Jesus’ ascension must be regarded as a literal …

Addressing the National Conference of the American Humanist Association

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 23 2016

They gathered at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Chicago, some 500 delegates strong. They came from all across the United States and abroad with the Netherlands, in particular, being …