Rating: 
Summary: What is Truth?
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. We cannot determine reality, so to go to scripture under the assumption that we can determine what parts are true and what parts are not is not only really hard to do, it's foolish. The Word of God is truth and we must gauge our perception of reality based on it. This book and the message of Spong is that our perception of and our desire for reality is what is ultimately true and therefore we have free reign to tailor scripture to meet that reality that we desire. As soon as we do that, we miss the Gospel and Christianity ceases to be Christianity (see Galatians 1:6-9)
Rating: 
Summary: A Christian apologist revisited...
Review: In spite of Spong's opinions on modern interpretations of the Torah and New Testament, which are informative, I couldn't help but feel that Spong was advocating that Christianity is still valid, if not superior to all other belief systems and that Jesus was the Christ and Messiah. Being that the author is an Episcopal bishop, it is understandable that he'd root for his own team but in the end, I couldn't figure out the point of the book. Either you consider the Bible to be the word of God, albeit "inspired" (Only the Qur'an is said to have been dictated verbatim), in which case, you wouldn't read Spong's book because you think it is blasphemy. Or else, you believe the New Testament to be a quaint collection of stories by a people, in other words, just another mythos of a culture in 1st century Palestine. So why then read the book? I haven't the foggiest idea, which is why I haven't finished it.
Rating: 
Summary: rescuing love from the immoral
Review: John Shelby Spong is doing his best to explain to Christians and non-Christians alike that love is morality and hatred is immorality.
Two thousand years ago a book was compiled from the writings of a widely disparate group of men (ignoring many others) that attempted to update all known morality into a new and perfect vision of love as pre-figured in a heroic human being, Jesus. Considering the scientifically and medically ignorant times in which they lived they succeeded to a remarkable degree. However, their view of the world, nature and mankind is now - despite the portrayal of a (mostly) divinely loving and inspiring Jesus - often profoundly immoral.
Our understanding of the universe, our medical knowledge, etc, has advanced to the point where the failings of humanity can no longer be blamed on the 'devil', the individual sexual tendencies of harmless individuals can not be judged as 'perverted', and nature herself can no longer be called 'fallen' and 'corrupt'.
To continue to claim harmless people are going 'against God's will' and are therefore going to 'burn everlastingly' simply for being themselves and holding their own opinions is immoral and hateful. Worse still is to assert that you 'love' someone though you tell them in the next breath they will 'burn in hell forever for not knowing Jesus'. No-one can feel truly loved by people who want them to be different from who they really are.
Spong is determined to 'rescue' the Bible so that it may be read and understood as it was meant to be - as a book written by men of faith in order to inspire faith in others. Not a faith that offers security - and an excuse to hate and shun the 'damned' world - but one that gives us strength to open up to people who are different from us in an inclusive and compassionate way.
If the morality of a 'loving God' is to be relevant to people today Jesus and his teachings have to be made to fit into the modern world (which can be done only by people whose motive is not primarily their own salvation) in which personal freedom and unhindered self-expression are not evidence of 'sin' but essential for a healthy, moral society.
Rating:
Summary: the reverend makes some good points ...
Review: Like another reviewer, I wonder if the polarization of ratings and the invectives used by readers have less to do with the merits of the book then with the own beliefs of the reviewers. No matter where your religious beliefs fall, you must admit, Rev. Spong does make some compelling - and controversial - arguments. But look at the title! The Rev. is not writing for fundamentalists (ie. those who take a literalist interpretation of the Bible) but for those readers who live in the secular and scientific age and have difficulty reconciling science with Biblical Christianity. The book is a collection of essays on the nature of Jesus and the message of Christianity. It seems to me that it is the latter that causes the most conflict rather than the latter. It is my understanding that to be considered a "Christian" one must believe in the divinity of Jesus (that Jesus of Nazareth was God as man.) Spong seems to deny this, (which is puzzling to me as well as to others) yet agrues that the issue of Jesus' divinity is not what is central to Christianity - rather it is the message of Christ that is important. I found this argument compelling and fascinating. Certainly there is much in the Bible that flies in the face of fact and science - ignoring this is what makes one a "fundamentalist." Spong argues that one need not take every word of the Bible literally, but rather one should step back and look at the message, lessons and morality that the Bible (and Jesus) articulate, without getting caught up in semantics. Yet it is precisely these points that are causing such a sharp division of opinion about Rev. Spong's book. While it is understandable that many feel threatened and angry about Spong's essays, they do have their merit whatever your personal religious beliefs. A fascinating (and well presented) argument.
Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent, Articulate, Passionate
Review: Spong's book is a fascinating and fresh interpretation of the bible, finally giving (possible) answers to many questions modern-day people have had concerning inconsistencies in the biblical text(s). The author does an admirable job of hashing through a great deal of material and it may well be an inspiring and faith-reaffirming book for the Christian who has doubts/issues/questions but rabid fundementalists will only be, at best, indifferent, and at worst, calling for Spong's head on a platter. The effect it had on me, was that reaffirmed all the criticisms and doubts I already held concerning the divine infallacy and accuracy of the Bible. Spong does not cover the political aspects of some of the bible's translations and development, but he covers the cultural aspects enough to make his point. In all, Spong reasserts the bible as an excellent and educating book, a book with many valuable lessons to teach us, but not a book to be taken literally or as the sole (sou! ! l?) source of the history of mankind. It's my feeling that more Pagans than Christians will enjoy this book, as many of Spong's ideas will probably be condemned before they're even given any consideration. That's a shame, because Christianity needs the kind of intelligent debate that Spong's thinking brings.
Rating:
Summary: misleading title
Review: Truthfully, this book's title is totally misleading. You won't learn anything from this book about what fundamentalists believe vs. other Christians. That's because the author doesn't just disagree with fundamentalists.
Spong rejects theism, the truth of revelation, miracles of any kind, and even rejects the cross, saying "The view of the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world is a barbarian idea based on primitive concepts of God and must be dismissed."
So, as I said, the title is misleading. But even that doesn't warrant giving it only one star. The reason I give it just one star is that Spong's arguments just don't make sense to me. The man is entitled to his opinions, but I can't stand when an author can't backup what they are saying with logical arguments.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Provocative & Compelling
Review: What a great book. I really believe that the Christian Faith today is in much threatened position because of authors like Spong who dare challenge Christianity in its organized, conservative platform. This book should be read by those who've gone way too far in blindly believing the authority of the Bible without checking scholarly sources and logical evidence as recorded in history. However true that it greatly offends those who strongly believe in the fundamentalism of God, it's a thought-provoking book that challenges the minds of many. And this is an important factor on why this book is so good. It can face any challenge and hold water tight on its own. If a belief is not up for a logical challenge, then I believe that it is weak in principle and has no strength to demand faith. This is the great case in this book, do you think that your faith is strong enough for you to hold on to? Will your mind be compelled to check historical and logical answers to find fallacies in your belief? I think that is a question that not many 1-star reviewers are not willing to consider. Go Spong! Provoke the mind and wake them up!
Rating:
Summary: This Book Changed My Life Forever!
Review: Yes, this book has changed my life forever! I used to be a fundamentalist Christian, trying to find "security" in my extreme belief and point of view of my religion. I used to believe that the Bible is the Whole Truth and the perfect word of God. Now my eyes are open and I can see how dangerous, destructive and narrow-minded it was.
Look at the problems in the world nowadays, terrorism, hatred to certain groups of the community and wars... Mostly caused by the bigots, fundamentalists (in any religions) who think that they are the best and other people who are not the same like them are the enemy of God and should be destroyed or converted into their own religion.
If we look into the history, Christianity itself from the beginning has transformed from "being persecuted" into "the persecutor", witch-hunting in the past and now the same thing happens only in a different formats.
Why do we have to be hypocrites? For example, look at so many so called "Christian Artists" who did "sin", got divorced and so forth and still they are "forgiven" and "accepted" by the congregation as long as they say "God forgave my sin"? How ridiculous is that? It's so easy to legitimize everything by saying "God this.." and "God that.."? While the God that you are talking about is "silent"?
Bishop Spong wants to share his point of view of the real essence in Christianity that has been lost and we supposed to have in this age now. We should have been more developed in our way of thinking, more advanced, not going back to the dark old way of thinking in the "stone age". Thank you Bishop Spong for this masterpiece! People will always remember this for many many years to come. I totally support you and people like you out there who are willing to do something for humanity.
One last word, who are the people who threatened Bishop Spong with death sentence for revealing this "extereme point of view of Christianity - as they thought so"? They are the so called "Christian Devotees" and "The Guardian of The Truth of God". If God could speak out, he will never legitimize anyone to kill anyone else by any excuse. Looks like they are defending their "insecurity" should the truth comes out.
|
