Joshua and “The Longest Day”

Column by Rev. David M. Felten on May, 30 2019

If people today know anything about the book of Joshua, it’s likely to be just one story: “Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.” But Joshua asking God to “stop the sun in the sky” is probably a close second – and has clearly had a more dramatic influence on world history (and not in a good way).

Charting the New Reformation, Part IV – Building the Case for the Death of Theism: The Copernican Revolution

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 24 2015

The laws by which the world operates have not changed since the dawn of time, but the way human beings explain and understand those laws has changed dramatically over …

Charting a New Reformation, Part I – The Background

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on December, 3 2015

On October 31, 1517, so the story goes, a solitary monk named Martin Luther approached the great doors of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on which he planned to post …

Re-Creating Easter V: How did Easter Dawn? What was the Context?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on October, 22 2015

We are told, but only in Luke’s gospel, that when Cleopas and his traveling companion returned from Emmaus to Jerusalem to share their experience of the risen Christ …

Two Popes Made Saints in a Dramatic Act

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on May, 29 2014

It was an exciting day in the Vatican on April 27, 2014, probably the most exciting day since the election of Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina to be Pope Francis a little …

Scandal in the Roman Catholic Church: The Charade Goes On!

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on July, 18 2013

The Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, is the Most Reverend George Pell. He is a tall, impressive-looking man, whose career in his church has followed the traditional …

A Pope is Chosen – Hopes Rise for Change

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March, 21 2013

His name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but the world will know him as Pope Francis I. He was a surprise selection by the Conclave of Cardinals voting in the …

An Open Letter to Ross Douthat, New York Times Columnist

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 27 2012

Dear Ross,

A few weeks ago in an op-ed piece of the Sunday New York Times, you began your regular column with these words, “In 1998, John Shelby Spong, …

Is an Interfaith Future a Possibility in Our World?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on June, 21 2012

Recently I was part of an intensive two-day “think tank” experience on “The Future of Interfaith Cooperation,” which asked the question as to whether the religious violence that marks …

The Roman Catholic Bishops: Are They Killing Their Church?

Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on February, 23 2012

I never thought I would live long enough to see birth control become a major political issue.  Nor did I think I would ever hear the desire to provide …