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Title: Here I Stand : My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0-06-067539-X Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.76 (41 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Thank God for Spong!
Comment: Last year I read John Shelby Spong's book, "Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile" and was moved. I had thought that about the most I could expect from the Anglican tradition was a good cup of coffee after the service and yet here was an Episcopal bishop whose book fed me intellectually and, rarest of all, spiritually. In December I learned that his autobiography was to be published and bought it as soon as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed "Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love and Equality".
The book moves along at a fast pace, blending the facts of his life with the stories that give them meaning. And the stories are fascinating. We read of the experiences that shaped him as a child, as a youth, as a young man. The racial conflicts he sought to ease in his early years as a priest. His stimulating approaches to preaching and education. His acceptance of gay and lesbian people and his support of them even at personal cost. And throughout the book, insightful looks into the workings of the Episcopal Church in America and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
I like the way he looks at himself, indeed it is his frank portrayal of his own weaknesses and mistakes that makes his descriptions of the weaknesses and mistakes of others believable.
Spong closes his book by saying, in part, "But above all else, I was throughout my life and am still today deeply convinced of the reality of God. Indeed, I am more deeply convinced of this reality at this moment than I have ever been before. I walk inside the wonder of this God in every experience of life. I have become more of a mystic than I ever thought possible for a rationalist like me. I still meet this God in the life of the one I call Lord and Christ, who is supremely important to my spiritual journey".
A wonderful man, a great book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Thank God for Spong
Comment: Last year I read John Shelby Spong's book, "Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile" and was moved. I had thought that about the most I could expect from the Anglican tradition was a good cup of coffee after the service and yet here was an Episcopal bishop whose book fed me intellectually and, rarest of all, spiritually. In December I learned that his autobiography was to be published and bought it as soon as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed "Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love and Equality".
The book moves along at a fast pace, blending the facts of his life with the stories that give them meaning. And the stories are fascinating. We read of the experiences that shaped him as a child, as a youth, as a young man. The racial conflicts he sought to ease in his early years as a priest. His stimulating approaches to preaching and education. His acceptance of gay and lesbian people and his support of them even at personal cost. And throughout the book, insightful looks into the workings of the Episcopal Church in America and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
I like the way he looks at himself, indeed it is his frank portrayal of his own weaknesses and mistakes that makes his descriptions of the weaknesses and mistakes of others believable.
Spong closes his book by saying, in part, "But above all else, I was throughout my life and am still today deeply convinced of the reality of God. Indeed, I am more deeply convinced of this reality at this moment than I have ever been before. I walk inside the wonder of this God in every experience of life. I have become more of a mystic than I ever thought possible for a rationalist like me. I still meet this God in the life of the one I call Lord and Christ, who is supremely important to my spiritual journey".
A wonderful man, a great book.
Rating: 1
Summary: Nothing to Stand On
Comment: In a postmodern era, where truth is relative and reality undefinable, this book provides quick and easy pain relief, kind of like taking morphine for cancer. For the most part, we all want to believe that there is a God or at least something out there; that way we don't feel like this life is such a waste. But if we believe in one system, especially one so "antiquated" as the Bible we will be mocked and ridiculed for being closed-minded and ignorant. But we grew up in Christian homes and are much more comfortable with "Christian" spirituality than, say, Eastern Transcendentalism. So what is the open-minded post modernist to do?
Enter John Shelby Spong (and others)...
Simple, by removing Christianity's belief that we are sinful, Christ no becomes pointless. By removing the parts of Christianity that cause so many people to stumble and which don't make sense in a world where everybody is equally right (see 1 Corinthians 1:18), now Christianity is poised to survive for millennia to come.
The problem is that the message of Christianity is the Gospel, the Good News. That Good News is that even though we have been found to be in rebellion to the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge over the universe, He made a way for us to be made right with Him: Christ. Christ came and died so that we would not be judged as the rebels that we are and cast out of His Presence and into eternal death. Sin is that rebellion; Christ is the only solution. Any religion, including a Savior-less Christianity that does not deal with our problem of sin will probably do quite a bit to make us feel better about our damned condition while we're here on earth, but we will still have to stand on our own merits before the Judge. It's like having cancer, ignoring the miracle cure, and taking morphine so that you can ignore the death that you are dying. Christ, rather, will remove your sin and your rebellion as far as the East is from the West. He will remove your death-bringing cancer of sin and give you the true relief of his grace, both now and for eternity.
Do not fall for Spong's appealing postmodern message. Realize that reality exists; if the God of the Bible is real, you must repent from your sins and place your only hope in Christ.
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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: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 17 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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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: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism : A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060675187 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 10 April, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Living in Sin? : A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060675071 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 02 February, 1990 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Resurrection : Myth or Reality? by John Shelby Spong ISBN: 0060674296 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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