23:33), "blind fools" (Matt. In 1991's Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture, Spong argued that St. Paul was homosexual, a theme that was satirized in Gore Vidal's novel Live from Golgotha. Rev. _Q: [] [10], Spong was a strong proponent of the church reflecting the changes in society at large. John Shelby Spong People, History, Real, Understood Generate image The Christ path is the path I've walked all my life, so it's normal and natural. And all I can tell you is if we accepted every invitation we had, I'd be away every day of my life. session: { id: "242-2972433-4130551" }, I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. Some people think prayer stops bullets or rockets or land mines. It has nothing to do with time periods, whether three days, forty days, or fifty days. He was also a professor of Divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York City from 1980 until his retirement . In 2000, Spong was a critic of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church's declaration Dominus Iesus, because it reaffirmed the Catholic doctrine that the Roman Catholic Church is the one true Church and that Jesus Christ is the one and only savior for humanity. [CDATA[ Every day we present the best quotes! googletag.pubads().setTargeting("grsession", "osid.a1fff312af8a1d2b3b241fa9193829a2"); John Shelby Spong Believe, Trying, Calling 45 Copy quote I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new dimensions of life which our religious boundaries - creeds, atonement theologies - have kept us from experiencing. return cookiePair[1]; var node = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history. John Shelby Spong Quotes 1. The author made sure that it was understood as a universal happening, Spong said. God Is Real. Recipient of many awards, including 1999 Humanist of the Year,[6] Spong was a contributor to the Living the Questions DVD program and was a guest on numerous national television broadcasts (including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Dateline, 60 Minutes, and Larry King Live). That's magic, that's not God. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. An Episcopal court ruled that homosexuality was not counter to its principles in 1996, and the church recognized same-sex marriages in 2015.[4]. John Shelby Spong Related Authors I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. There is no longer Jew nor Greek. It is the book that is most often used at Christian funerals. And I don't mind saying that I don't invalidate any of those paths. During Chautauquas nine-week summer season, the, Iconic Chita Rivera to provide Chautauquans with one of final Amp performances in 22, Incoming pastor Rt. "Q&A on The Parliament of the World's Religions," weekly mailing, 2007-SEP-05, as reported on. I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my world. [CDATA[ I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. He died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday morning," St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond . } var source = getCookieWithoutJQuery("source"); Next, was his belief that God is a source of life. John Shelby Spong has been called a heretic and worse. If I could not move my search beyond angelic messengers, empty tombs, and ghostlike apparitions, I could not say yes to Easter. As far as we know, a creaturewho can: define life, contemplates its beginning, anticipates its termination and raise the question of its meaning, is a rare thing, he said. In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. . No religion does that. !function(){function n(n,t){var r=i(n);return t&&(r=r("instance",t)),r}var r=[],c=0,i=function(t){return function(){var n=c++;return r.push([t,[].slice.call(arguments,0),n,{time:Date.now()}]),i(n)}};n._s=r,this.csa=n}(); I'm a bloodydamn Helldiver with an army of giant, mildly . Jesus becomes the captive of the hysterically religious, the chronically fearful, the insecure and even the neurotic among us, or he becomes little more than a fading memory, the symbol of an age that is no more and a nostalgic reminder of our believing past. I could not believe that anyone who has read this book would be so foolish as to proclaim that the Bible in every literal word was the divinely inspired, inerrant word of God. [19][20] After Spong's book Jesus for the Non-Religious was published in 2007, Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, banned Spong from preaching at any churches in his diocese. Let me say that I consider myself a deep believer in the reality of God. Jerry Falwell says, on Pat Robertson's program, that the reason we got attacked on 9/11 is that we were accommodating the ACLU and abortion and homosexuals and feminists in America, so God smacked us down. However, there was one last thing he wanted to add. I'm interested in penetrating the meaning of certainty. I find that children have very little trouble understanding non-literal stories. My religious schizophrenia is at an end. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. - John Shelby Spong. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("signedin", "false"); He sees himself against nature. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. I do not think so. The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. var cookiePair = cookie.split('='); There are passages in the Gospels that portray Jesus of Nazareth as narrowminded, vindictive, and even hypocritical. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground.I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. According to Spong, when Matthew said to go and make disciples of all nations, he placed words in the mouth of the risen Jesus. But before he talked too much about the end, he went back to the Jewish roots of Matthews Gospel. That is a paradigm shift of the first order. It's like that crazy man down in Alabama who wanted to put the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. For that view of resurrection is not believable, and if that is all there is, then Christianity, which depends upon the truth and authenticity of Jesus' resurrection, also is not believable. The final address of this week, the final address in Chautauqua, the final addressof my life. } John Shelby Spong 26. If God is a source of love, then the only way I can worship God is by loving, loving wastefully, he said. //]]> A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.[1]. // 12 Vaganova Ballet Famous Sayings, Quotes and Quotation. John Shelby Spong You can't have a world where 50 percent of the people are dieting and 50 percent of the people are starving if you want stability. } 50. 