if (a[a9]) return; No one can finally say. To me, neither option is worth pursuing. It grew and developed year by year over a period of forty-two to seventy years. 12:34), "sons of vipers" (Matt. 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. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads one toward the mystery of God. "Q&A on The Parliament of the World's Religions". 14 "John Shelby Spong" Quotes And Sayings. As a leading spokesperson for an open, scholarly, and progressive Christianity, Bishop Spong has taught at Harvard and at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. I describe God as the source of life and the source of love and the ground of being. The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. session: { id: "242-2972433-4130551" }, 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. a[a9] = { That's magic, that's not God. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of the Rt. Thats where I think God is made visible.. John Shelby Spong I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. [CDATA[ After love, he shared his beliefs about experiencing God. Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue. I believe God is real, but I believe God calls me beyond myself to take responsibility for my life and to try top work to allow other people to be themselves and to take responsibility for their lives. This is an opportune time for those who identify with liberal Christianity to take a critical look at his legacy. No religion does that. The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Sometimes, you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I dont mind saying that I dont invalidate any of those paths. Bishop John Shelby Spong, an Episcopal Church prelate whose liberal views rankled orthodox Episcopalians and others, died in his sleep Sunday morning, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Morris. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? "CacheDetection.RequestID": "TXPX0XF032R2WV9SNJQY", Give us today tomorrow's bread. googletag.pubads().setTargeting("sid", "osid.a1fff312af8a1d2b3b241fa9193829a2"); The Bible was quoted to defend slavery and the bible lost. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. True religion is not about possessing the truth. John Shelby Spong 82. 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. var cookies = document.cookie.split('; '); Robinson, who is the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop in Christendom, attributes the opportunity he had to serve as a leader in the church to Spong, who he said supported LGBT rights before it was popular. 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 think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. During Chautauquas nine-week summer season, the, Iconic Chita Rivera to provide Chautauquans with one of final Amp performances in 22, Incoming pastor Rt. [15], New Testament Catholic scholar Raymond E. Brown was critical of Spong's scholarship, referring to his studies as "amateur night". Rather "we are part of what God is and we are at one with all that God is." We. q("f", arguments) The author of this book is not a single individual, but is at least three different writers/editors, who did their layered work over a period of 25 to 30 years. John Shelby Spong Quotes. By contrast, Phillip Aspinall, the Primate of Australia, invited Spong in 2007 to deliver two sermons at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. That is not what most Christians have been taught to think, but it is factual. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. googletag.enableServices(); I think that's not only tough, but ultimately disappointing to most people. And thats immoral. There is no way that the Fourth Gospel was written by John Zebedee or by any of the disciples of Jesus. We must move beyond the now irrelevant dualistic patterns and discover the holy at the heart of the human. Spong's calendar had him lecturing around the world. John Shelby Spong (16 June 1931 - 12 September 2021) Introduction. It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. window.csa("Config", { The sin of Christianity is that any of us ever claimed that we had somehow captured eternal truth in the forms we had created. According to The Episcopal Diocese of Newark, Bishop Spong suffered a stroke before a speaking engagement in Marquette, Michigan, on Saturday, September 10, 2016. } if (sourcesToHideBuyFeatures[i] == source) [7] Spong was the cousin of the United States Senator from Virginia William B. Spong Jr. John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. 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. While Paul left off there, Spong believes there is a lot more to modernizing Christianity than erasing those dividing lines. You can't sing "Amazing Grace" without reminding yourself that the reason God's grace is amazing is it saves a wretch like you. }); " I believe that God is very real. 30 Quotes By "John Shelby Spong" For People Who Know Exactly How It Feels To Be Cheated On.The best 30 Quotes Of "John Shelby Spong" That Will Help Through Your Entire Damn Life. Shelby Harris. He called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. John Shelby Spong was born on June 16 1931 at Charlotte, North Carolina, the elder of two boys. The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two thousand years. Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. I grew up in North Carolina being told that the Bible approves slavery and segregation, that it was the will of God. Some people think prayer is telling God what to do. 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. 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. Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. In [the story of Jesus] I found a center for my being. Prayer is being present, sharing love, opening life to transcendence. In the way that God brought oneness out of diversity, wholeness out of brokenness and eternity out of time, Spong realized the version of faith he wanted to spread. googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(true); I don't think so. var googletag = googletag || {}; All Things Quotes Page 253. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. The question must also be raised as to whether we have the actual words of Jesus in any Gospel. var ue_mid = "A1PQBFHBHS6YH1"; gads.type = "text/javascript"; John Shelby Spong Quotes - BrainyQuote American - Clergyman Born: June 16, 1931 Mother Nature is not sweet. 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. " I go where I'm invited. The Rt. I just go beyond them. a[a9]._Q.push([c, r]) window.Mobvious.device_type = 'mobile'; [CDATA[ Use them as an inspiration. Papal infallibility and biblical inerrancy are the two ecclesiastical versions of this human idolatry. Praying and living deeply, richly and fully have become for me almost indistinguishab le. When Im asked to define God, Im almost wordless. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. Whatever diminishes life is evil, and whatever enhances life is good. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends. There is no longer male nor female. There is no longer Jew nor Greek. I think religion in general and Christianity in particular must always be evolving. node.parentNode.insertBefore(gads, node); It has nothing to do with time periods, whether three days, forty days, or fifty days. !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}(); [CDATA[ var cookie = cookies[i]; 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 for(var i=0; i Maurice Hill Obituary Terrell Texas,
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