Rating: 
Summary: Fashionable Theological Tripe
Review: Within John Shelby Spong's new book, "Why Christianity Must Change or Die," readers are treated to Spong sacrificing authentic faith for the price of recognition in academia, a recurring theme in his books. I wept openly at reading a high ranking clergyman bombard Christian theological and moral dogmas which had been believed from the beginning. The questions this book asks of its readers seem to lead them into thinking that traditional faith is so outdated and non-inclusive that one never bothers to ascertain if tradional faith is true or not. This book is Fashionable Academic tripe of the worst sort. If someone wants to read Christian texts from educated writers, try C.S. Lewis or Kallistos(Timothy) Ware, both of which have many more letters following their names than Spong.
Rating: 
Summary: Is Spong a Christian or a Unitarian?
Review: Having read several of Spong's other books,I read this one to find out what he had to say to "believers in exile." I was surprisingly moved by his comparison of the Church to the Jewish Exile period (discussed in chapter two) particularly since I am one of those who can no longer find any place in Christianity. Unfortunatly, this book is not enough to convince me to return, and the thing that spoiled it most for me was actually something I read in a newspaper article on Bishop Spong where he dismissed Unitarian Universalists as people who don't take religion seriously. As someone who has found some spiritual meaning in a UU Fellowship, I can say that Spong's remarks in that article only reveal a profound ignorance of the Unitarians. Everything he has written about in this book (as well as his others) is old news to UUs. We have been there and done that. We would fully agree with Spong that the theistic images of God must go. Spong may call himself a Ch! ristian because he wants to follow the example of Jesus, but in my opinion, he is a Unitarian Universalist in all but name. Nevertheless, his book contains valuable insights for all those concerned with the current state of the church, regardless of their beliefs.
Rating: 
Summary: An engaging look into the future of the Christian faith
Review: Why do you believe what you believe? This is a question that many people are ill-equipped to answer because they've been taught that it should never be asked. Faith is sufficient for some. Experience is the authority to which many appeal. Tradition makes sure that we don't stray far from the thoughts of the past. Often, our most cherished beliefs are grounded in little more than a desire to hold them or our fear of the consequences of the contrary. Into such a mix of certainty and uncertainly has ventured Bishop John Shelby Spong of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. To some, he is the epitome of everything that is wrong with the "modern" church. Over the past 20 years, and more publically over the past 10, he has sought to skewer every sacred cow in the belief-system of "orthodox" Christianity, of which he says, "To be called an orthodox Christian does not mean that one's point of view is right. It only means that this point of view w! on out in the ancient debate." Although Bishop Spong's conclusions are not original with his own thinking, he has systematically examined the nature of human sexuality, the Bible, the ideas of virgin birth and resurrection, and the nature of Jesus with the lens of rationality, scholarship, and a concern that the church is perpetuating ideas that make it less possible for people to have a serious commitment to the Christian faith in a modern, technological world. Bishop Spong has asked believers to take seriously the question of why they believe what they believe and to not be cowed when they find that some of what they have taken "for granted" has little else upon which to stand. With his latest book Bishop Spong has moved beyond the realm of talking to seekers in church and directly addresses those who have left the church behind, even if they're still physically present. Although his critics dispute the claim, Bishop Spong says that the book is, "! ...a work of faith and conviction...as one who desires to w! orship as a citizen of the modern world and to be able to think as I worship." Throughout the 250 pages which follow, Bishop Spong identifies those Christian concepts which he claims are rooted in the "tribal identity" of an earlier time, not in any external or eternal reality. He identifies the ways in which the maintenance of those claims has strained under the history of human thought and scientific discovery. He goes ahead, then, to assert that a living, powerful Christian faith is possible, without the literal acceptance of the ideas that many people would consider to be essential to any religion. Bishop Spong claims that such deconstruction is necessary because