Rating: 
Summary: may or may not be right for you
Review: As an agnostic, it was the title of this book that caught my eye. I'm guessing that's what the author was aiming for. In the beginning, he tells of his entrance into controversy. He makes it sound like he was never trying to be controversial, but it's hard to believe after reading the book. He doesn't hesitate a bit when stating what he thinks, and never uses any "perhaps"'s or "maybe"'s. Everything is very definite to him. The next few chapters are spent pointing out the inadequacies of modern religion. This is entertaining for a while, but you will probably be glad when he moves on to a constructive solution to these problems. The title proclaims that he is speaking to "believers in exile." If you don't' consider yourself in that category, I doubt you'll find this book very helpful, unless you're an agnostic or atheist who isn't familiar with the concept of a non-theistic God. That's what I was before I read this book. My mind was opened quite a bit by his thoughts. I'm not converted, of course, but the idea of God is a bit more plausible to me now. I find it difficult to use the term "God" for what he discusses though. It's more of a feeling, I think. Some good points are also made about subtle changes in Christianity recently. He uses this as evidence that it will change into something similar to his vision. I have a hard time believing this. Spong's view of Christianity may work for a few, but I doubt that there are enough people who care about their faith enough to change Christianity as a whole. The glue that has held Christianity in place is salvation in the afterlife. It feeds on the simple primitive self interest found in all human beings. If there is no literal afterlife, most simple people will have no desire to be part of religion, even if it does improve their earthly life. From my experience, the kind of religion Spong speaks of requires constant self examination and dedication. Very few people would be willing to dedicate this to a religion that makes no promises. Overall, this was a good jump start for me after being stuck in my views for a while. For those experiencing a stagnating spiritual life, this may be the solution. Or, it may not. You should go into this book with an open mind, but you will not need to use all of Spong's information. You may have an epiphany from reading a single sentence, then put it down for a while. Consider it a compilation of ideas meant to open your mind, and maybe change your current way of thinking.
Rating: 
Summary: This is bad theology
Review: Mr. Spong's treatment of Biblical data is fast and loose. He is quite content to accept the "scientific evidence" of evolution without a mention of its contraversial nature. He has ignored all responsible biblical scholarship for a cracker-jack version liberal scam. In essence Mr. Spong has taken the best of what he likes in the culture and the Bible and called it a belief system. The Bible is not a salad bar. He has created a new religion of his own making based on telling everyone that they are okay no matter how they live. It appeals to people because he tells them what they want to hear. I would say that Mr. Spong's version of Christianity must indeed change or die.
Rating:
Summary: Why John Shelby Spong('s theology) must change or die
Review: Or, "Rescuing the Bible from Spongism," or, "Liberating the Gospel from Spong," or "What's Wrong with bishop Spong". Ok, I like twisting his book titles around. Now that the cat's out of the bag, onto the actual book.As a (more conservative than liberal) Protestant, naturally this book strikes a chord with me, though what strikes a chord moreso is how foolish I feel his theology is. When I started getting into the part of the book where he starts giving his theology often (around pg. 100 onward), I started marking everything he said that I thought was quotable, and wanted to have for reference and for this review. After about five pages I had around 100 marks. There is just too many. The sum of Spong's theology, though, can be summed up in one statement: Spong should leave Christianity alone and convert to Buddhism Because that's basically what Spong is, a buddhist, who does Catholic rituals with a slight bit of Christianity also thrown in for good measure. One of the most basic biblical, Christian doctrines is theism. I don't think I suprize anyone by saying that Christianity is theistic. Spong, on the other hand, doesn't believe in an "external deity" or a literal "being" similar to buddhism, but that God is real because we make him real. This is strikingly similar to John Dominic Crossin, where he was asked once (see "Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up") if God existed during the Jurassic period. Crosson basically responded "no" which Spong does as well, just not directly. We also get to play a fun game with Spong. It's called "Make your own Jesus." If you are gay, so is Jesus! If you are a women, so is Jesus! If you feel Jesus was a hindu guru, he is! And for Spong, he feels that Jesus was purely spiritual. Along with this, Spong tells us that Paul was a homosexual but when he condemns homosexuality it is basically because he doesn't want to come out of the closet (or something like that, my memory of this book is fading). Also, ever heard of heaven or hell? Those are just myths, but we get to live inside people once we die similar to how my deceased dog lives inside of me ("in my heart"). So here we have a man claiming to be Christian who A) Doesn't believe in the Bible, except when it agrees with him (or otherwise it isn't to be taken literally either in a historical or doctrinal