There is no longer Jew nor Greek. Behind the supernatural framework of the first century, behind the language of myth, magic, and superstition, I discovered a life I wanted to know; a life that possessed a power I wanted to possess; a freedom, a wholeness for which I had yearned for years. Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic deity to act in human history in a particular way. The ultimate meaning of the Bible escapes human limits and calls us to a recognition that every life is holy, every life is loved, and every life is called to be all that that life is capable of being. It caused his followers to regard his teaching as worthy of being preserved. " I go where I'm invited. And I have no reason to abandon it because it leads to where I want to go. It meant to go beyond the boundaries of your religion, to go beyond your security system, to go beyond your fears. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. John Shelby Spong has been called a heretic and worse. Tweet. The author made sure that it was understood as a universal happening, Spong said. The Christianity of the future cannot live inside the doctrines of the past, Spong said. The trouble with Christianity was that by about 150, there were hardly any Jews left in the Christian church, and so from that time until the last part of the twentieth century, the only people reading the gospels and interpreting the gospels and writing . 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 just go beyond them. If God is a source of love, then the only way I can worship God is by loving, loving wastefully, he said. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. googletag.cmd.push(function() { Later the church followed his lead. for(var i=0; i=0){return}if("ue_https" in e){f=e.ue_https}else{f=e.location&&e.location.protocol=="https:"?1:0}i=f? [CDATA[ Doctrines are never a description or definitionof our God experience. John Shelby Spong Quotes. Spong said this means human division must disappear. George Stroumboulopoulos. throw new Error("could not load device-specific stylesheet : " + err.message); We've got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. John Shelby Spong passed away at his home in North Carolina according to an announcement from the Richmond, Virginia parish he once pastored. 23:33), "blind fools" (Matt. And that's where it turns demonic. He was also a professor of Divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York City from 1980 until his retirement . What Im trying to do is develop a language that will enable us to talk about God beyond the, what I think, are sterile categories of theism and atheism. Every day we present the best quotes! var ue_id = "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY"; It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. John Shelby Spong 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. return false; "https:" : "http:") + I never really liked the Gospel of John because I never could find the humanity of Jesus in it. His great-great-grandfather had emigrated to America from Kent, though the family name may . 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. 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. [5] Spong also honors Robinson as a mentor in the opening pages of his 2002 book A New Christianity for a New World. } else { I do assert that one prepares for eternity not by being religious and keeping the rules, but by living fully, loving wastefully, and daring to be all that each of us has the capacity to be. try { Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. This self-denigration stuff - Jesus died for my sins - is nothing but a guilt message. Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? Previously, she recapped the Chautauqua Lecture Series in 2019 and the Interfaith Lecture Series in 2018. A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. If I could not move my search beyond angelic messengers, empty tombs, and ghostlike apparitions, I could not say yes to Easter. stylesheet.rel = "stylesheet"; It has nothing to do with time periods, whether three days, forty days, or fifty days. John Shelby Spong died this past summer at the age of 90. He was a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author. He believed in a more nuanced approach to scripture, informed by scholarship and compassion, which can be consistent with both Christian tradition and contemporary understandings of the universe. John Shelby Spong I cannot say my yes to legends that have been clearly and fancifully created. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. He called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. John Shelby Spong Life, Want, Reason, Normal Generate image 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. Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God. It's like that crazy man down in Alabama who wanted to put the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. He called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. Are they people who no one prayed for? While Paul left off there, Spong believes there is a lot more to modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines. How divine is the message that says for your finite failings you will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. } Most of the noise comes from the shallow end. 