within and without the church there are those who use language which they "know" no longer speaks truth but for which there are few alternatives. Of such believers, he writes, "They refuse to abandon the reality of God, yet they have been driven by forces over which they have ! no control to sacrifice much of the content of that God reality. So they are left with an almost contentless concept, which must be allowed to find a new meaning or it will die." Bishop Spong's book is not for the "weak of heart!" He consistently overstates his case, in often dramatic terms, leaving himself open to critics who want to literalize the extremity of his views. He also makes sweeping conclusions based on appeals to scholarship that can even leave sympathetic readers scratching their heads at some of his lines of thought. But what Bishop Spong does well, in an engaging and easy to read fashion, is state the case for a "post-Christian" Christian faith that seeks to integrate many of the common understandings of theological and Biblical scholarship with the "facts of life" as we enter the 21st century. What he stops short of doing is providing easy answers for what comes next. This book is part of a larger effort by Bishop S! pong to engage his church and other concerned persons in a ! new dialogue about what the church is and how Christian faith should be expressed. Coinciding with the release of this book, Bishop Spong also released a "Call for a New Reformation" in which he challenges the church to a new debate over it's fundamental doctrines Those who are certain of what they believe and feel that "orthodox" Christian tradition has expressed eternal truths for all time and all people will be enraged by this book. Those who find themselves bothered by blanket appeals to "tradition" and "scripture," when those appeals take precedence over rationality and common sense, will likely find Bishop Spong's book an interesting excursion into an "alternative" future for Christianity that they might never have thought possible. Those who have dismissed Christianity as anachronistic may be pleasantly surprised by the future that Bishop Spong envisions. Bishop Spong's own assessment is that, "...the world ca! n judge my contribution as to whether it destroyed the old or created the new...I am content to let the passage of time make that determination."
Rating:
Summary: A Hundred Homers, One Strike
Review: As I read on (I'm at page 200), I am eager to testify that I find the book thrilling. My soul is exactly where Spong's is -- I want to see the great Church survive -- but he has a special genius for synopsis and synthesis, and he completes (with the facts) my own instincts about Christianity's loss of footing, not only from the Jesus Seminar but from our age's sense that the traditional churches speak now with words that have lost their meaning, and celebrate "sacraments" that are obsolete. Spong provides a sketch of the future church, and while I think his sketch is (necessarily?) incomplete, I find it hopeful. One disagreement: Spong claims constantly that he is not theistic, though not atheistic, rather non-theistic. Yet on page 143 he refers to his God as "Thou." So I think the effort at claiming non-theism fails. Perhaps he can learn from Elizabeth Johnson how to "name toward" God. Back to the excitement.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read, but I heartily Disagree
Review: Being an Eastern Orthodox Christian, I have been amazed at the recent explosion in numbers we have witnessed entering into our flock as well as all over America in general. What is most interesting is that the large majority of these enthusiastic converts coming in to this ancient faith are those who originally came from the old guard, mainstream Protesdant churches such as Bishop Spong's Episcopal Church, once the backbone of American Christianity. When asked why they are leaving, most stated to some degree, "It pains me, but I feel the Church was losing it's Soul." Bishop Spong is correct in saying the Church is dying, but whose? Demographics clearly show it is his Episcopal Church, once the bedrock of American Society, now an organization torn at the seams by infighting and dwindling numbers. I am not a fire breathing fundamentalist, nor one who denies reason, demonizing all science or modern thought. Yet, these once powerful, mainstream churches a! re dying not because of the mere fact of Freudian Psycology's effect or the explosion of materialist ideology, but rather the watering down of once cherished and rock solid moral precepts, a loss of faith and hope in that which is timeless to that which is current, and the chaotic moral reletivism driven by selfish individual desire. Our society has come to a cafeteria mentality, taking what we want, discarding what we don't like, making ourselves in a sense our own gods that arbitrate that