perspective), B) Doesn't believe in a literal deity, C) Believed Jesus (as portreyed in the gospels) was purely spiritual, and not historical, D) Doesn't believe in the biblical eschatological -heaven and hell- afterlife. The list continues. What I find, though, is that Spong's beliefs parrellel buddhism amazingly. It's time to say, "Spong, why don't you just leave Christianity alone and call yourself a buddhist?" He doesn't even give, in my opinion, a substantial reason to "exile". Though he is in this process (it's hard to explain what "exiling" is. I recommend just reading ch. 2 of the book), he gives no reason why Christianity "must" do this or it will die (in general, he does speak a bit of evolution and some other stuff). As for buying this book, I really don't recommend it. Even reading it for free (with the invention of the "library"), in this day and age, with so little time to actual sit down and read, there are better books out there. This concludes my ramblings.
Rating:
Summary: Shopworn Theology by a Shallow Man
Review: It amazes me that John Shelby Spong has had the audacity to hang onto the perks and prerequisites of his Bishop's office for years after he obviously renounced his Christian faith. Like a leech, he attached himself to the body of the Church and feeds off of it, contributing absolutely nothing of any value to it. This book is appalling. I felt literally nauseated when I read the jacket blurb that compared Spong to a Reformer on the order of Martin Luther. This man is vulgar and immodest, which fits in with his shopworn, dreary, faithless watered-down Enlightenment "theology." This is the book of a coward, one who lives in comfort thanks to the faith tradition he despises. The contrast between this effete snob and the martyrs of the faith in the Sudan and China is like the difference between, well ... Hell and Heaven.
Rating: 
Summary: For Believers In Exile--Who Are Likely To Stay That Way!
Review: The controversial Bishop Spong has produced another original theological work, which will no doubt rankle many Christians. Spong deconstructs the Biblical, paternalistic image of God and in His place introduces God as the Ground of Being. This God-concept will not be unfamiliar to panentheists, but it will be highly disturbing to conservative Christians. The case Spong builds against the traditional image of God draws on long-standing questions that have even confounded some devout believers. Why would a God that truly loves humanity consign some of us to eternal torment? Why would He choose to reveal Himself in such supernatural ways? Why would He be so blood-thirsty as to send His Son to die on the cross as a blood sacrifice? Spong answers these questions as an atheist might answer them. Although he professes to be a "God-intoxicated" individual, he does not literally believe in the Biblical God. This raises the central question: is there any middle ground between theism and atheism? Most of the rest of the book is devoted to answering that question. Spong clearly believes that there is an alternative, and that this middle way represents the direction toward which Christianity must eventually change. However, it is extremely unlikely that the Church will ever sanction such a radical departure from orthodox Christian thelogy. Fundamentalist Christians will not like this book. However, those who are uncomfortable with some aspects of Christian theology will find the book a refreshing change. I recommend it to anyone interested in the issues facing Christianity today--widespread beliefs that the Christian religion is intolerant, exclusivist, and dogmatic--as well as those fundamentalist Christians who are willing to confront a radically different view of the future of their faith.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and necessary medicine
Review: I lived in his diocese for quite a few years, and when I first became a Christian--specifically a very conservative Roman Catholic--in 1998, I thought Bishop Spong was out of his mind: a lunatic and willing tool of the worst of the various PC agenda-ists running around the Northern New Jersey area. Yet the longer I hung around the Roman Catholic Church the more convinced I was that I belonged in the Episcopal Communion where the thought control wasn't and isn't quite as over-the-top as what I discovered in the RCC; and where there were indeed men and women like Bishop Spong attempting to blow off the cobwebs of antiquated modes of thinking and relating to a tradition sadly in need of renovation. When you buy an old house you cut through the layers of paint to get back to the brickwork. That, I think, has been part of Bishop Spong's project for the last few years: to return Christianity to its sense of spiritual beauty, and also to change its sense of the salvific from one demanding a worship of the omniscient and omnipotent Big Daddy with a carrot and stick into one inviting us into a community of sharing and love that embodies the love of Jesus who in his human life embodied the qualities of God that human life requires for spirituality. That kind of love has nothing to do with gender, sexual preference or privilege. It has everything to do with what is best in ourselves. Bishop Spong is a heretic if you have an entrenched stake in the system as it stands now, or if you are so wrapped up in your need for God the Big Daddy that you cannot imagine a life of responsibility. At times he goes a bit wild in his interpretations of Christian symbolism, as in how one receives Communion. But I would rather reject his interpretations after being provoked to consider them than to be told that This Is How It Is And You'd Better Do It This Way Or Else.
