Resurrection – A Reality or a Pious Dream? Part V Matthew’s Story of Easter

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 21 2015

When we come to the Easter story in the gospel of Matthew, which was written according to the best estimates of the scholars about 10 to 15 years after Mark, we …

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 …

Part XLIII Matthew – The Passion Narrative: Discovering the Liturgical Outline

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 12 2015

In Matthew’s story of the Passion of Jesus, based as it is on Mark’s original written passion narrative, we can discover by a close analysis the outline of a …

Part XXVI Matthew: Sukkoth – The Harvest Festival

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 4 2014

Labor Day is over. Little children, carrying new book satchels and wearing new clothes, have found their way back to their schools. University students have returned to their campuses …

“Think Different–Accept Uncertainty” Part XVII: The Story of the Crucifixion, Part Two

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 20 2012

It is certainly a fact of history that a man named Jesus of Nazareth was crucified by the Romans somewhere around the year 30 CE.  This crucifixion came during the …

“Think Different–Accept Uncertainty” Part XVI: The Story of the Crucifixion, Part One

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 6 2012

Somewhere between a third and forty percent of each of the four gospels in the New Testament is concerned with the last week in the life of Jesus of …