which only applies to us. Step by step, many within these churches have refashioned the faith in the name of that moderninity, to fit the ever expanding desire of us to not be bound to anything but ourselves, only to watch ourselves drown in the alienation, loss of purpose, hope and transcendance it brings. To truly live a life of faith takes work, obediance, trust and steadfastness, yet alows one fullfillment by the ability to see beyond the immediate. I do not want to blame Bis! hop Spong for all the ills of society, for that would be in! credibly narrow-minded and simplistic, as well as wrong. I am sure he is a fine and Godly man, and though I come from a conservative demnominational background, virtually unchanged for over two thousand years, I don't think one could pigeonhole me into the "right wing religious bigot" terminology many like to throw out if one stands for tried moral precepts, defends traditional faith and the richness of spirtual discipline and obediance to prayer, fasting and the blessed sacraments we cherish. Those labeling tactics are just as bad as much of the Fundamentalist attack dog philosophy. Are there people within the church who use the message to their own means or pervert it, of course, as does every segment of socity that holds to a belief. That doesn't give one the right to generalize about others who may stand by what they believe. Yet, I must in turn give criticism to much of what his book espouses. Just because one may not have found the face of God through th! e eyes of a telescope, does not prove God is not here, nor that this wonderful universe is not God's creation. Why do more and more scientists see a bridge building between religion and science as they find more "marks of the Creator" within the heavans? Has not the advent of Quantam Mechanics greatly expanded the possibilities of the impossible? If prayer does not work in Spong's eyes to the degree that God cannot intervene in one's life, then why do so many doctors and scientists now state it does unlimited good to the physical, mental and emotional well being of the individual? Does that doubt not crumble against the richness, beauty and insight prayer has provided to the blessed Saints, Aesthetics and contemplative figures from the past to present. Of course any true Christian would subscribe to Bishop Spong's call to love, service to others and respect for the dignity of others he espouses. There is nothing revolutionary in those proposals, it is Dogma ! to one of true faith. Is not Mother Theresa, the most reco! gnized defender of the faith, as well as the most beloved individual in modern times for her Christian love and solid obediance to God it's most vivid example? For as much we as are called to love, we are bound by law, be it in the heart or from the Word. Go past the superficial, media glossing over of Mother Theresa and you will find that. Obediance to that does not enslave one, but rather gives one awesome comfort in it's freedom , allowing one to see past the trivial lies and whims of the day that increasingly alienate a hurting world. I Know Bishop Spong in his book denies Christ's divinity, that is his right. He takes incredible license to speak for the apostles, all of whom shared Jesus's life, death and witnessed his resurection, and were perfectly willing to give up everything, even life, in return for that. To one of the Christian faith, that is the ultimate hope, triumph over death through Christ our God, and that is why the Church cannot die, an! d will survive and yes thrive, as I witness bishop Spong's flock pour into our doors. Something Eternal cannot perish, and survives the whims of the day. It has outlived the contrarian materialist ideas for more than two thousand years, and has provided strength, hope, peace and assurance to millions despite Spong's own personal reservations. To brush aside all it has provided to millions of steadfast faith seems rather arrogant. To label them all Persecutors, bigots and Fundamentalits, also quite ignorant. To bulldoze Christianity's essential message renders it empty, leaving it to perish along with all the other passing trends and fads of their time that have no depth. Reading his book, somehow I see how he lost that idea, and one can see the confusion it brought forth to his church. One should read Fredica Mathews-Green's "FACING EAST: A PILGRIMS JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERIES OF ORTHODOXY", which explains how this confusion affected an Episcopal priest and his! wife, leading them to flee to the mystical, unchanged and ! burgeoning Orthodox faith, in turn granting them an amazing spiritual rebirth through God. There is something to be said for, "In matters of style, swim with the current-In matters of principle, stand like a rock." Without it, maybe that is why the good bishop perceives the death of his Church.