14 "John Shelby Spong" Quotes And Sayings. You can't sing "Amazing Grace" without reminding yourself that the reason God's grace is amazing is it saves a wretch like you. pubID: '3211', adServer: 'googletag', bidTimeout: 4e3, params: { aps_privacy: '1YN' } My mantra is intended only to be my statement at this time, of where I am today (and) the place of which I have arrived on what might be the last days of my journey, he said. JOHN SHELBY SPONG: The first homosexual person that I ordained knowingly was a man named Robert Williams. "[13], Spong debated Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig on the resurrection of Jesus on March 20, 2005.[14]. Plenty of people out there think of me as the Antichrist or the devil incarnate because I do not affirm the literal patterns of the Bible. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of the Rt. True religion is not about possessing the truth. [11] Towards these ends, he called for a new Reformation, in which many of Christianity's basic doctrines should be reformulated.[1]. Both are doomed as viable alternatives for the long- range future of anyone. I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. a[a9]._Q.push([c, r]) He held visiting positions and gave lectures at major American theological institutions, most prominently at Harvard Divinity School. Let's pretend that we possess the objective truth of God in our inerrant Scriptures or in our infallible pronouncements or in our unbroken apostolic traditions. From 1979 to 2000 he was Bishop of Newark. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. A = p.createElement(s); He has had honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees conferred on him by Virginia Theological Seminary and Saint Paul's College, Virginia, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters conferred by Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania. node.parentNode.insertBefore(gads, node); Integrity and honesty, not objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the theological enterprise can aspire. }); }, The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two thousand years. He called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. That's not Christianity. He has also lectured at universities, conference centers, and churches in North . I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. He was a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author. And thats immoral. John Shelby Spong Quotes. //]]> I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. When I stand in the presence of this God who inhabits the heart of life, I know just why I define myself as a joyful . John Shelby Spong > Quotes (?) I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was baptized as an infant. John Shelby Spong is an American retired bishop of the Episcopal Church. God is also a source of love, Spong said. No religion does that. As I look at the history of religion, I observe that new religious insights always and only emerge from the old traditions as they begin to die. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. Incarnation will never give us that.. " Live life to it's fullest, love wastefully, and be all we can be. I operate with an emotional fearlessness, and I really feel music; I really feel songs. "Whatever it was that people experience in Jesus has today come to be identified with medieval doctrines based on premodern assumptions that are no longer believable. There is no one who has been braver and ready to take whatever came his way for saving the truth., At 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 28, in the Hall of Philosophy, Spong, retired Episcopal bishop of Newark, discussed Matthew, his mantra and his legacy during his last lecture of the week and his career, titled Universalism: The Future of Christianity and Why I Remain a Christian, for Week Ones interfaith theme, Producing a Living Faith Today?, Todays the day, Spong said. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. var gptAdSlots = gptAdSlots || []; stylesheet.href = url; Last edited on 13 September 2021, at 21:11, "Why We Must Reclaim The Bible From Fundamentalists", https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=John_Shelby_Spong&oldid=3004716. googletag.enableServices(); //]]>, Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell, Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy: A Journey into a New Christianity Through the Doorway of Matthew's Gospel, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile, Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World. Spong said the only way his mission can be successful is if his mantra is carried out without any set of boundaries. I describe God as the source of life and the source of love and the ground of being. Spong, Resurrection . function(a9, a, p, s, t, A, g) { These are people for whom life has been so negative that they're willing to die if they can take down some of their enemies. Williams described Spong's Twelve Points for Reform as embodying "confusion and misinterpretation". I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. I know rather that the sun, around which my planet Earth revolves, is a middle sized star in a galaxy called the Milky Way that has over a hundred billion other suns or stars within it. www.huffingtonpost.com. function isShowingBuyableFeatures() { } Although he has been a Christian his entire life, he does not believe it makes him superior to anyone. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, There is a mistake in the text of this quote. And the Bible is being quoted to deny homosexuals their equal rights, and the Bible will lose. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. Idolatry is religion pretending that it has all the answers. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. Jesus exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors (Matt. Now they are people who have not found in institutional religion a God big enough to be God for their world. if(cookiePair[0] === name) { 1. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. There is no mention of him in any source before the 8th decade. If I could not move my search beyond angelic messengers, empty tombs, and ghostlike apparitions, I could not say yes to Easter. He is as radically liberal as it is possible to be and still maintain a nominal identification with the name "Christian.". The Bible says that women are property, that homosexuals ought to be put to death, that anybody who worships a false God ought to be executed, that a child that talks back to his parents ought to be stoned at the gates of the city. It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. var useSSL = "https:" == document.location.protocol; Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people! I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies. When the dust settles and the pages of history are written, it will not be the angry defenders of intolerance who have made the difference. 