Rating: 
Summary: A Dying Modernist's Dying Gasp
Review: Bishop Spong is the quintessential "Modernist." He operates within a worldview totally limited by Enlightenment parameters. This was a respectable position a century ago, when it seemed that Science and Progress were moving straight ahead, and the world was improving because of them. Beginning in the 18th century, Modernists wisely challenged the West's Medieval vision of the Cosmos, rooted as it was in dogma not science. But, as the Scientific Method has succeeded in opening our understanding of the Cosmos, and retiring the dominant Medieval understanding of Christianity to history, it has also succeeded in retiring many Modernist assumptions as well. For example, the Cosmos -- Space/Time -- is a heck of a lot weirder than anybody thought just a century ago. The findings coming out of the natural sciences today remind us that the gaps in our understanding of the univere have grown larger and faster than our knowledge. As such, when Jack Spong speaks of life "after Newton" or "after Copernicus" or "after Darwin" -- well -- it is so charmingly old-fashioned as to be funny.
Jack Spong's take on "Modernity" is quite spot-on -- but Modernity is so over.
Postmodernity has shown us that people are FAR MORE interested in mystery, the supernatural, the transcendant, and the radically spiritual than any old fart like Jack Spong ever would have predicted. Heck, even Harvey Cox, another old-timer, has moved beyond Spong to explore the renascent interest in Jesus, the Resurrection, and the mysteries of "traditional" faith expressions.
Spong's attempt to be contemporary is so painfully out-of-date -- he makes me think of Lawrence Welk or Bob Hope -- trying so desperately hard to be relevant-- and failing so miserably at it -- since around 1967. While Spong's real-life efforts to be inclusive to women and gays are to be applauded -- one does not need to jettison the essential Christian faith to do so!!! Jesus himself, the one who was born of a Virgin, died on a cross, and rose from the dead, was incredibly inclusive to women, and is the reason why any person of any kind should feel loved and fully included. In Spong's efforts to welcome all persons radically -- he has thrown out the reason to do so: Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Greg Jones -- Author of Beyond Da Vinci -- A Postmodern Christian looks at the Da Vinci Code.
Rating: 
Summary: Courageous, Visionary and Then Some...
Review: Bishop Spong quickly and rationally recounts why the theistic God of cause and effect no longer suffices in the modern world. Although he did not need to win me over to his cause, as I've always been a fan of his, I was surprised at how many fresh insights into the minds of the writers of the Biblical texts he provided for me. I have always sought the reasons behind proclaimed truths, no matter how outlandish, and this book helped me to understand even a few more. Just when you think you've heard every perspective, along comes Spong with one that actually makes sense.For a non-Christian, it scares my friends how many books about Christ and the Bible they find strewn about my home. Yet the very source of my seeking has to do with my rational worldview and its very great opposition to the world of the Bible. But when I read Spong's thoughts and experiences, the gap between "me" and "them" is bridged and I'm suddenly excited about his proposed direction for a new Christianity. "Now THAT'S a religion I could get behind!" I think to myself. The fact of the matter is that Protestantism is now suffering from the very disease that ruptured the Catholic Church: its inability to keep up with the ever-shrinking world outside of its doors. Bishop Spong's ideas, though daring and revolutionary, are the only ones to date that seem to address the reality of a church of the future. This book takes such a strong stance that it surprised me to see how evenly it was reviewed here. I guess I expected more heated opposition. Well, here are my five stars for a true visionary's lifetime work of creative resolutions and inspiring calls to action. (Though I borrowed this book from a library, I wasn't halfway through with it before I ordered it here at Amazon. My reasons were, first, I wanted to thank the author by purchasing the book; second, I wanted to have a copy for my own reference. That says a lot since the adjective "cheap" has been used to describe me on more than one occasion.)
Rating:
Summary: Courageous, Visionary and Then Some...
