Ottman Out

He has written quite a number of books. You could probably borrow some from the library for free.

From the little I know about him, he seems like a very cool guy (as Christians go). He is probably a good source of anti-Christian arguments, although I don't know if you'll find anything that is not found in these forums.

He seems to be a very spiritual person, but his continuing to call himself a Christian is rather puzzling to me. It's probably just a mental block on his part. If you want to spend the money to find out, why not, but I'd be very surprised if it was anything earth-shattering or even halfway sensible.

Vicar Philip

Back when I was still struggling with my atheism, I read Spong's autobiography, "Here I Stand." He seems like a very likable kind of guy, but as Biff said, he just won't go that last inch and declare himself an atheist, which is what his beliefs say he is.

I have to believe his motivation to remain a Christian (in name only) is related to having a job. As my former pastor confided to me, he can't very well go up in front of the congregation and tell them he believes the Bible is a fable; he'd lose his church in a heartbeat. Yes, he admitted it was disingenuous to profess something he didn't believe and cloak his words with double meanings only HE knew.... but, he has to eat.

Imagine spending your entire youth learning and training to be a pastor, then finding out the mainstream perception of what you want to be is false. As my pastor said, he loves his job; he can read to his heart's content, counsel troubled parishioners, and have the freedom to do what he wants. I just don't think I could do it, stand up in front of a crowd every Sunday and tell them something I knew I didn't believe. Ah well.

abe smith

You, nor no-one else, has to spend attention on anything Bishop spong has to say. Just walk away. apart from that, , ALL brands of Christianity (and of everything else) are manmade; and hence equally valuable/valueless. You pays yer money/attention, and you takes yer choice.

Secular Pinoy

Are you saying that Bishop Spong's books are just as valuable/valueless as those by Pat Robertson? I do not agree with Spong's conclusions (I think he doesn't go far enough) but I appreciate what he's doing, bringing a sizable number of Christians out of the dark ages and into the modern world.

They may still have some mystical beliefs, but they would also be shedding most others, those that really count. They may still believe in god, but then they would probably not be traditionally theistic, perhaps panentheistic. They may still believe about the resurrection of Jesus, though it would be in some vague, ahistorical and "spiritual" sense, and not as a matter of physical fact. Essentially, Spong is trying to make humanists out of christians, and I can live with that, nay, I would support support him for that. For me, the theist-atheist divide is not so important as the struggle to make Christians more humanistic and tolerant.

Beetle

One thing that's always amused me about Bishop Spong (and others in the same camp) is their passionate insistence that they have to "save" Christianity and make it more "relevant" or else it will end up in history's scrap-heap. Haven't they noticed that it's their mainline churches that are hemmorrhaging members and not the Southern Baptists or the Mormons?

Well, it was his autobiography. I would hope he could make himself seem likable for 300 pages.

Toto

It's true that the mainline churches are disappearing and the evangelicals prospering - but I think that a lot of that has to do with organizational matters and marketing, and not theology.

In intellectual circles, Christianity is not a serious matter. People are careful not to insult others beliefs, but handly anyone seriously analyses a political or personal problem from a Christian perspective. Religion is kept carefully confined to a separate area of life, like a hothouse plant.

Of course, I think that the reason for this is that anyone who takes Christianity at all seriously has to be some sort of socialist, and socialism has not proved to be a viable political system.

lpetrich

Whatever one is to mean by "socialism", if that is to be anything more than a dirty word.