(and everyone else!)
Every so often, I put out a "musing" that is a guide to my writings and videos. It's that time when churches make plans for their program year, so this is a good moment to share links to my materials for worship, study, and spiritual practice. Use freely. All I ask is attribution!
John Shelby Spong gives an introduction and brief explication of his 5 day lecture series hosted by the Department of Religion, in the Hall of Philosophy.
"I am one priest and bishop in the church who is no longer willing to read [the Bible] through stained glass lenses," Bishop John Shelby Spong said. That might as well be the man's mantra, and this lecture exemplifies why.
John Shelby Spong explains how the 4th Gospel creates a symbol from the presence of Christ's mother. This is the fourth lecture of a five lecture series.
John Shelby Spong continues his 5 day lecture series. He explains the colorful characters who hold dual purpose in the fourth Gospel.
John Shelby Spong concludes his five day lecture series by explaining the Crucifixion in the fourth Gospel. This event was hosted by the department of religion and took place on June 27, 2014.
In A Joyful Path, Year Two, we focus on some of the main tenets of Progressive Christianity and Spirituality, giving our children the foundation they need to walk the path of Jesus in today’s world. It has stories and affirmations written to help children clarify their own personal beliefs while staying open to the wisdom of other traditions.
A supersessionist view of the Christian covenant might have made some little sense in a mythic worldview, but never made any moral sense. The time has long since come for Christians to drop such an arrogant claim. It has contributed to extraordinary suffering and eroded any moral authority we might think we have. In that sense, it never made any just sense of the work of God we’ve come to know in Jesus Christ.
What does the Doctrine of the Trinity look like if we reject the idea that it describes a permanent unchanging God? It describes a God as close as your breath, a God whose creative power continues to create, a God who we can see incarnate all around us.
Two healing stories intertwined, both involve females, both involve the number 12 - which brings the Reign of God to mind. What does it mean that it was women in this story. Surely it can't just mean, as some have said, (though not this way), that the gospel is for girls too.
Bishop John Shelby Spong's message might alienate certain types of believers--namely, biblical literalists. But he stands strong in his analysis of the Bible as a symbolic work and calls Christ's followers today to recognize their savior as a "boundary-breaker," not a "blood offering." This lecture ended Spong's weeklong stint as 2 p.m. interfaith lecturer, a gig he titled "Re-Claiming the Bible in a Non-Religious World."
Living the Questions 2.0 Home Edition brings together over thirty highly acclaimed scholars, theologians and other experts in a video exploration of an open, inclusive, broad-minded Christianity. Already utilized by thousands of progressive Christian communities