Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile Kindle Edition

To paraphrase Tony Curtis’ character in “Some Like it Hot,” John Shelby Spong is a genius—his opinions exactly coincide with mine. For years, decades in fact, I have been a "Christian in exile," but didn’t know it until reading "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." This book is a godsend (possibly literally) for people who have grown up in the Christian tradition and desperately believe in the holiness of the spirit and person of Jesus, but have found it impossible to reconcile contemporary rationality with a confusing and myth-filled explanation of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of a group of believers of two-thousand years ago.Bishop Spong lays out the difficulties with the Christian religion in the modern era, the sources of conflict and confusion, and suggests ways in which we believers can reconcile ourselves with the original intention of Jesus and still call ourselves Christians. Finally, we can know we are still following the faith even though we recognize mythology and allegory in the foundational writing and traditions of the faith.So far, I have only read one other book by Bishop Spong, "Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes; Freeing Jesus from 2,000 years of Misunderstanding," and I highly recommend it also to help the “Christian in exile” understand the beliefs and traditions of the authors of the Bible. Only by understanding the society and worldview of the authors can one understand the intention behind their words.Both books are written with the knowledge of a scholar and the craftsmanship of an artist of the English language. They are compelling, to the point, and beautifully written. Ideas are presented clearly, logically, and explained in a way that flows naturally and organically from one to the next.If you’re a fundamentalist, one who needs to understand the Bible literally, you will not find comfort in Bishop Spong’s ideas. But anyone else, whether “Christian in exile,” Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other faith, even atheist, will find these two books compelling and eye opening.

It was a wonderful read that took a scholarly look at religion. It opened new pathways to experience religion and most especially Christian religion. For me it was support for a view that I have held for quite some time and perhaps will point me toward a future view that I am exploring.

Readers of the Bible understand that there has certainly been a change in world views since the writings of the Old and New Testaments were first written. John Spong's book helps us to understand some new ideas that need to be pondered in our times to help us understand the living and practice of Christianity today. Perhaps it is time for us to let God exist in everything we do and exist in all things. Maybe the day of the "Big Man" in the sky is over and we need to see God loving through each of us.

I ordered this as a gift because I have already read it and many other of Spong's books. He is a superb author who tells things in such a way that the average person can comprehend, yet in a way that make one evaluate faith in a different light. This Bishop writes for the future of Christianity - maybe the most important man to do so.

Different take on the Bible. Makes you think a lot.

Bishop Spong's addresses the basic tenets of Christianity in a thoughtful and transparent manner. The book offers hope for believers who hold onto the reality of God but have outgrown the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of evangelicalism and conservative Christianity.

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.

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.

And there was me thinking this book might be a call to authentic Christianity, instead the author blindly submits to public opinion and the spirit of the times, encouraging readers to dismiss the Church's teachings on important subjects such as creation and how to interpret Genesis. It is this sort of luke-warm "Christianity" that is preparing us for the coming anti-Christ.

This, for me, is probably the best book Bishop Spong has written. For all those searching for the meaning of GOD ,read this book!!!!

an excellent read which should be read by many more.

Everyone should read this book! I found it inspirational.

Good book and excellent customer service

Excellent troubling thoughts brought to the forefront and examined with honesty. Yes God still lives in 2017 xxx thank you

Excellent, thought provoking and stimulating. answering a lot of my questions, but not with easy answers!

What a brave and challenging book. I can see Spong's honesty in trying to strip away years of built up doctrine and belief that seems at odds with human logic and reason. He does not spend long amounts of time dealing with scholarly issues, but accepts things such as changes to the Bible over time and the issues related to the council of Nicea. Instead of bickering and debating Spong acknowledges issues and then deals provides solutions. He discusses things such as the church's objection to all sceintific discoveries that oppose its view of the world.After reading this book i felt Christianity could perhaps evolve using a blueprint similar to this, and i felt forces within it were moving towards this more logical approach. My recent experience with Christians,however, has shown to me the problems they face without Spong's foward thinking.Some of Spong's writings related to Jesus dying for the sins of the world, and also the idea of him being God incarnate are very bold and presented in a no-nonsense style. He rejects all these ideas and in very plain terms. His viewpoint on other religions is also very healthy to see and read. His views may annoy and offend the orthodox clergy, but for the people of this world what he says is a relief to hear.Spong writes towards the end that history may show later that this book of his does not go far enough, to me the book goes a bit too far in places. During his demolition act of Christianity he also does away with a God that influences things in this world, and also does away with heaven and hell. This is my personal view, others may feel his vision should have gone further.I hope this voice being raised in the Christian world will be listened to.

This book written in 1999 may seem a little dated but I assure you, it is not . Spong says what I have been feeling for many years, in his excellent critique of the church and the bible. I was a christian in its Pentecostal flavor for 35 years. ( Yes I was a true christian for the doubters reading this , I was steeped in its ideology ) I slowly became disillusioned by it all over several years and I have been detached from church completely for over 2 years . Spong speaks of the Christians in exile and attempts to guide us into a vision of a more progressive Christianity . I am agnostic concerning the version of Christianity pasted down since 325 CE. However ,Spong gives us hope that Christianity can change into a more humanistic way. I am skeptical that they will ever drop the atonement doctrine where the shedding of blood was necessary to appease an angry tribal god and the teachings on Jesus being the divine rescuer . It a good read and I would highly recommend it for those seeking spiritual truth.

Perfect. Our Minister read it, but will not change. He bosses God around, like in the Old Testament.

I must say I was disappointed with this book. I had hoped that Bishop Spong would give more direction to what he sees as the future of Christianity but I found this sorely missing from these pages. There is much personal experience of his own journey and what he finds hard about Christianity today, but there is precious little definite as to how he sees Christianity moving forward into the twenty-first century. The areas he covers are skirted over with little solid framework given. I would have thought a bishop who, even with his doubts and difficulties, has stayed in the mainstream church would offer more.When I looked at his website I realized that perhaps one of the reasons he remains a bishop is because of the pulling power with the media this guarantees. And a heretical bishop is going to pull in more buyers than someone who resigns because he/she just doesn't believe anymore in the traditional line. Of course, if you want to read his latest offerings on his website you have to pay $10 USD a month. This, for me, was a dead giveaway that perhaps the bishop is more interested in cash flow than the future of christianity.His earlier books are more honest; more real. Jesus for the Non-Religious is a much better book for those grappling with doubts about faith and christianity. It's probably better because it is concentrating on the faith that is inspired by Jesus (whether you believe him to be god or not doesn't really matter)rather than the institution that is Christianity.This book though was not all that great for me. Jesus for the Non-Religious

This guy only got publicity because (astonishingly) he was a bishop. His comments about modern churches and the bases of the Christian faith are puerile, the only people that he recognises are "new and exciting scholars", everyone else is a fundamentalist who lacks scholarship.