The Bible is a Good Book, But God Didn’t Write It
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Retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong is used to being a lightning rod for religious debate. Known affectionately as “Jack” to his friends, Spong has been taking religious literalists to task for over 40 years.
The bishop made a big splash a couple of years ago when he issued a “Manifesto” in which he declared: “I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone.” Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler responded that this was fine with him as “Bishop Spong rejects any claim that the Bible is the Word of God.”
Mohler will find verification of his view in Spong’s new book Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World. Right there, on page 15, Spong writes: “I do not think for one moment that Bible is any literal sense the ‘Word of God.’” This book is Spong’s way of putting the Bible back in its right perspective — as a collection of “tribal” stories that sprang from “the experience of human beings seeking to make sense out of the life they are living and the things they are experiencing.”
Spong invites readers to consider the Bible more deeply. His approach opens up the Bible in a new way and invites us all to engage the texts, argue with them, and use it make new meaning for our own experiences and lives. This, Spong argues, makes the Bible more than a manual for morality, but a living document.
Religion Dispatches had the chance to talk with Bishop Spong about his new book, as well as his take on how religion has been shaping — and misshaping — the political landscape. [More]
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3 Comments
Another book by John Shelby Spong, an Episcopalian bishop. Unfortunately, Spong understands neither the Bible nor Christianity — how could he understand when he denies the truth of every line of the Nicene Creed? I have always wondered why such an unbelieving bishop never had the intellectual nor spiritual integrity to resign his office and find another line of work. But he’s a modern Episcopalian!
Amen!
Spong is the Spawn of a diminishing denomination of social rather than spiritual
Faith. Since he grew up not reading the Bible, why should anyone be surprised at his perspective on it. Unfortunately, a bishop (and who the hell promoted him to that position) puts another “kick me” sign on the backs of Christian of all denominations. He is simply a person who lived his faith-lie in a church that needs more real faith than division. I pray few people will waste their money on this book and trust the publisher will lose money on it and the “bishop”