Review: Bishop Spong quickly and rationally recounts why the theistic God of cause and effect no longer suffices in the modern world. Although he did not need to win me over to his cause, as I've always been a fan of his, I was surprised at how many fresh insights into the minds of the writers of the Biblical texts he provided for me. I have always sought the reasons behind proclaimed truths, no matter how outlandish, and this book helped me to understand even a few more. Just when you think you've heard every perspective, along comes Spong with one that actually makes sense. For a non-Christian, it scares my friends how many books about Christ and the Bible they find strewn about my home. Yet the very source of my seeking has to do with my rational worldview and its very great opposition to the world of the Bible. But when I read Spong's thoughts and experiences, the gap between "me" and "them" is bridged and I'm suddenly excited about his proposed direction for a new Christianity. "Now THAT'S a religion I could get behind!" I think to myself. The fact of the matter is that Protestantism is now suffering from the very disease that ruptured the Catholic Church: its inability to keep up with the ever-shrinking world outside of its doors. Bishop Spong's ideas, though daring and revolutionary, are the only ones to date that seem to address the reality of a church of the future. This book takes such a strong stance that it surprised me to see how evenly it was reviewed here. I guess I expected more heated opposition. Well, here are my five stars for a true visionary's lifetime work of creative resolutions and inspiring calls to action. (Though I borrowed this book from a library, I wasn't halfway through with it before I ordered it here at Amazon. My reasons were, first, I wanted to thank the author by purchasing the book; second, I wanted to have a copy for my own reference. That says a lot since the adjective "cheap" has been used to describe me on more than one occasion.)
Rating:
Summary: Not-Christian!
Review: Bishop Spong's ideas are undermining the very foundations of the Christian faith. He literally questions the authority of the Holy Bible! Reading something by John Knox, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, or John Nelson Darby would be a far better use of one's time.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, an Honest Preacher
Review: Chapter 4 Beyond Theism but Not Beyond God - well, it simply rocks. The chapter is a Godsend, so to speak. The icing, whereas the rest of the book is the cake.
Joseph Campbell recognized that the three major faiths of our world were battling each other for supremacy. None of which provide a viable framework of faith for our future.
Spong recognizes that we can be Christ followers, we can be as Christ was, rather than lowering ourselves to just being card carrying members of Jesus's fan club. The former path is filled with humility and sacrifice. The latter path, chosen by the many Christians of this day, is the path of egoism, prejudice, spiritual pride and arrogance.
Spong, possibly 20 to 30 years from now, will be heralded as a genius. An anamoly, an honest preacher.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Very Good
Review: In A New Christianity for a New World former Episcopalian minister John Shelby Spong calls for the radical reform of Christianity. Spong a well-known liberal theological commentator argues that Christianity requires significant change to bring in-line with contemporary Western thought and make it more palatable to potential believers.
Spong suggests that given the current Western worldview, key Christian tenants such as the divinity of Christ, original sin, salvation and the theist view of God are no longer supportable nor desirable. Indeed, he believes that for Christianity to survive it will need to remove many of its supernatural aspects and adopt a non-theistic position. In articulating this call for change Spong is aware that these types of reforms, if adopted, could well result in a "Christianity" that is no longer Christian in any recognizable sense. I offer the following thoughts for potential readers:
Throughout the book, one gets the sense that Spong is a sincere man who has struggled, and continues to struggle, with his faith. It is also clear that he is no longer a Christian in a traditional understanding of the term. The crux of Spong's struggle seems to be between his loss of faith on the one hand, and his unwillingness to give up his life long relationship with the church on the other hand. The first part of the book that addresses this personal dilemma is an insightful read.
The book, however, has many weaknesses. For instance, I was surprised by the author pre-conceptions with respect to how others view their faith. He implies that the majority of Christians hold a heavily anthropomorphic view of God and a rigid literal interpretation of scripture. In my view, though they may apply to certain niches within fundamental American Protestantism, these characteristics do not apply to broader church. Contrary to his comments traditional Christian theology has envisioned a God that is beyond man ability to fully comprehend and has recognized that scripture includes poetic, metaphorical as well as literal language. I do not doubt that Spong has encountered individuals with narrow religious views, however, his handling of this issue caricaturizes many Christians who hold significantly broader interpretations (e.g. Catholics - the vast majority of Christians). Spong has been in the public forum for many years and has received both adulation and criticism for his ideas. Therefore, though regrettable, it is understandable that he has become quite dogmatic in his views and intolerant of those who do not share them.
