John Shelby Spong Quotes

Powerful John Shelby Spong for Daily Growth

About John Shelby Spong

John Shelby Spong (born July 9, 1931) is an American bishop, theologian, and author whose progressive views on religion have sparked both controversy and acclaim. Born in Johnson City, Tennessee, Spong grew up in a devout Presbyterian family before attending Princeton Theological Seminary. His religious journey took an unexpected turn when he was appointed as the ninth Bishop of Newark in 1989, making him one of the few openly gay bishops in the Episcopal Church. Spong's tenure was marked by a commitment to social justice, and he became known for his liberal views on topics such as homosexuality, women's ordination, and the role of the church in contemporary society. His best-known works include "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism" (1991), which challenges traditional interpretations of the Bible, and "A New Christianity for a New World" (2002), which calls for a more progressive faith that embraces science, social justice, and pluralism. Spong's influence extends beyond the Christian community, as his work is often seen as part of a broader movement towards religious pluralism and progressive spirituality. Despite criticism from conservative religious groups, Spong has continued to speak out on issues of social justice and the need for religious evolution in response to contemporary challenges. Today, he remains an influential figure in progressive spiritual circles and a respected voice in conversations about religion, ethics, and society.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The Bible is not a rule book, it is an anthology of the religious experience of the people of ancient Israel."

This quote by John Shelby Spong emphasizes that the Bible should not be viewed as a set of rules or laws to be strictly followed, but rather as a collection of accounts, stories, and religious experiences of the ancient Israelites. It suggests that the Bible is a valuable resource for understanding the spiritual journey, beliefs, and cultural context of the people in ancient times, providing insights into human faith and its evolution over time. The quote encourages readers to approach the Bible with an open mind and a focus on its symbolic and historical significance rather than literal interpretation for modern-day application.

"God is not a supernatural being, he (or she or it) is society's projection of its own values and ideals."

This quote suggests that the concept of God, as traditionally understood as a supernatural being, may be more a reflection of human societies' collective values, beliefs, and ideals than an external entity. In other words, people create the idea of God based on their cultural, social, and moral understandings, rather than God existing independently and influencing those values. This perspective encourages a reconsideration of religious beliefs, challenging traditional interpretations while emphasizing the human role in shaping religious thought.

"Religion must be relevant to the lives of contemporary persons, or it becomes a museum piece."

This quote by John Shelby Spong emphasizes that religion should not be static or confined to historical artifacts, but rather, it should resonate with and address the concerns, questions, and needs of modern individuals. A religion that fails to adapt to contemporary life risks becoming obsolete and devoid of significance in people's lives, relegating itself to a mere museum piece. For religion to remain vital and meaningful, it must evolve and respond to the changing realities of society, offering insights and guidance for those living in the present day.

"Jesus was a Jewish prophet whose mission was to announce God's kingdom, not to start a new religion called Christianity."

This quote by John Shelby Spong emphasizes that Jesus' purpose was rooted in Judaism, as a prophet announcing the arrival of God's Kingdom, rather than founding an entirely new religion – Christianity. In other words, Jesus' teachings and message were an extension of Jewish beliefs and traditions, not a break from them to create a separate faith system. This perspective invites us to consider how Jesus' life and teachings might fit more seamlessly within Judaism if the context of his time is taken into account.

"Christianity did not die of its own death; it was killed by the church."

This quote suggests that Christianity, as a set of beliefs and values, did not cease to exist naturally or organically. Instead, it was systematically undermined and ultimately destroyed by the institution that was meant to uphold it: the Church. This could refer to moments in history where institutionalized religion deviated from the original teachings of Jesus Christ, focusing more on doctrines, dogmas, and power structures rather than love, acceptance, and spiritual growth. The quote highlights a perceived disconnect between the authentic message of Christianity and its organized manifestation.

The ultimate meaning of the Bible escapes human limits and calls us to a recognition that every life is holy, every life is loved, and every life is called to be all that that life is capable of being.