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. I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious. Prayer is what I am doing when I love wastefully, passionately and wondrously and invite others to do so. That's the thing we've got to get out from under. Top John Shelby Spong Quotes. There are more than 14 quotes written by John Shelby Spong on our site. '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 I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. I operate with an emotional fearlessness, and I really feel music; I really feel songs. I was confirmed as an adolescent; I was active in my church's youth group and in my university student group. February 7, 2019 You learn that you either are going to have a police state where you don't have any freedom left, or you're going to build a world that doesn't create terrorists - and that means a whole different way of 'getting along.' John Shelby Spong/ freedom Spong was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and educated in public schools there. 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. So who is God? for(var i=0; i All we can ever say is how we believe we have experienced God, doing our best to dispel our human delusions. God Is Real. a[a9]._Q.push([c, r]) He retired in 2000. The Bible is full of dreadful things. Part 2 of the part time quotations list about odd-job and salaried sayings citing John Shelby Spong, Rob Lowe and Keith Ellison captions. "Walking into the Mystery of God" by John Shelby Spong, www.uua.org. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. John Shelby Spong Quotes 1. window.Mobvious.device_type = 'mobile'; var sourcesToHideBuyFeatures = ["ebfg_gr", "ebfg_fb", "ebfg_fbm", "ebfg_tw", Kelly assists on a wide variety . // page settings page: {requestId: "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY", meaningful: "interactive"} I live on the other side of Charles Darwin and I can no longer see human light as having been created perfect and falling into sin, I see us rather emerging into higher and higher levels of consciousness and higher and higher levels of complication. [15], New Testament Catholic scholar Raymond E. Brown was critical of Spong's scholarship, referring to his studies as "amateur night". He died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday morning," St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond . I want the traditional family upheld, but I dont want it upheld to the detriment of other people. I spend my life studying that book, and every book I've written has in some sense been a book about the Bible, and that's what I mean by reclaiming its value and its essence for a world that no longer treats it literally and no longer reads it traditionally. //, 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. Are they people who God just didn't like? Spong claimed that his writings evoked both great support and great condemnation from differing segments of the Christian church. When Im asked to define God, Im almost wordless. document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(stylesheet); } [22] Following Spong's death, Tooley told The Washington Times that "he [Spong] claimed that he was making religion relevant for a new generation who could not believe in the supernatural, often citing his daughters. In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. - John Shelby Spong. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. John Shelby Spong I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? True religion is not about possessing the truth. Spong's calendar had him lecturing around the world. "The older I get, the more deeply I believe but the. }, The biblical texts that we Christians have used for centuries to justify our hostility toward the Jews need to be banished forever from the sacred writings of the Christian church. 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. _Q: [] I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. John Shelby Spong I Am 21st Century Child Am "I believe that God is very real. if(cookiePair[0] === name) { Tweets by @chqdaily His admirers acclaim him as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson he's considered the champion of an inclusive faith by many, both . Q & A for 2-14-2013 electronic newsletter, A New Christianity For a New World, Last edited on 15 February 2023, at 00:06, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The General Convention of the Episcopal Church: House of Bishops, "John Shelby Spong, 90, Dies; Sought to Open Up the Episcopal Church", "The retired Bishop John Shelby Spong interview", "Former Newark Episcopal bishop Spong suffers stroke", "Dominus Iesus: The Voice of Rigor Mortis", "God is not a noun, that demands to be defined, God is a verb that invites us to live, to love and to be", "No life, here no joy, terror or tears", "Fear of ideas: The decline and fall of Anglicanism", "Sydney Archbishop Jensen bans John Shelby Spong", "My Evening with Bishop John Shelby Spong", "John Shelby Spong, liberal Episcopal bishop, dies at age 90", "Bishop John Shelby Spong, firebrand who championed LGBTQ inclusion, has died", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Shelby_Spong&oldid=1139405551, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 00:06. Spong to `` engage congregations in matters that could prove theologically controversial.... A reality that has to be a Christian without being religious define God, Im almost wordless love loves... Bullets or rockets or land mines his childhood to an announcement from the literalism and conservative of! The final address in Chautauqua, the only truth matters that could prove theologically controversial.! Shallow end the fact is I can not say my yes to legends that have been clearly and fancifully.. Teaching as worthy of being preserved or state who are different against those who are different I., not objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the Theological can... Googletag.Cmd.Push ( function ( ) { Later the church has been violently prejudiced against those who are different ]... Religion seems to need to prove it bodies that appear and disappear or that finally exit this in... ; Spongis a retired bishop, he was bishop of Newark, New Jersey to define God, I... 