Some of his argumentation is odd. In making the case for reform Spong argues that modern folk do not see theism as a live intellectual option. Although this assumption can be challenged, it is none-the-less a point worth discussing. Spong's approach, however, struck me as superfluous. He contends that the prevalence of caffeine and nicotine is increasing within society, and that this increase is an indicator of decreased theism (people have substituted them for God). To make this argument he would have to demonstrate that consumption has indeed increased and that there is some correlation between the consumption of these substances and religious views - he does not. In my view the argument would be much stronger using traditional data such as church attendance and membership (in the latter twentieth century these numbers have declined significantly in all Western countries except the US). As it is, I found the argument silly and it detracted from his overall thesis.
Spong's use of the term postmodernism is misleading. The author makes it sound as if the arguments that he raises stem from a developing post-modern worldview. In fact many readers will recognize them as variants of traditional questions raised by modernists, i.e. an unflinching faith in science and human reason. In the West, he European Enlightenment of the Seventeenth century saw reason displace faith as the preferred source of knowledge. The resultant modern view expounded great faith in scientific progress and the limitless nature of human knowledge and reason. This in turn led to an increasingly deistic view of god (a watchmaker who did not intervene once the universe had been put into motion). Subsequent ideas expounded by thinkers such as Darwin, Marx and Freud attempted to reduce even the need for this limited deity. Postmodernism on the other hand, arose in the 20th century influenced by developments such as those in theoretical physics which cast doubt on the limits of human reason. Readers seeking a greater understanding of PM particularly as it pertains to Christianity should see Stanley Grenz' excellent book A Primer on Postmodernism.
Spong's comments of the historicity of Christian scripture and traditions are also heavily skewed. He implies that the majority of scholars share his skeptical views on the development of the Christian cannon and faith tradition. This is not the case. The search for an historic Jesus has gone through several iterations in recent centuries. Though many of these revisionist quests have been interesting and worthwhile intellectual exercises it has been recognized that they normally result in finding a Jesus in the author?s image (e.g. a political activist, a feminist, etc.). Readers looking for a current example of the "historic Jesus debate"? can refer to the Jesus Seminar's The Five Gospels and a rebuttal from a conservative/traditional in Jesus Under Fire. Ultimately with regard to the historicity of Christianity there is no compelling reason to think that a selective pruning of the gospels and early church writings 2000 years after the fact provides a more accurate view of Jesus than those presented by his contemporaries.
Finally, I found the aspect of the book outlining the author's view of the way ahead to be its weakest part. It is clear what the author is rejecting; however, in my view Spong is unsuccessful in articulating the type of post-theistic God or belief system he is advocating. He appears to be calling for a type of deistic or pantheistic view - it is not clear.
Overall, I would not recommend the book. I found the aspects dealing with the author's personal faith struggles to be insightful. With respect to broader philosophical and theological issues, hwever, he touches on important and topical subjects but does so a clumsy and biased manner.
Rating:
Summary: oxymoron
Review: In a postmodern era, where truth is relative and reality undefinable, this book provides quick and easy pain relief, kind of like taking morphine for cancer. For the most part, we all want to believe that there is a God or at least something out there; that way we don't feel like this life is such a waste. But if we believe in one system, especially one so "antiquated" as the Bible we will be mocked and ridiculed for being closed-minded and ignorant. But we grew up in Christian homes and are much more comfortable with "Christian" spirituality than, say, Eastern Transcendentalism. So what is the open-minded post modernist to do? Enter John Shelby Spong (and others)... Simple, by removing Christianity's belief that we are sinful, Christ no becomes pointless. By removing the parts of Christianity that cause so many people to stumble and which don't make sense in a world where everybody is equally right (see 1 Corinthians 1:18), now Christianity is poised to survive for millennia to come. The problem is that the message of Christianity is the Gospel, the Good News. That Good News is that even though we have been found to be in rebellion to the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge over the universe, He made a way for us to be made right with Him: Christ. Christ came and died so that we would not be judged as the rebels that we are and cast out of His Presence and into eternal death. Sin is that rebellion; Christ is the only solution. Any religion, including a Savior-less Christianity that does not deal with our problem of sin will probably do quite a bit to make us feel better about our damned condition while we're here on earth, but we will still have to stand on our own merits before the Judge. It's like having cancer, ignoring the miracle cure, and taking morphine so that you can ignore the death that you are dying. Christ, rather, will remove your sin and your rebellion as far as the East is from the West. He will remove your death-bringing cancer of sin and give you the true relief of his grace, both now and for eternity. Do not fall for Spong's appealing postmodern message. Realize that reality exists; if the God of the Bible is real, you must repent from your sins and place your only hope in Christ.