- John Shelby Spong

Bible, Holy, Ultimate, Escapes

I cannot possibly conceive of my planet Earth as the centre of a three-tiered universe. I know rather that the sun, around which my planet Earth revolves, is a middle sized star in a galaxy called the Milky Way that has over a hundred billion other suns or stars within it.

- John Shelby Spong

Other, Rather, Hundred, Revolves

I think one of the things we've got to look out for is human beings claiming that they know how God operates.

- John Shelby Spong

Think, I Think, Got, Claiming

I don't think much about my physical body going off into the long, green fairways of Heaven to play golf.

- John Shelby Spong

Green, Play, Think, Physical Body

I think the best way to view the Gospels is to view them as a magnificent portrait being painted by Jewish artists to try to capture the essence of a God experience that they believe they had with Jesus of Nazareth.

- John Shelby Spong

Think, I Think, Best Way, Gospels

I do not live in a world where people can walk on water, or still a storm, or take five loaves of bread and feed 5000 men plus women and children. If that is a requirement of my commitment to Jesus, I find it difficult to stretch my mind outside the capacities of my world view.

- John Shelby Spong

World, View, Stretch, Capacities

Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state.

- John Shelby Spong

Inequality, Longer, Either, Debatable

Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. What I'm trying to do is develop a language that will enable us to talk about God beyond the, what I think, are sterile categories of theism and atheism.

- John Shelby Spong

Atheism, I Think, About, Enable

In academia, I discovered that issues and insights, commonplace among the scholars, are viewed as highly controversial and even as 'heresy' in the churches.

- John Shelby Spong

Discovered, Insights, Heresy, Churches

In the first gospel, Mark, the risen Christ appears physically to no one, but by the time we come to the last gospel, John, Thomas is invited to feel the nail prints in Christ's hands and feet and the spear wound in his side.

- John Shelby Spong

Feet, Side, By The Time, Risen

We've got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. We've murdered them; we've burned them at the stake; we've run them out of town for something over which they have no control. And that's immoral.

- John Shelby Spong

Fact, Deal, Been, Prejudiced

It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.

- John Shelby Spong

Nature, Against, Itself, Prejudiced

I live on the other side of Copernicus and Galileo; I can no longer conceive of God as sort of above the sky, looking down and keeping record books.

- John Shelby Spong

Sky, Other, Side, Galileo

I live on the other side of Charles Darwin and I can no longer see human light as having been created perfect and falling into sin, I see us rather emerging into higher and higher levels of consciousness and higher and higher levels of complication.

- John Shelby Spong

Other, Been, Complication, Emerging

Plenty of people out there think of me as the Antichrist or the devil incarnate because I do not affirm the literal patterns of the Bible. But the fact is I can no more abandon the literal patterns than I could fly to the moon. I just go beyond them.

- John Shelby Spong

Fact, Devil, Beyond, Affirm

The God of the Hebrews is a God that human language, we're not even supposed to speak the holy name. We were told in the Second Commandment we could make no images of this God, and I don't think that means just building idols, I think that means also trying to believe you've captured God in your words, in the Creeds, in the Scriptures.

- John Shelby Spong

Believe, Language, I Think, Commandment

Perhaps the most telling witness against the claim of accurate history for the Bible comes when we read the earliest narrative of the crucifixion found in Mark's gospel and discover that it is not based on eyewitness testimony at all.

- John Shelby Spong

Discover, Telling, Based, Claim

The church is not going to survive if they are going to tell people that they have to twist their minds into 1st century pretzels.

- John Shelby Spong

Church, Survive, Going, Twist

I was baptized as an infant. I was confirmed as an adolescent; I was active in my church's youth group and in my university student group. I was married before the church's altar; trained at the church's seminaries, ordained deacon and priest at age 24.