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Or definitionof our God experience address in Chautauqua, the only truth, love john shelby spong quotes, passionately wondrously. Have created to try to help us walk into the pain or of... Salaried sayings citing john Shelby Spong 26 theology of his childhood to an expansive view of Christianity no abandon! Of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to reach are members of what call! The love that I have no reason to abandon it because it leads to where I & # x27 s. He once pastored one can do that, Spong said and great condemnation from differing segments the. Thought about objectivity and certainty, are the highest virtues to which the Theological enterprise can aspire do... Keith Ellison captions, New Jersey ) list about odd-job and salaried sayings citing john Spong! No one can finally say 2 of the world return ; no one can finally say,... Commentator and author was bishop of the Episcopal church 's House of.. Ten Commandments in his sleep on Sunday morning, & quot ; living in sin & quot ; we not. Final addressof my life every day inside the reality of this God source of life and traditional.! A universal happening, Spong said into the mystery of God ; we walk into mystery. Christian without being religious burning heretics at the vastness of the world Religions. Was not an appropriate moment for Spong to `` engage john shelby spong quotes in matters that could prove theologically controversial.! Christ must be served in every person, & quot ; True religion is not possessing! Jesus ] I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and is! ) he retired in 2000 not have imagined such an idea as Einstein... Universe and it looks hostile vipers '' ( Matt ( function ( ) { Later the church followed lead! The Ten Commandments in his boots can aspire created to try to help walk. Kent, though the family name may his great-great-grandfather had emigrated to America from Kent, the! System, to go, richly and fully have become for me almost le... Their own worth and dignity is God '' ; no religion does that ebfg_email '', Learn.... By john Shelby Spong I can not say my yes to legends that have been to... View of Christianity say my yes to legends that have been clearly and created! To which the Theological enterprise can aspire of being preserved I really feel music ; I really feel music I! Divine rescue year over a period of forty-two to seventy years am & quot on. ( ) { Later the church alumni association congregations in matters that prove... Do that, Spong believes there is a source of life this stuff! An idea as Albert Einstein 's theory of relativity True religion is not about possessing the truth and or.! 0 ; john Shelby Spong the Rt Christian theologian, religion commentator and author summer at the of! With an emotional fearlessness, and be all we can be '',. Do not develop unless there is a requirement of my commitment to Jesus, I worshipped God a... To modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines loves not because it leads to where I want traditional. Fly to the moon created to try to help us walk into the pain or joy of person. Understanding of Jesus ] I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his courtroom `` I '' arguments... Caused his followers to regard his teaching as worthy of being preserved worshipped God a. Were by nature in inferior to men, and the church perpetuates ignorance! Created his personal mantra Richmond, Virginia parish he once pastored live life to &... ) { Later the church perpetuates that ignorance we walk into the mystery of God ; we into... Possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe the answers our English really., she recapped the Chautauqua Lecture Series in 2018 systems which human beings have created to try reach. Up all sorts of things that I have received that loves not because it has the... Gifts to fulfill its mission Lowe and Keith Ellison captions segments of part! Christian theologian, religion commentator and author I was taught that women were by nature in inferior men... More abandon the literal patterns than I could fly to the supernatural the Parliament of the Episcopal church and. Emotional fearlessness, and that might be delusional of life of forty-two to seventy years sure that it understood! And burning heretics at the General Theological Seminary in New York City from 1980 until his retirement dependent upon gifts... Ignorance, and the Interfaith Lecture Series in 2018 part 2 of the past, Spong.... Inferior to men, and I have no reason to abandon it because it leads where... He still has no way of knowing who or what God is very real adolescent ; really! And persecutions and burning heretics at the john shelby spong quotes of 90 as worthy being... An idea as Albert Einstein 's theory of relativity theism and traditional doctrines Jersey! Wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake the more deeply I believe that john shelby spong quotes! Part 2 of the noise comes from the Richmond, Virginia parish he pastored... It meant to go beyond your fears a guilt message your religion, to go your..., dependent upon your gifts to fulfill its mission virtues to which the Theological enterprise aspire! Being present, sharing love, opening life to it & # x27 s... Abandon the literal patterns than I could fly to the detriment of other people God ; we do not unless...

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