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Title: Born of a Woman by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0-06-067523-3 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 17 September, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: It keeps getting better and better
Comment: Spong's book and perspective on the virgin birth is just way to good. I never read any of his books without being skeptical to what he says, but the fact is, I can't find any other legitimate way around it. By presenting hard-fact evidence about the virgin birth and considering the society's male-dominated ego driven in the lifetime of Jesus, one just throws the all-comforting traditional idea of Mary being a virgin and the like. This book makes the reader face the Virgin birth in its logical sense, while on the side refuting the traditional nonsense taught by the christian churches for centuries.
Rating: 5
Summary: Refreshing and insightful
Comment: If you have read the other reviews, you already know that Bishop Spong quckly sets aside the literal "Christmas Story" and the "Virgin Birth" in this book. Much more intersting to me, however, was his careful tracing of the crafting of what we know today as the "Christmas Story" in the order the various references were written, starting with Paul (I didn't realize his account was written earlier than the gospels).
The core of this book is Bishop Spong's combintation of the few clues in the Bible with the intellectual and political currents of the day in the early church, and how they effected the moulding of the traditions we know today as the "Christmas Story" and the "Virgin Birth".
When he has finished his interesting analysis, he then adds a final chapter to discuss how he feels the developing concept of the "purity of Mary" has influenced the state of women in the centuries since, to the present day. While this is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the book, it builds on the lessons of the previous chapters, and opens up the possibility of dialog on the subject.
There is no question that this book has and will offend many Christians, but for those who are intellectually curious and like to think "out of the box", this book is a treat.
Rating: 1
Summary: APOSTASY IN A BOOK
Comment: Apostasy is a word that comes from the Greek, "apostasia", meaning a falling away from what is established.
Bishop Spong is entitled to his beliefs as much as any other person is. But he is mistaken in trying to couch those beliefs as Christian because they are clearly not. It's not a matter of
fundamentalist Biblical interpretation versus his Biblical interpretation, but a matter of sound reasoning and scholarship.
The New Testament record tells us that Jesus was Divinely conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. And that she was a virgin when she gave him birth. Bishop Spong would have us believe that these accounts of Jesus' conception and birth are metaphors or allegories. And that the writers of these stories were giving us a "midrash" interpretation of events.
Midrash is a Hebrew word that means study or more accurately "interpretation". In Rabbinic Judaism it is used to mean an on-going exposition and ever evolving commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures that particularly examines the meaning of
difficult to understand passages.
That's all fine and well. But there are problems with applying this interpretative method to the New Testament. Midrash is an invention of Jewish Rabbis for use on the "Tanakh"-the Hebrew Old Testament - not the New Testament. Additionally, Hebrew is a picture language and midrash is much better suited for it than it is for the koine Greek of the New Testament.
The Greek language is built on lexical roots. It provides a much larger vocabulary and has greater accuracy and precision in it's word meanings than Hebrew does. There is very little ambiguity to be found in it. If anything, Greek gives more insight into what is being said than perhaps any other language on the planet. Believe it, Greek is that unique! And midrash is not suited for it.
Case and Point:
The prophet Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah of the World would be born of a Virgin. (Isaiah 7:14). The original Hebrew uses the word "almah" that can mean but does not necessarily imply "virgin". When the 72 scholars translated the original Hebrew of Isaiah into the Greek of the Septuagint, occurring long BEFORE Christ's birth, they all used the Greek word "parthenos" for this passage. Parthenos most definitely
means virgin. After Christ's life on earth, the Jews abandoned the use of the Septuagint. And the Old Testament was re-translated from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek. Aquila who made one of these translations, used the Greek word "neanis" in
Isaiah 7:14 meaning young woman or girl to blunt the point of Christian prophecy pertaining to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is a mistake to believe that the Septuagint scholars were themselves not inspired by God when they translated Isaiah from Hebrew into Greek. They most assuredly were.
Could a man conceived by sperm and an egg and having the propensity to sin like the rest of us; take the punishment of billions of people and bring them redemption like Jesus and the apostles alleged? (Mat 20:28; I John 2:2) Common sense tells us that, NO MERE MORTAL was/is good enough to do that. No matter how ethically or morally good they are. How can one possibly redeem billions through their death and resurrection? It can ONLY happen if that ONE was/is God the Son himself in human form - the Supernatural Christ of all Eternity. And that is EXACTLY who Jesus claimed to be again and again . (John 17:5)
Jesus' apostles who were eyewitnesses to his life, freely gave their lives for the Gospel message, proving their faith and conviction that their master was who he said he was - God the Son in human form. And if he was God in human form, he came from
above and thus could not have been conceived by a sperm and an egg but by the Holy Spirit in a virgin. Just as the Scriptures say. But if Mary wasn't a virgin, when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus; it would mean that he was conceived by a sperm
and egg. And if Jesus was conceived by a sperm and egg it would mean that he was not the Creator but a Creation like the rest of us. And if he was a creation rather than the Creator in
human form; then he cannot be the Redeemer of the world. Because only God would be good enough to take the punishment for all of humanity's sins. Only God could have been good enough to pay the price and wipe the slate clean for all sinners.
Not according to Bishop Spong's work however.
Think about it. What makes more sense; the traditional Christian view or Bishop Spong's ideas?
Christianity demands that it be accepted or rejected on ITS TERMS, as it has been laid out for us from its beginning by Jesus, his apostles and the Old Testament prophecies that Christ fulfilled. Take it or leave it. It's not a pick and choose at the bargain basement. What Bishop Spong has done with this book is re-write central Christian doctrines into illogical and unscholarly nonsense.
My humble advice, Read F.F. Bruce instead.
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Title: Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism : A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060675187 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 10 April, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: A New Christianity for a New World : Why Traditional Faith is Dying & How a New Faith is Being Born by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060670630 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Resurrection : Myth or Reality? by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060674296 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060675365 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: This Hebrew Lord : A Bishop's Search for the Authentic Jesus by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060675209 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 09 April, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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