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Summary: Spong and an alternative liberation theology
Review: Spong's books never fail to provoke, I am pleased to see. This book maintains its author's repuatation for controversy, but it is a reputation that is deserved and a controversy that is sorely needed. One of the most imortant chapters is that on "Jesus as Rescuer", an image which has been resposnsible for sickly piety at one end of the scale and downright laziness at the other. Spong argues convicingly that the image of "taking away the sins of the world" must fall away to make room, for a much more anthropocentric vision of Jesus as ethical paradigm. After all, the whole point of the incarnation was that it turned the divine ecomomy on its head and made it a human-centred concept. Thus the old "blood sacrifice" idea, which was grafted onto the crucifixion, now makes way for the event at Calvary as being the cleasrest demonstration of Jesus's own observation that "no-one has greater love than to lay down his life for others". Spon! ! g promises a sparkling debate which, if taken seriously, threatens to empty the churches but refill them with true humanity. Thank you, Bishop Spong, for your continuing inspiration.
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Summary: Christianity can be relavent in the 21st. Century.
Review: Bishop Spong's book, "Why Christianity Must Change Or Die", has got to be one of the ten best books on religion I have read in the last few years. From The Creed's,'We believe in God', to his parting, 'Shalom', the author writes clearly and compassionately for those of us about to enter the 21st. Century and who have their doubts about the relevance of a Christianity still being explained from a 1st. Century world view. I was particularly impressed with his definition of prayer. I have always believed that "doing for others" was more immediately effective and emotionally satisfying than talking to a god who does not act unilaterally. This book is a must for all in the Western religious tradition that are spiritual but have doubts in a fundamentalist approach to God.
Rating:
Summary: At last a straightforward alternative to a thiestic God.
Review: Bishop Spong lays out a carefully reasoned, well documentedand simply stated rejection of the theistic religion that Christianity has evolved to in today's major churches. More importantly he lays out an honest, comprehensive, and understandable alternative. This book has changed the fundamentals of my beleif in God. I can now worship and pray, say the creed and particpate in the sacraments, without crossing my fingers.
Rating:
Summary: The true "silent majority" will delight in the honesty.
Review: Even a reader who disagreed with Bishop Spong would acknowledge that Spong's documentation and conclusions as presented in this book are well conceived. As usual for this author, in this book he gives straightforward and honest commentary on subjects that often receive tongue-in-cheek treatment. Spong is a person of great vision and promotes an understanding of Christianity that enlightened people can use as a template for modern and post-modern eras. As revolutionary in his concepts as Luther or Calvin, Spong calls us into an understanding of Christian love as a subset of all human love, discarding the fictional legends of Christianity, while recognizing the genesis of these legends. Refreshingly different from Luther or Calvin, however, Spong makes this call in an effort to unite, rather than to encourage a schism. His efforts are universal rather than tribal. Every one of Spong's books has been astonishingly consistent with my own personal beliefs and, I strongly suspect, those of many others. If this book is his best, it is only because it is his latest. Invariably, Spong's points are clearly documented. Most importantly, they are correct. The world is blessed that Bishop Spong is willing to share his visions with us, and to explicate them so convincincingly.
Rating:
Summary: On The Path To Disbelief
Review: Bishop Spong seems to be where I was some years ago: on the road from strong religious belief to agnosticism. He can no longer believe in a theistic God, and gives good reasons for his rejection. He also critiques the bible, and wonders again why many people stress the inerrancy of scripture, yet pick and choose what precepts they want to follow. As someone else once said, many Christians use the bible as a weapon to throw against those who disagree with them. Bishop Spong is at a point where his God is a Ground of Being, an ineffable deity that just permeates all things, but is not personal or involved. After death who knows what happens. Surprisingly Bishop Spong believes that these modest beliefs still warrant an organized church with services and sacraments. If this is all his new religion would have to offer, why bother with a church. My feeling is that the good Bishop is just in the middle of a journey from serious belief to serious disbelief. The primary appeal of this book would be for those who are exactly in the same place. Believers who read it will want to beat him over the head with their bibles, and my fellow agnostics will say "been there, done that."
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