Part XXXI Matthew – Peter: A Symbol – The Wobbling Rock at Caesarea Philippi

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 9 2014

In this episode Jesus asks: “Can one read the signs correctly? Does a clear sunset today anticipate fair weather tomorrow? Do dark clouds announce the presence of a storm? …

Part XXX Matthew – The Canaanite Woman: Matthew’s Icon of Prejudice

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 2 2014

In Mark’s gospel she was a Syro-Phoenician woman. Matthew has changed her into being a Canaanite woman. That shift is significant because the term “Canaanite” carried so much more …

Part XXIX Matthew: Did Jesus Really Walk on Water? Of Course Not!

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 25 2014

Sandwiched between Matthew’s two stories of Jesus feeding the multitude is another popular tale in the gospels. It is the account of Jesus walking on the water. Interestingly …

Part XXVIII Matthew: The Parable of the Loaves and the Fish

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 18 2014

Sukkoth is complete. There will be six to eight Sabbaths to engage the synagogue before the next celebration, the festival called Dedication, arrives. In Aramaic the word for “Dedication” …

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 …

Part XIX Matthew – Did Jesus Really Do Miracles?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 17 2014

Most people, who are related at least tangentially to the Christian faith, assume that Jesus was a miracle worker. By this they mean that he possessed the ability to …

Part XVIII Matthew – Matthew’s Flashback to John the Baptist

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 3 2014

We suggested last week that Mark, the author of the first gospel to be written, introduced his story of Jesus with a narrative appropriate to the Jewish New Year …

Part XVII Matthew – The Story of Jesus from Shavuot to Rosh Hashanah

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 27 2014

After a three-week hiatus to consider some pressing theological questions and political issues we return this week to our story of Matthew’s gospel. It was indeed a good …

Is the Jesus Story a Myth? Did a Man Named Jesus Ever Live?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 13 2014

Recently in my parish church, St. Peter’s in Morristown, New Jersey, I completed a seven week-lecture series on Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth. In those lectures I pointed to …

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