Rating: 
Summary: The Coffee and Doughnuts Will Be Excellent
Review: Spong spends a large part of WHY CHRISTIANITY MUST CHANGE OR DIE explaining in great detail about the death of theism and why this event will result in the collapse of mainline Christianity. His arguments are sometimes persuasive but when he starts to predict how the new Christianity will look after his second reformation, his ideas become less convincing. Spong describes in rather vague terms a new kind of worship and a different purpose for the future church.I have already visited too many churches that fitted his description and they did not seem to offer much in the way of spirituality. The coffee and doughnuts, however, were usually excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: There Is Still Hope
Review: John Shelby Spong has pointed out in WHY CHRISTIANITY MUST CHANGE OR DIE that the early church creeds were not completed until the last few decades of the Third Century and this was accomplished only after an intense theological debate among church leaders. Because of all that we have learned through science during the following seventeen centuries, many of the words of these antiquated creeds have become meaningless to us. Countless Christians are now left without a supernatural parent figure in the sky able to intervene in their behalf. Some of these opt for the secular city while others try to carry on the struggle to maintain an increasingly weakened faith. It is the latter group in particular that Spong identifies as believers in exile whom he wishes to reach with a new message of hope. Can Christianity survive without a theistic God and a theistic Jesus? Spong tries to answer this question by first examining some of the Christian images of Jesus. The favorite candidate for elimination by the author is that of Jesus as Redeemer. Since we are constantly evolving out of our more primitive past it does not make sense to assume that humans need to be rescued from a fall into sin from a previous state of perfection. Spong does see Jesus, however, as a Spirit person and a God presence. There is a divine presence within all of us. Spong regards this presence as Spirit and believes that it was in Jesus in a most profound way. The author views God as a universal presence which undergirds all of life. Spong looks upon himself as a believer who is now living in exile. When he dies he expects to enter into another existence. Meanwhile he wants to invite other believers in exile to explore with him new possibilities of Christian worship and faith.
Rating: 
Summary: Shameful and Insulting
Review: Spong's abysmal failure of a book has nothing to do with any particular theology, and, in the end, virtually nothing to do with Christianity. His arguments amount, essentially, to redefining the words Christians cherish (e.g. "prayer," "god," etc.) in ways that he happens to like more, without offering any legitimate justification for his conclusions. I am not even a Christian, and I found his abuse of Christian beliefs--not to mention their intelligence--repulsive and insulting. Spong is good at telling a particular group of people exactly what they wish to hear; unfortunately for him, his claims (whether implied or explicitly declared) that he is achieving some sort of grand reevaluation of Christian thought and practice are delusional, and his arguments are barely sophomoric. In the end, it becomes clear that Spong is simply clinging desperately to certain Christian phrases that he hasn't the courage to abandon, despite his constant encouragement that everyone do just that. In addition to all of this, Spong is apparently devoid of any sort of academic or intellectual integrity, and thinks nothing of making blanket declarations of "fact" that directly contradict the evidence, without supplying any evidence or supporting arguments of his own. He makes the same mistake of most so-called theologians: assuming from the beginning that his audience already agrees with him. The sad thing is that I began the book fully prepared to do so, and Spong managed to turn me against him. This book is a waste of time and money, but it is much more than that. It is an affront to intelligent Christians, scholars, and seekers everywhere, and it will end up doing more harm than good for the cause Spong presumably intends to promote.
Rating:
Summary: Great references
Review: Nice book for its host of theological references. He has a huge library of books in his bibliography and lots of bible verses next to what he says to back up his arguments. This makes it a wonderful book for stickies! Some of his interrogative sentences can be confusing at times, but you just need to reread them one or two more times before you get it. I don't think his books can rescue people from fundamentalism. My mom is a fundamentalist and I know that when I argued with her in the past and got her to a vulnerable point she started using subconscious psychological defenses, such as semantic literalism, bogus questions, absolute truths, and questioning the reality of the five senses. The Freudian analysis he talks about I've witnessed through my mom and others as being quite real. If you are aware of the damage caused by theistic belief systems, then you know how much this matters. The challenge is to temper our anger with compassion, somehow. If we really do believe in something that transcends pain and pleasure, then love, after all, is all that we have. Plus we need psychologists to help us find ways to free people from these traps, because they really are traps. It's heartbreaking that so many Christian fundamentalists don't know who they are in life and that causes them to be so destructive towards others. Read this book, but be careful. The facts stated here will be more hazardous to some fundamentalists than drinking hemlock.
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Summary: Finally, an alternative to reluctant athiesm...
Review: It is impossible to calculate what the legacy of Bishop John Shelby Spong will be, but I suspect he will be remembered as one of the great Christian reformers of history. In all his books, including "Why Christianity Must Change or Die," he writes to an audience of "believers in exile" -- those who have fallen away from their faith due to disappointment, disenfranchisement, and increasing disbelief in the doctines of the church. How can intelligent religious people -- those with a knowledge of evolution, science, and an awareness of life's complexities, continue to profess a faith that has been disproven on many levels? How can people get meaning out of a religious tradition so hopelessly out of date that it doesn't speak to its audience? The fact is, Spong writes, many people (himself included) profess a faith that they no longer believe, and still others fall away from their faith into a kind of reluctant athiesm, unable any longer to believe the dogma they were raised with. What Spong offers in this book is a bridge between outdated theism and the spiritual vacuum of athiesm. Spong details the alternative of "nontheism" -- a religious belief that incorporates what we have come to know about science and the world with a strong belief in God and Christ. He does this through his trademark style of debunking biblical literalism and church bigotry. What emerges is a philosophy far more suited to the times than the outdated dogma that damages so many Christians today. This book is brilliant, really. Spong seeks a spirituality that deanthropormophizes God -- that appreciates the amazing complexity of the universe and human history without being threatened by the fact that much of the Bible has been disproven, that the church is too hierarchical and corrupt, and that there are no easy answers. His viewpoint is inclusive and intelligent, and he writes wonderfully.
