A New Plan for Good Friday

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 14 2013

Reclaiming Good Friday as a major focus of both Lent and the Christian story will be at the center of my life this year, when I spend that day …

The Birth of Jesus, Part IX. Was There Scandal at the Manger?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 14 2013

The prologue to Mathew’s gospel, which also serves to introduce the story of Jesus’ miraculous birth, is now complete. Matthew writing as he does to the members of a …

Gun Control, Immigration and Senator Hagel: The Manifestations of Cultural Paranoia in our Current Political Debate

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 7 2013

There are times when listening to the political debate in this country that I am absolutely astonished. Many of the participants in the current struggles regarding the proposed limitation …

Malcolm Warnock 1905-2012

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 31 2013

He was a remarkable man, a superior lawyer and one who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. He had many, many friends and I was privileged …

The Birth of Jesus, Part VIII. The Fourth Woman in Matthew’s genealogy: The Wife of Uriah

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 17 2013

The fourth and final woman included in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus with which he opens his gospel and simultaneously introduces into the Christian tradition the story of the …

The Birth of Jesus, Part VII. The Role of Ruth: The Seductress

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 10 2013

The third woman mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus is also unique in a number of ways. Her name is Ruth and she, like Rahab, is a foreigner. …

On Speaking at the Athenaeum in Madrid

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 20 2012

It was a uniquely Spanish event held in the beautifully ornate Athenaeum in downtown Madrid. It followed the format of a carefully orchestrated, intellectual and cultural pattern. The audience …

The Birth of Jesus, Part V. Matthew’s Original Story. The Prologue and Tamar, the Incestuous One

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 13 2012

Matthew is the gospel writer (82-85) who first introduced the story of Jesus’ miraculous or virgin birth into the tradition. He did so with the seventeen most boring verses …

The Birth of Jesus, Part III. The Testimony of Mark, the Earliest Gospel

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on November, 29 2012

The first gospel to be written, the one we call Mark, was composed in the early years of the 8th decade (70-72). It contains no story of and no …

You Are Profoundly Wrong! A Response to the Archbishop of Newark and Other Catholic Leaders

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 25 2012

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Newark, the Most Reverend John J. Myers, has recently issued “A Pastoral Teaching on the Definition, Purpose and Sanctity of Marriage.”  In this document, …

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