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Summary: A remarkable book that may actually do some good.
Review: I found it difficult to read this book through the tears of gratitude that kept welling up in my eyes. It is witness to a noble, brave and compassionate soul. The profound, illuminating scholarship that inhabits it is never allowed to intrude upon its beautiful, flowing prose. It is easy to read, but I can only imagine that many traditional Christians will find it hard to swallow.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and thought-provoking
Review: I thought this book was excellent. It's sad to see Bishop Spong snarled at and ranted at by his fellow Christians. ("What would Jesus do?" Who knows, but probably not denigrate an earnest, thoughtful, articulate human being who so obviously loves Him.) It seemed to me that Bishop Spong was just saying that he is on a spiritual journey, as most intelligent people usually are. And I don't think it's necessarily a journey toward disbelief, as some people have said. At least it's an honest one! Albert Einstein said, "The important thing is not to stop questioning." Another wise person said, "He who thinks he knows, doesn't know. He who knows he doesn't know, knows." (Tao-te Ching). Bishop Spong's detractors need to read a lot of history, study science, broaden their world view, and use their heads a little bit. Life IS change.
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Summary: Christianity has changed before and needs to change again.
Review: All those people saying Christianity has never changed are only revealing their ignorance. Read your history for pity's sake! The Christianity of the 1st Century is not the Christianity of the 2cnd Century or the 5th Century or the 10th Century or the 15th Century or the 20th Century. Heck, Christianity as it is practiced in the Southern Baptist Church has changed in the last 20 years, for the worse! Spong is trying to find a way to change Christianity into both something closer to its roots and something servicable in the 21st Century. He is to be commended for his efforts on the part of his faith. Only time will tell if he is to be remembered as a reguvenator of Christianity on the par with Martin Luthor, or as the Julian of our age trying to bring back a religion that had outlived its usefullness.
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Summary: A thinking person's challenge!
Review: Spong's book is a challenge to his readers, and a challenge to the church as a whole to apply hermeneutic principles to the church itself. Can Christianity revitalize itself and respeak its ancient truths in ways that are meaningful to the postmodern culture of the present age? If not, Spong insists that it will pass into oblivion. The "god of the gaps" is dead, and in place of this idol, the church has an opportunity to re-enshrine the God of all creation. A "must-read" for any serious Christian of the sacramental traditions.
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Summary: Makes me feel better about dumping my faith
Review: As a former Catholic who tossed Christianity out the window in the third grade, I was AMAZED by this book. Spong explains how a Christian can remain true to him or herself while depositing the archaic messages of the bible into the dustbin of time, which is where they belong, IMHO. I am so happy to read a preacher who AGREES with me that God, whatever it is, dwells within you and the way you behave toward others, and not in the sky somewhere with Elvis in a big purple chair (as Frank Zappa once said).Take that, Jerry Falwell! The best thing about this book is that Bishop Spong talks like a human being. He patiently explains concepts that need explaining in an easy-to-understand manner. He is a man of amazing common sense and the book is VERY hard to put down. Highly recommended! Prepare to be moved, shocked and persuaded. Spong should get a medal. In lieu of that, give him your money. Buy the book. TT
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: If you have always had difficulty with the fundamentalist approach to religion which says that you must not think but only believe what they tell you to believe then you will find this wonderful book a life-saver!!! Bishop Spong demonstrates that one can be a believer and still remain alive from the neck up.
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Summary: Amazing Book!
Review: This is an amazing book. Spong is one of the greatest religious leaders of our time. He is a profound thinker, and is not afraid to confront the truth. He delivers a message which is encapsulated in the title of his book. He has been a leader in bringing about a rapprochement between Christianity and homosexuality - insisting that CHRISTIANS are in the wrong on this issue! How very brave, to question the assumptions of your own church, and to point out where it is clearly in the wrong, no matter the consequences to yourself. If Christianity doesn't confront the issues Spong raises in this book, it will find itself increasingly obsolete.
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Summary: A book to be discussed for years to come
Review: WOW! How many times can you make a comment like that about a book on religion? This book is THE BEST book on Christianity I've read in a long, long time. Read it because you should know where you stand with God and your church's view of God. John Shelby Spong is an Episcopal Bishop and a first rank Biblical scholar. This is a man of strong sentiments, a man who is not afraid to buck the currents of the Christian movement of the last couple decades. Perhaps he is most famous for calling for inclusion of female priests, gays, lesbians and everyone else in the church. I first encountered him last year when he appeared on Politically Incorrect, an event special enough to make Bill Maher suspend the regular format and talk to him one-on-one. He was fascinating and as soon as I saw this new work I jumped at the chance to read it. I was not disappointed, in fact, it's far more than I expected. This is a book to shake the culture--a basic no-holds-barred questioning and reassessment of what it means to be a Christian. In history, Judaism went through a terrible crisis of faith called the Babylonian Exile which Spong uses as a metaphor for our time. Noting psychological parallels between that time and ours, Spong addresses his book to Christians in a modern exile of belief. So why are we facing an exile of belief now? In a process that started with Galileo and accelerated in the century and a half since Darwin, the believability of traditional Christian theology has eroded due to newly developed empirical evidence about how the world works and our place in it. This is a 9.0 religious earthquake that affects our whole culture. Spong seeks to survive it through a completely new understanding of God and God-in-Christ. Why Christianity Must Change Or Die is both a critique of old thinking and a roadmap showing possible routes to that new understanding. All this is doubly impressive because he is such a high ranking member of a church, though it should be noted that Bishop Spong intends to leave the priesthood soon and become a university lecturer. I could draw quotes from any page in this work, but this one may give you a feeling for Spong's clear mindedness and deep conviction: "I enter this process because I can neither dismiss this Christ nor live comfortably with the way he has been traditionally interpreted. I am not prepared to conclude that the traditional way of interpreting Jesus has exhausted the possibilities. I can with no great difficulty set aside those interpretations, but I cannot set aside the Christ experience, which created the necessity for those theistic interpretations of yesterday. I still find the power of Christ compelling." Unlike so many screaming out their blind faith, Spong maintains his rationality and his spirituality at the same time. This is a rare book, a work of courage and meaning. It's certain to be discussed for years.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Book!
Review: If you want to be able to believe in God without having to completely switch your mind off first, you will appreciate this wonderful book. A must read for people who believe that God gave them minds because he wants them to be used.
Rating: 
Summary: It's about time!
Review: As one who rejected organized religion many years ago I found Spong's book very good for those Christians who cannot reconcile some of the differences within the pages of the Bible. It nicely lays out why the Christian Spong does not reject Jesus as divine and tells us how we all have the capacity to divinity. It gives hope and faith through his questions and answers within our own time (and many scientific discoveries) not through the lens of thousands of years and many misconceptions about our world. I hope Spong continues to speak out, reform is needed within religions whos voice's cry out that we need to be controlled to earn grace. VOdienexp
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