John Shelby Spong

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John Shelby Spong (2006)

John Shelby Spong (born June 16, 1931 in Charlotte , North Carolina , † September 12, 2021 ) was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark from 1979 until his retirement in 2000 .

biography

Born in 1931, Spong was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1952 and received his Master of Divinity degree in 1955 from Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. Spong served as Rector of St. Joseph's Church in Durham, North Carolina from 1955 to 1957, Rector of Calvary Parish, Tarboro, North Carolina from 1957 to 1965, Rector of St. John's Church in Lynchburg, Virginia from 1965 to 1969, and Rector of St. Paul's Church in Richmond, Virginia from 1969 to 1976.

On June 12, 1976 he was ordained bishop by John Maury Allin and George Edward Rath and Robert Bruce Hall and served as coadjutor in the Diocese of Newark until 1979 .

Spong represented a liberal theology and tried to combine a postmodern worldview with Christian faith. Influences came from Petrus Abelardus , Paul Tillich , John Hick and John B. Cobb . Spong was also considered a proponent of feminism and gay rights in the church.

He saw himself as a Christian, but saw the need for a profound theological reform, indeed a renewed Reformation, in order to make Christianity credible for modern people. One of his most provocative theses was the claim that theism is meaningless ("dead") in the postmodern world and that numerous biblical statements about God and Jesus should not be taken literally, such as miracles, the virgin birth of Jesus and his physical resurrection and ascent to a sky above the stars.

Spong saw God as the source of life, but not as a supernatural power. Nor did he believe that human beings were born in sin and need vicarious reconciliation through an Atonement : “ Vicarious redemption has become grotesque both with regard to God, who needs the shedding of blood from a human sacrifice as a prerequisite for salvation in view of humanity, which is seen as fallen and depraved. "

One of the most common conservative criticisms of Spong's statements is that they are incompatible with the Christian faith.

According to his own statements, Spong was in close contact with the non-denominational Unity Church of Christianity . He died in September 2021 at the age of 90.

Fonts

  • 1973: Honest Prayer
  • 1974: This Hebrew Lord ; ISBN 0-06-067520-9 .
  • 1975: Christpower
  • 1975: Dialogue: In Search of Jewish-Christian Understanding ; ISBN 1-878282-16-6 .
  • 1976: Life Approaches Death: A Dialogue on Ethics in Medicine
  • 1980: The Easter Moment ; ISBN 1-878282-15-8 .
  • 1983: Into the Whirlwind: The Future of the Church ; ISBN 1-878282-13-1 .
  • 1986: Beyond Moralism: A Contemporary View of the Ten Commandments , with Archdeacon Denise G. Haines; ISBN 1-878282-14-X .
  • 1987: Consciousness and Survival: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into the possibility of Life Beyond Biological Death ; ed. by John S. Spong, introduction by Claiborne Pell; ISBN 0-943951-00-3 .
  • 1988: Living in Sin? A Bishop Rethink's Human Sexuality ; ISBN 0-06-067507-1 .
  • 1991: Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture ; ISBN 0-06-067518-7 .
  • 1992: Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus ; ISBN 0-06-067523-3 .
  • 1994: Resurrection: Myth or Reality? A Bishop's Search for the Origins of Christianity ; ISBN 0-06-067546-2 .
  • 1996: Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes ; ISBN 0-06-067557-8 .
  • 1999: Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile ; ISBN 0-06-067536-5 . In German: 2004 - What has to change in Christianity: a bishop takes a position ISBN 3-491-72481-3 .
  • 2001: Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love and Equality ; ISBN 0-06-067539-X .
  • 2002: A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being Born ; ISBN 0-06-067063-0 . In German: Why the old faith has to be reborn: a bishop takes a position , 2006; ISBN 3-491-70395-6 .
  • 2005: The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love ; ISBN 0-06-076205-5 . In German: 2007 - The Sins of the Holy Scriptures: How to Read the Bible ISBN 978-3-491-72512-6 .
  • 2007: Jesus for the non-religious . New York: Harper, ISBN 0-06-077841-5 .
  • 2009: Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell , ISBN 0-06-076206-3 - in German 2011: Beyond Heaven and Hell. A new vision of eternal life ISBN 978-3-8436-0028-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bob Smietana: Bishop John Shelby Spong, firebrand who championed LGBTQ inclusion, has died . Religion News Service . September 12, 2021. Accessed September 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ Liberal Bible-Thumping The New York Times, May 15, 2005
  3. ↑ Why the Old Faith Must Be Reborn , p. 24
  4. ↑ Interview. ABC Radio, June 17, 2001
  5. ↑ Beyond Theism on YouTube
  6. ↑ Why the Old Faith Must Be Reborn , p. 18
  7. ↑ Question & Answer (para. 3) johnshelbyspong.com, July 23, 2015
  8. ↑ Quoted from Unity Worldwide Ministries Facebook, July 23, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Spong, John Shelby
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Bishop of Newark
BIRTH DATE June 16, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Charlotte , North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 2021