The 8th bishop of Newark Diocese of the Episcopal Church, Bishop John Spong has been a leader on fighting for a more inclusive church, ending the walls of hatred and exclusivisim against gays and lesbians, women. His book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, back in 1991, made a tremendous impact on me. As someone who was an evangelical Christian, I was opened to new and different ways of understanding scripture apart from literalism.
In his bestselling Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Bishop Spong described the toxins that are poisoning the Church. Now in his newest work, A New Christianity for a New World, he offers the antidote. Spong explains why the traditional understandings of God, Christ, the Church, and their rules and dogmas are wrong and dangerous. He spells out his contemporary vision of God, Jesus, prayer, worship, evil, the afterlife, and the Church as a community of love, equality, and truth.
In offering his vision of that which might be for the Church, Spong has poured his heart, soul, and mind into this book as the ultimate legacy of his struggle to discover and promote a Christianity that makes sense today.
Must one be a theist to be a Christian?
Will Christianity survive into the new millenium?
Meaning
The Debate on Assisted Suicide
Defense of Asssisted Suicide
Bishop Richter Heresy Trial Richter suffered a heresy trial last year for ordaining
a gay priest. Spong defends Richter and opposed the heresy trial.Richter was aquitted 8-1 last fall
Christianity in a post-Christian world
Bishop Robinson Remembered author of Honest to God, had a profound impact on Spong
Spong's congressional testimony on doctor assisted suicide
Dishonesty on the part of some evangelical Episcopalians
The Uncertainty of Life
Heaven's Gate
Life is not a Rehearsal
Christmas and Judaism
Reflections onLiberating the Gospels
Spong speaks in front of reform group of the Catholic Church in England
Portrait of a Bishop I
Protrait of a Bishop II
Spong on the Church of Scotland
Spong on the Future of the Church
Bishop Spong proposes a new Reformation and
suggests 12 ideas that the Church must wrestle with.
Spong's Farewell Address as Bishop of the Diocese of Newark
Spong comments on Lambeth Gathering 1998
Religion as Human Creation?
Rethinking the Meaning of Prayer
An Open Letter to Jerry Falwell
Sodom Revisited
The Drive Towards Individual Freedom
No Room for Compromise over Gay Rights
The Anglican Battle Over Homosexuality takes a Bizzare Turn
Embracing the Jewishness of Jesus
The Vatican's Endangers Ecumenical Progress
A statement concerning Matthew Shephards death
Christianity Caught in Timewarp
Reforming Christian Anthropology
Reforming Christology
Beyond Theism
Is the Afterlife Real?
new!
Who is Christ for Us?
The Bible and Homosexuality
Spong vs. Oreilly
New Links
Faith Futures with info on historical Jesus, works on Spong, etc.
Study Guide for Spong's new book on a New Christianity