Part V Matthew: Isolating This Gospel from All the Others

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 31 2013

Having now introduced you to a different way of reading the gospel of Matthew, and puncturing for you, I hope forever, the assumption that this book along with all …

Part IV Matthew – The Sermon on the Mount

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 24 2013

Jesus never preached the Sermon on the Mount! Some of the content recorded in that well-known part of Matthew’s gospel may well stretch back to the literal words of …

My Great Mentors – Number Seven: Clifford L. Stanley

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 10 2013

He was my Professor of Theology, teaching me for two of the three years I was in Seminary. For me he was the major voice on that 1950 …

Introducing the Gospel of Matthew. Part I: The Gospels are Jewish Books

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 5 2013

The Bible is the Christian Church’s sacred text. We read from it at every worship service in almost every Christian tradition. It is apparently a rather popular volume for …

The Need for the Christian to Journey Beyond Scripture, Creed and Church

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 22 2013

Theology is a rational, deeply human, attempt to explain our experience with God. Theology is, therefore, never primary; it is always secondary to experience. Theological explanations can thus never …

On Building a Christianity without Security or Creeds

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on August, 15 2013

One of my readers, Henry Gael Michaels, has shared with me an anonymous story on the meaning of God with which I open this column. It also reveals, I …

JUNE 26, 2013, A GREAT DAY FOR AMERICA

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 4 2013

I was surprised at how elated I felt on June 26 when the Supreme Court handed down its two historic decisions affecting gay and lesbian people. The first decision mandated …

My Mentors, Part 5 – Richard Henry Baker

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 27 2013

He may have had fewer obvious gifts than any person I ever watched in a position of significant power and authority. He was not an impressive personality. One would …