Rating:
Summary: a must read for "Christians"
Review: This book should be a mandatory primer for today's "Christian". We live in a changing world and need to understand the application for Christian religion. Spong does a great job helping us into a new age.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time
Review: Finally someone has written a book that shows some hope for a failing and sometimes desperate religion. So many so called "Christians" just don't get it. It's not about sin, guilt and condemnation based on 2000 year old ideas written by MEN not GOD-but it is about love, compassion, understanding and acceptance-qualties shown by a man named JESUS. Bishop Spong deserves credit for standing against the establishment that guilts people into going to church and acting on the ancient scriptures as though they are the literal breath of God himself. Bravo Bishop Spong-I am a better person for reading your book for you articulate what I have known in my heart for many years. A must read for anyone who dares to question more deeply our current system of religious beliefs and seek answers beyond the hell fire and damnation church of today. Fundametalists are destroying Christianity. A message to you, Jesus was a radical, not a Fundamentalist. I believe he would be ashmed of the the way these Fundamentalist attack so called "sinners" with threats of eternal punishment. READ THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Writing Mixed With Poor Theology
Review: After seeing my husband's review of this book, I wanted to write my own, because even though we agree on the core issues of the problems with Spong's theology and "non-sequiturs", I believe the book is worth reading. Whatever else can be said of Spong, his thesis is held by many in the liberal world, and must give those moderate and conservative Christians pause. This pause, is to reflect on whay the church is failing to speak to such people. The church has apart in this problem. We haven't always communicated the good news to some of the "outcast" of religious culture. Spong is trying to address these people and give them a sense of religious hope. His religion, or brand of Christianity fails in practice (I am from Denmark, and can attest that liberal Christianity doesn't give many answers to most hurting people); however, it is still worth studying. Lastly, Spong is a great communicator, whether in oral or written form. Even though I disagree with him most of the time and find him to be, at times mean spirited towards those who don't hold his views (for example, if one is conservative one is a fundamentalist, this is not honest and cocots images of narrow minded people). Spong is verg engaging and I like very much his style of writing.
Rating:
Summary: Brave new world
Review: What Bishop Spong had to say took great courage and even more faith. I remember trying to make my way back into the church several years ago, but kept getting stymied by the Apostles Creed. I told the priest that I was troubled and believed more in Matthew Fox's conception of Christianity that that of the orthodox church. He told me that was OK and that many in the parish had read and integrated what Fox had to say about Christianity. I said, "But Father, I don't believe that Jesus is the only son of God." He said, "Oh! That's a different matter. You can hardly be called a Christian if you don't believe Jesus is the son of God." That was the end of it. Spong paints a broarder picture of God than that of traditional Christianity. I believe, as I think Spong does, that God is bigger than what I can conceive of him/her/it to be; or, as Spong puts it, "The ground of all being." Like Bishop Spong I had always wondered why God of the Bible acted in a more capricious manner than many earthly fathers, mine own included. Spong opens the box that we have painted God into. What he wrote speaks to me, just as what he wrote may not speak to others. Both are ok.
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