The Astounding Accomplishments of Julian Norwich

Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on October, 29 2020

Most people, if they know anything about Julian of Norwich, know two things. First, that she said “all things will be well, every manner of thing will be well,” a testimony to hope or what Mirabai Starr calls “radical optimism” that arises near the end of her book Showings and ought not to be understood as “spiritual bypass” or denial of suffering. Second, people have heard that she talks about the “motherhood of God” quite often.

Unbelievable: Part II

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on January, 11 2018

“Unbelievable” began its life years ago when my daughter, Jaquelin, who owns a Ph.D. degree in physics from Stanford University said to me: “Dad, the questions the church keeps trying to answer we don’t even ask anymore!” She was not hostile. It was just a matter of fact statement. The church keeps posing issues that the secular world has settled, or at least has decided to ignore. Questions such as: Who or what is God? What does original sin mean? What does it mean to say that Jesus died for my sins? Can one really believe in life after death? What does it mean to be born again? Why do we not try to grow up?

Time for a New Spiritual (not Religious) Order?

Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on July, 6 2017

Speaking of a need for a Reformation makes me question whether the time has arrived for a new religious order that is in fact not tied to a particular religion but is a Spiritual Order, one that might help people of various religious faiths and none to gather around a common value and focus. I think our times call for a focus on the sacredness of the Earth and all her creatures. Therefore I propose a new order called “The Order of the Sacred Earth.” Its members may come from any and all life-styles, married, single, celibate, gay, straight and from any and all occupations so long as their work mirrored the values of honoring and supporting the Earth and her creatures. Blue collar and white collar workers would be welcomed. People of all religious traditions and none would be welcome.

“Hopey-Changey”

Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on March, 30 2017

Churches are dying at an alarming rate. Every year more than 4000 churches close their doors for good and more than 2,765,000 people leave the church each year.

Yet we, the Church, insist on doing the same thing over and over again and somehow expecting different results. When confronted with change we tend to insist that “it has always been done that way,” as if history is an acceptable excuse for continuing down our path to demise.

Charting A New Reformation, Part XVII – The Fifth Thesis

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on April, 14 2016

“The Miracles Stories of the Old Testament can no longer be interpreted in a post-Newtonian world as supernatural events performed by an Incarnate Deity.”

I wonder how …

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 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 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 …