"One day Jesus was praying, and when he had finished, one of the disciples asked, "Rabbi, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Abba God, hallowed be your Name! Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. It is not necessarily words addressed heavenward. Rather "we are part of what God is and we are at one with all that God is." We. To me, neither option is worth pursuing. 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. "Q&A on The Parliament of the World's Religions," weekly mailing, 2007-SEP-05, as reported on. John Shelby Spong (2009). Thats where I think God is made visible.. 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. The Bible was written between 3,000 and 2,000 years ago, and it's filled with the knowledge that people had in that period of time, some of which you and I rejected long ago. I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. John Shelby Spong I cannot say my yes to legends that have been clearly and fancifully created. } Eugene Taylor Sutton to give closing sermon of 22, Sacred Song, Three Taps close season by reflecting, rejoicing, Josh Stafford, on Massey, to present comedic Keaton classic, Playwrights Hnath, Hamill take stage to talk writing, theater with Kahn, A true people person: friends and family reflect on the life of vic gelb, Robinson to close with message of Chautauquas unique role in the world, Stafford, Robinson reflect on 2021 season, look ahead to final Sacred Song Service, 2022, Alumni Association of CLSC raises record-breaking amount at auction, Eberhardt reflects on social psychology of American racial biases, African American Heritage House strives for diversity at Chautauqua. Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. Williams described Spong's Twelve Points for Reform as embodying "confusion and misinterpretation". It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); "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. The tour coincided with Hollingworth leaving the diocese to become the Governor-General of Australia. (function() { var stylesheet = document.createElement("link"); if (window.csa) { What I'm 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. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("surface", "mw"); Papal infallibility and biblical inerrancy are the two ecclesiastical versions of this human idolatry. a[a9] = { 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. 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. [21], Mark Tooley, a Methodist who is president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a think tank noted for its critique of liberal religious groups, criticized Spong in 2010 as "brandishing the stale theologies and ideologies of a half-century ago". A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.[1]. It calls us beyond our limits into the fullness of life - into a capacity to love people we are not taught to love - and into an ability to be who we are. Use them as an inspiration. And that's where it turns demonic. I prepare for death by living. He was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey from 1979 to 2000. var useSSL = "https:" == document.location.protocol; John Shelby Spong 1 Mother Nature is not sweet. //]]> In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. Steve has a Bachelor's degree in creative writing from Farieligh Dickinson University and has contributed to many literary and cultural publications. As a retired bishop, he was a member of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops. If I were a child of Tibet or of Arabia, I suspect the path I'd walk would be the Buddhist path or the Muslim path. From this perspective, all human claims to possess objectivity, certainty, or infallibility are revealed as nothing but the weak and pitiable pleas of frantically insecure people who seek to live in an illusion because reality has proved to be too difficult. All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. -- John Shelby Spong #Giving "I go where I'm invited. At 82, retired and enjoying life, Bishop John Shelby Spong doesn't have to be the liberal enfant terrible whose pronouncements for gay rights and against traditional dogmas once . The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two thousand years. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. No one can do that, Spong said. And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. While Paul left off there, Spong believes there is a lot more to modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines. The Bible tells me that every life is holy; the Bible tells me that every life is loved; the Bible tells me that every life is called to be all that it can be. You cant have a world where 50 percent of the people are dieting and 50 percent of the people are starving if you want stability. var ue_sid = "242-2972433-4130551"; Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Is there a different Bible? A liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author, he called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. node.parentNode.insertBefore(gads, node); In the first gospel, Mark, the risen Christ appears physically to no one, but by the time we come to the last gospel, John, Thomas is invited to feel the nail prints in Christ's hands and feet and the spear wound in his side. Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. Introducing John Shelby Spong the Rt. The creeds were 3rd- and 4th-century love songs that people composed to sing to their understanding of God. window.Mobvious.device_type = 'mobile'; _Q: [] We were told in the Second Commandment we could make no images of this God, and I don't think that means just building idols, I think that means also trying to believe you've captured God in your words, in the Creeds, in the Scriptures. If I were a child of Tibet or of Arabia, I suspect the path Id walk would be the Buddhist path or the Muslim path. "Events.Namespace": "csa", If you begin to give people hope that there is a brighter future, there is a new tomorrow, then the people who were yesterday's terrorists become tomorrow's elected officials and they're part of the system. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, There is a mistake in the text of this quote. I rather experience God as the source of life willing me to live fully, the source of love calling me to love wastefully and to borrow a phrase from the theologian, Paul Tillich, as the Ground of being, calling me to be all that I can be. I live on the other side of Copernicus and Galileo; I can no longer conceive of God as sort of above the sky, looking down and keeping record books. 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. 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 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. John Shelby Spong Related Authors That's not Christianity. "ObfuscatedMarketplaceId": "A1PQBFHBHS6YH1" Those ideas are absurd. The author made sure that it was understood as a universal happening, Spong said. Part 2 of the all things quotations list about every-one and in-its-entirety sayings citing Jay Baruchel, David Frum and David Frum captions. John Shelby Spong Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? pubID: '3211', adServer: 'googletag', bidTimeout: 4e3, params: { aps_privacy: '1YN' } 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 27. return null; John Shelby Spong Quotes "God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. Prayer is entering into the pain or joy of another person. J.B. Heller Quotes James Whitfield Thomson Quotes Jeanne A. Estes Quotes John Shelby Spong Quotes Julien Temple Quotes Lenny Kravitz Quotes Merrell Fankhauser Quotes Nicole Green Quotes Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn Quotes Priya Rawal Quotes S. Andrew Swann Quotes Scott F. Gilbert Quotes And I dont mind saying that I dont invalidate any of those paths. Jesus could not have imagined such an idea as Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. And all I can tell you is if we accepted every invitation we had, I'd be away every day of my life." -- John Shelby Spong #Accepted #Invitations "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. var googletag = googletag || {}; I call this God by different words. gads.async = true; He stated that he was a Christian because he believes that Jesus Christ fully expressed the presence of a God of compassion and selfless love and that this is the meaning of the early Christian proclamation, "Jesus is Lord" (Spong, 1994 and Spong, 1991). 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