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Summary: A Spirited, Personal Challenge To The Establishment
Review: If you faith journey needs kickstarting, here are some questions to ponder. I don't imagine that most people are willing to adopt most of Spong's suggestions since 90% concern abandoning theism for deism, but the material is thought provoking and sincere. Spong relies heavily on Tillich and is sometimes overly-personal in his attacks, but hey, this is religion we're talking about. His indictment of established religion (christianity in particular) demands some attention (ours)or we will all continue the descent into the faith "haves" and "have nots." Spong says that Jesus was much more inclusive than we sometimes like to realize.
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Summary: I'd like to like Spong but . . .
Review: This is the second book I've read by Spong. It was just as unsatisfying as the first. Mr. Spong spends much of the book writing questions. (I'm not kidding! It's like getting to the end of a chapter in a textbook, except there's no information; just the questions). He spends little time writing about his belief system or the development of his belief system. Consequently, I can't tell what he believes in, or if he believes in anything. I consider myself a spiritual person with a grounding in Christianity. I do, however, find some of the tenets and beliefs of my religion hard to swallow. In principle, I agree with Mr. Spong. Christianity does need to evolve if it is to continue. However, if one does not believe in a personal God, or even an impersonal God; if one does not believe in faith or prayer, what is left to believe in? For those who are seeking a place of commonality for an evolving spiritual life, this book is useless. For those who like to see hundreds of questions (many of them foolish and pointless) masquerading as a book, you've found the book you've been looking for!
Rating: 
Summary: Rutilianus, or, The Vicar Of Bray
Review: Rutilianus was a Roman well described by Lucian (an author whom Spong should read carefully). He executed all of his public duties without major fault, but was (religiously) a credulous fool. He believed in all the things which religious people told him, even Alexander And The Snake. I think that Bishop Spong is like Rutilianus. He is really smart, and realizes that God does not live "up there." He even realizes that the theistic concept of God cannot survive. But he desperately needs to believe in something. And this is the Rutilianus Factor. A Rutilianus is happy to tell you that he believes, and believes passionately, but frequently he is not sure exactly what he believes. This book is a case in point. Spong opens by declaring over pages that he is a man of faith, that his entire life must be understood as the life of a man who believes, and believes passionately. He then devotes the rest of the book to figuring out what he believes in -- and it's surely not what he believed in seminary! Well, enter the Vicar of Bray. This is a well-known character from an English poem portraying the elastic beliefs of a country vicar: while Charles is your King, I will love Charles -- and be your vicar. While the revolutionaries have power, I will love the revolutionaries -- and be your vicar. In fact, no matter what may happen, on heaven or on earth, I will be your vicar. Bishop Spong's take on this is: "No matter what happens to the religion I profess -- and I just may be changing it again today -- I will remain your vicar, no matter what." Christianity may morph into Buddhism, but this guy will remain our Bishop of Bray, even though he is a "believer in exile." The fault here is credulity, and the suspected sin-of-action is playing on the credulity of others. After all, it must be nice to be a christian bishop, and think yourself a buddhist.
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Summary: The Good News Indeed!
Review: Some time ago, I wrote the following. Having re-read the book, I would like to repeat it. I truly hope my path crosses the Bishop's some day, and I can tell him in person how much he has done for me: I loved this book. I was brought up in the Episcopal Church, but have not attended church for years. When I have found myself in church over the years, I have felt, just as Bishop Spong describes, hypocritical and rather numb, saying words that do not, in truth, hold meaning for me, yet yearning to find a home for my own spirituality. Reading the Bishop's book, I find someone expressing, and supporting with scholarship, what I feel. I am inspired by the idea of God as the Ground of Being of which we all partake; of Jesus, not as unattainable perfection, but as the model for passionate expression of that Being, which is available to all of us. Clearing all the paths for its expression is the task, but it's there, and it's ours. This is the true message of the Gospels. This is truly the Good News.
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Summary: Free From Dead Christianity - A Blessing
Review: Nobody writes quite like John Spong. Deep issues, to the point, non-exhaustive and user friendly. This book is an absolute GEM and favorite of mine, along with his 1992, "Rescuing The Bible From Fundamentalism." It is a book for those who do not walk within their limited neurotic safety nets of fundamental meanings and allows entrance into the insecurity of real life, to see the Spirit behind the Letter, that is, the ambiguous paradox of truth, far beyond the subjective, limited, narrow and exclusive view of both theism and traditional Christianity. Spong speaks like many mystics of old, such as Meister Eckhart, but even so, much more direct and to the point, as he has no church hierarchy waiting on the side to assassinate him or his character for speaking out against theological formulas and literal definitions that put barriers and conditions on both love and God. Objective truth and Spirit is an experience and not an explanation, as all explanation acts as a pointer to truth but is never able to adequately articulate that beyond human terms. Spongs' outline of who Christ was and is, is far more meaningful than any church and biblical literalist attempts to define, as they do not even come close to Spong's open and yet subjective perspective in acknowledgement of the literalist's inability to ever obtain objectivism in God, Christ and the meaning of life itself. What Spong recognizes is the power behind all: Love, that is: Love, Life and Being. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERY LIBRARY.
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