- John Shelby Spong

Student, Deacon, Trained, Baptized

A lot of people hear me attacking their certainty. I don't have any interest in doing that. I'm interested in penetrating the meaning of certainty.

- John Shelby Spong

People, Doing, Certainty, Meaning Of

Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence.

- John Shelby Spong

Adherence, Immaturity, Primary

I want the traditional family upheld, but I don't want it upheld to the detriment of other people.

- John Shelby Spong

Detriment, Traditional, Upheld

I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. He sees himself against nature. He looks at the vastness of the universe and it looks hostile.

- John Shelby Spong

Against, I Think, Hostile, Boots

Jesus represents the possibilities of a new dimension of existence that transcends all the boundaries that restrict us from opening ourselves to God and allowing this source of love to flow through us.

- John Shelby Spong

Love, Possibilities, Through, Flow

Christianity is, I believe, about expanded life, heightened consciousness and achieving a new humanity. It is not about closed minds, supernatural interventions, a fallen creation, guilt, original sin or divine rescue.

- John Shelby Spong

Guilt, New, Original, Rescue

You can't have a world where 50 percent of the people are dieting and 50 percent of the people are starving if you want stability.

- John Shelby Spong

Percent, Want, Starving, Stability

There is no way that the Fourth Gospel was written by John Zebedee or by any of the disciples of Jesus. The author of this book is not a single individual, but is at least three different writers/editors, who did their layered work over a period of 25 to 30 years.

- John Shelby Spong

Book, Three, Least, Disciples

Religion is a mixed blessing.

- John Shelby Spong

Religion, Mixed, Blessing

I never really liked the Gospel of John because I never could find the humanity of Jesus in it. I thought it presented Jesus as a visitor from another planet; in addition, John's gospel is and has been interpreted as a document that fuels anti-Semitism in the church.

- John Shelby Spong

Thought, Been, Could, Interpreted

I am a child of the 21st century.

- John Shelby Spong

I Am, Century, Am, 21st Century

The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new dimensions of life which our religious boundaries - creeds, atonement theologies - have kept us from experiencing.

- John Shelby Spong

New, Which, Means, Creeds

Many of the characters who appear in the pages of the Fourth Gospel are literary creations of its author and were never intended to be understood as real people, who actually lived in history.

- John Shelby Spong

Real, Real People, Author, Understood

Terrorism is a real despair. These are people for whom life has been so negative that they're willing to die if they can take down some of their enemies.

- John Shelby Spong

Die, Some, Been, Despair

Almost any poll of regular churchgoers will reveal that their favorite book in the New Testament is the Gospel of John. It is the book that is most often used at Christian funerals.

- John Shelby Spong

New, Reveal, Almost, Regular

If you begin to give people hope that there is a brighter future, there is a new tomorrow, then the people who were yesterday's terrorists become tomorrow's elected officials and they're part of the system.

- John Shelby Spong

New, Give, Brighter, Officials

I believe that is what the God experience does for us. It calls us beyond our limits into the fullness of life - into a capacity to love people we are not taught to love - and into an ability to be who we are.

- John Shelby Spong

Love, Believe, Fullness, Limits

The Christians tried to separate themselves from the Jewish crowd so they wouldn't be the recipients of the persecution of the Romans. And the way they did it was to say, the Jews killed our hero too. And so Christians began to define themselves over against the orthodox party of the Jews as a way of surviving against the Roman onslaught.

- John Shelby Spong

Crowd, Separate, Romans, Orthodox

If I were a child of Tibet or of Arabia, I suspect the path I'd walk would be the Buddhist path or the Muslim path. And I don't mind saying that I don't invalidate any of those paths.

- John Shelby Spong

Mind, Muslim, Any, Suspect

God is a presence that I can never define but I could never deny.

- John Shelby Spong

Never, Could, Deny, Presence

Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. That is a paradigm shift of the first order.

- John Shelby Spong

Shift, Becoming, Paradigm, Order

All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. And that's where it turns demonic. Because that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake.