Rating:
Summary: What a relief!
Review: It was an enormous relief to me to find that in feeling Deism is outmoded I was in such astute company. The miracles are no more believable to me than the Greek myths and it is a comfort to know that John Spong was able to make so reasonable and balanced a case of it.
Rating:
Summary: Spong deserves accolades.
Review: John Shelby Spong does not believe in a Theistic God and he states so forcefully; "Theism is dead, I joyfully proclaim." THEISM as Bishop Spong defines it, is "a being, supernatural in power, dwelling outside this world and invading the world periodically to accomplish the divine will". Yet, Spong admits, "Christianity postulates a theistic God who does supernatural things". Christianity is about God invading the world through Jesus Christ. Christianity is, and has been for 2000 years (give or take), "Emmanuel" - God with us, visibly and dramatically. "Christianity is a THEISTIC religion" said Dr. Sally McFague (Professor of Theology -Vanderbilt Divinity School - author of the pensive and provocative book, 'Life Abundant' - envisioning Christianity for the new century - see my review). Therein lies the rub. Allow me to digress. A man had a Honda Civic that needed the engine overhauled. He decided to 'radically' change the car and make it a quarter-mile race car. He pulled out the engine and transmission, threw out the brakes, replaced the tires and the suspension. He gutted the interior completely (graciously keeping the windshield and wipers). He then cut away parts of the body to accommodate the new parts and welded the doors shut. He put in a high performance, 400 horsepower engine and modified what was left of the car so that it could reach speeds in excess of 110 mph in 9 seconds. Now, with a great stretch of the imagination you could say this man still had a Honda Civic, but, in reality, he had created a new vehicle. This book is not a "radically, reformed" car, so to speak, it is a completely different car. Bishop Spong has taken a blow torch and sliced out the parts of Christianity that he no longer believes in or adheres to. He has not "radically reformed Christianity" he has created a new belief system. For Spong; God is not a supernatural being, Jesus is not the earthly incarnation of God, the Bible is not the "Word of God", the supernatural miracles of Jesus did not happen and Jesus was not resurrected, nor did he return to God. God, incarnation, atonement, Trinity, miracles, 'Christian' morals, and the Church as it exists today are all replaced. What the title of this book should be, is, "A New Religion for a New World", for that is what Bishop Spong is giving us. T\ This is not to say that he does not have something to say. He does and he says it well. Bishops Spong radically questions the basic assumptions of conventional Christian theology and attacks the paradigms that ecclesiastical hierarchy find convenient. He rejects: Theism's tribal theology, bibliolatry, Jesusolatry, and Christianity as an exclusive pathway to God. His "beyond theism" theology demands that we stand and embrace our own humanity, not with shame or the stigma of sin, but recognizing that we are unique and full of potential. That we can, without an "eternal and omnipotent protector" and live fully, love fully and be all that we can be. The God that Spong embraces is "not a being but BEING itself. This God is the source of life, the source of love, the Ground of Being." For Spong God is beyond any limits of our religious systems. God is no longer a being 'external' to life, but the very BEING of life itself. He says, "I have walked beyond theism, but not beyond God". He forewarns that to separate yourself from the belief of a theistic God is painful. Those that do will have to stand without magic or miracles. He writes, "we make no attempt to suggest that life is fair or to defend the theistic deity when life is harsh. We do not cultivate a false security." Bishop Spong deserves the accolade given to those who push out the boundaries of any rigid system. Especially in religion, those that hold controversial opinions and especially dissenters like Spong, who publicly depart from the officially accepted dogma, are marginalized and labeled. Spong has paid the price of apostasy in his search for truth, life, love and God. This book is required reading for all those searching for the same. Highly recommended
Rating: 
Summary: worth reading
Review: most of the reviewers here seem to be basing their star ratings on whether they agreed with Spong's thesis or not. Agree = 5 stars. Disagree = 1 star. The spirited (as it were!) debate here illustrates that Spong has written a book which is extremely thought-provoking and even head-spinning. Believe in it or not, this book is well-written (if repetitive) and covers ground few people are willing to cover. It's worth a read.
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