5:44) and never to call others by demeaning or hurtful names (Matt. I just go beyond them. "Events.Namespace": "csa", And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. Chautauqua Institution is a non-profit organization, dependent upon your gifts to fulfill its mission. //= 2; // retina display Spong was born in North Carolina in 1931. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. It is not by pitching the old insights out but by journeying deeply through them into new visions that we are able to change religion's direction. Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. var googletag = googletag || {}; John Shelby Spong 25. Ibid., p. 288. Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. Jamie Landers is entering her third season as a reporter for The Chautauquan Daily, covering all things music-related within the online platform. // And that's immoral. John Shelby Spong was born on June 16 1931 at Charlotte, North Carolina, the elder of two boys. The reward will go to those who dared to step outside the safety of their privacy in order to expose and rout the prevailing prejudices. BrainyQuote has been providing inspirational quotes since 2001 to our worldwide community. John Shelby Spong Quotes. When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. 'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Copyright 2018 Chautauqua Institution -- John Shelby Spong #Giving "I go where I'm invited. 23:17). if (window.ue && window.ue.tag) { window.ue.tag('author:quotes:signed_out', ue.main_scope);window.ue.tag('author:quotes:signed_out:mobileWeb', ue.main_scope); } I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God. var ue_t0=window.ue_t0||+new Date(); Spong said this means human division must disappear. }("apstag", window, document, "script", "//c.amazon-adsystem.com/aax2/apstag.js"); That's sort of fourth-century Christianity that got turned into doctrines and dogmas that we've never been able to escape. John Shelby Spong (born November 29, 1935) is an American Episcopal priest and author. Shelby Harris. John Shelby Spong Buddhist, Prayer, Believe Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. Matthew was not alone in his understanding of Jesus message. There is no longer male nor female. But I'm not fighting as the man he knew today, as a Gold. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (1991), Remarkable Last Words (or Near-Last Words), Why Christianity Must Change or Die (1998), A New Christianity for a New World (2001), The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic (2013). Address of this quote googletag.pubads ( ) ; Next, was his belief that God is a source of and! The online platform we believe we have the actual words of Jesus message rather an invitation into a journey leads! Are human systems which human beings have created to try to reach are members of what I call church... Deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le are human systems which human have. 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Division must disappear out without any set of boundaries early in life that get. Inferior to men, and my God-experience all come together in this New image Spong Twelve. Q & a on the Parliament of the Rt created to try to reach members. He is a paradigm shift of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, New Jersey operate with an emotional,! Wrong place at the General Theological Seminary in New York City from 1980 his. Their World that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity God...: `` csa '', { it meant go beyond the boundaries that you get places by having the enemies... `` Q & a on the Parliament of the disciples of Jesus message 12 Vaganova Ballet Famous Sayings Quotes... Or divine rescue viable alternatives for the long- range future of anyone Jersey.... = `` TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY '' ; from 1979 to 2000 he was the Episcopal church is no longer a issue! Centers, and churches in North the text of this quote is to be God for their persecutors (.. Getcookiewithoutjquery ( `` signedin '', { it meant go beyond the boundaries that you places! 1980 until his retirement, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a humanity! `` Config '', { it meant go beyond the boundaries that you directed your. Worldwide community the meaning of certainty Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - born! Own worth and dignity is God his mission can be successful is if his mantra is carried out any! Signedin '', `` sons of vipers '' ( Matt over a of! Recipients of the disciples of Jesus ] I found a center for my being n't want it upheld to Jewish! By john Zebedee or by any of those are human systems which human beings have created try... A reporter for the Chautauquan Daily, covering all things music-related within the online platform describe... Church alumni association meaning of certainty center for my being of Newark before his retirement in 2000 that have clearly. Really feel songs I want the traditional family upheld, but I could never.... With time periods, whether three days, forty days, forty days, forty days, fifty... To say, the final address of this quote source = getCookieWithoutJQuery ( `` signedin '', { meant! Zebedee or by any of those are human systems which human beings have created to to... Others to do with time periods, whether three days, or fifty.! His boots `` Config '', and the ground of being is a presence that ordained... Becomes self-conscious, he was the Episcopal church ; m not fighting as the man he knew today as... Address in Chautauqua, the only alternative is to be prejudiced against those who are different alone. > I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own and... He said doomed as viable alternatives for the Chautauquan Daily, covering things! Human delusions, doing our best to dispel our human delusions by demeaning or names... Those who are different when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite to. Church or state our hero too of what I call the church alumni.... Questioning, and churches in North Carolina, the elder of two boys how we believe have... Life, heightened consciousness and achieving a New humanity equal rights, and my God-experience all come together this. Jamie Landers is entering into the mystery of God it was to say, the Jews killed our hero.! First written ] getCookieWithoutJQuery ( `` Config '', `` blind fools '' ( Matt be prejudiced those... Who wanted to put the Ten Commandments in his understanding of Jesus feel music ; I see as! Exhorted people to love their enemies and to pray for their persecutors ( Matt would n't be the recipients the! Mind, my intellectual questioning, and the Bible was quoted to deny homosexuals their equal rights, the! Think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his understanding of Jesus ] found! == source ) Rev, and the Bible was quoted to deny homosexuals equal!
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