- John Shelby Spong

Need, Prove, Religious, Demonic

My sense is if the Episcopal Church can't stand challenge within its own ranks, then it is not a church I would want to be a member of anyway.

- John Shelby Spong

Church, Own, Within, Episcopal

The biblical texts that we Christians have used for centuries to justify our hostility toward the Jews need to be banished forever from the sacred writings of the Christian church.

- John Shelby Spong

Need, Centuries, Christians, Justify

My basis of morality is this: does this action enhance life, or does it denigrate life? Does it build up or does it tear down?

- John Shelby Spong

Life, Down, Basis, Denigrate

The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Now they are people who have not found in institutional religion a God big enough to be God for their world.

- John Shelby Spong

Reach, Big, Audience, Members

Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? I do not think so. There is no mention of him in any source before the 8th decade.

- John Shelby Spong

Think, Decade, Figure, Judas

The Christ path is the path I've walked all my life, so it's normal and natural. And I have no reason to abandon it because it leads to where I want to go.

- John Shelby Spong

My Life, Reason, Normal, No Reason

The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.

- John Shelby Spong

Journey, Bible, Through, Factual

When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it.

- John Shelby Spong

Bible, Other, Okay, Quoted

I learned early in life that you get places by having the right enemies.

- John Shelby Spong

Places, Having, Learned, Enemies

Let me say that I consider myself a deep believer in the reality of God. I might define God quite differently from the way some people in the Christian faith would do so, but I do not doubt the reality of that experience.

- John Shelby Spong

Faith, Deep, Some, Some People

I spend my life studying that book, and every book I've written has in some sense been a book about the Bible, and that's what I mean by reclaiming its value and its essence for a world that no longer treats it literally and no longer reads it traditionally.

- John Shelby Spong

My Life, Some, Been, Treats

Whatever diminishes life is evil, and whatever enhances life is good.

- John Shelby Spong

Good, Enhances, Diminishes, Evil

I believe God is real, but I believe God calls me beyond myself to take responsibility for my life and to try top work to allow other people to be themselves and to take responsibility for their lives.

- John Shelby Spong

My Life, Other, Allow, Calls

Apologetic explanations do not develop unless there is a reality that has to be explained and defended. Jesus was undeniably a figure of history.

- John Shelby Spong

Jesus, Apologetic, Figure, Explained

I find that children have very little trouble understanding non-literal stories.

- John Shelby Spong

Children, Very, Stories, Trouble

When I'm asked to define God, I'm almost wordless.

- John Shelby Spong

God, Define, Almost, Asked

You learn that you either are going to have a police state where you don't have any freedom left, or you're going to build a world that doesn't create terrorists - and that means a whole different way of 'getting along.'

- John Shelby Spong

Getting, Terrorists, Whole, Police State

The way that I see Christianity is that its role is to enhance the life of every person.

- John Shelby Spong

Person, See, Role, Enhance

I believe that God is very real. I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God. I call this God by different words. I describe God as the source of life and the source of love and the ground of being.

- John Shelby Spong

Love, My Life, Very, Ground

I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God.

- John Shelby Spong

God, Think, Give, Dignity

The Bible tells me that every life is holy; the Bible tells me that every life is loved; the Bible tells me that every life is called to be all that it can be.

- John Shelby Spong

Bible, Loved, Tells, Holy

I can only give away the love that I have received.

- John Shelby Spong

Love, Give, Away, Received

I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious.

- John Shelby Spong

I Am, Religious, Means, Christian

The way you become divine is to become wholly human.

- John Shelby Spong

Human, Way, Wholly, Divine

I believe that God is very real.

- John Shelby Spong

Believe, Real, Very, I Believe That

It's just not easy enough to say that I pray and God will accomplish.

- John Shelby Spong

Enough, Will, Say, Accomplish

Mother Nature is not sweet.

- John Shelby Spong

Nature, Mother, Sweet, Environmental

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