The Anglican Communion R.I.P.

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 11 2016

It was an historical illusion anyway, a cherished and romantic notion practiced in all kinds of theoretical venues. The idea that the lands that once constituted the British Empire …

Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 4 2016

The Book has Arrived!

It has happened in my life twenty-five times before. It seems that one might get used to it after a while. That is …

Charting a New Reformation, Part IX – An Evolving God inside an Evolving Christianity

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 28 2016

Today, I conclude the discussion of the first of my twelve theses posted on the internet in my hope to “Chart a New Reformation.” I began with the crucial …

Charting a New Reformation, Part VIII – God –“Not a Being but Being Itself” (Cont.)

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 21 2016

It was a 6th century Greek philosopher named Xenophanes who wrote: “If horses had gods, they would look like horses.” Xenophanes was pointing to the reality, which all of …

Charting the New Reformation, Part VII – Re-Imagining God: Not a being, but Being-A Place to Begin

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 14 2016

In the light of our expanded knowledge, God, understood theistically, turned out to be our own creation in which we human beings tried to fit God into words that …

Charting the New Reformation, Part VI – Building the Case for the Death of Theism: The Impact of Freud

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 7 2016

First there was the revolution in astrophysics led by Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. In that revolution, the comfortable assumption that God lived just above the sky, watching over us, …

Charting the New Reformation, Part IV – Building the Case for the Death of Theism: The Copernican Revolution

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 24 2015

The laws by which the world operates have not changed since the dawn of time, but the way human beings explain and understand those laws has changed dramatically over …

Charting the New Reformation, Part III – The Twelve Theses

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 17 2015

“Time makes ancient good uncouth.” The poet, James Russell Lowell, who wrote these words, understood the difference between an experience and the way that experience is explained. So important …

Charting the New Reformation, Part II – The Burning Necessity

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 10 2015

The Bible is not the “word of God!” It never has been. No one who has ever read the Bible in its entirety could possibly defend that suggestion. This …