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| Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile | 
 enlarge | Author: John Shelby Spong
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (249 reviews)
Sales Rank: 44420
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0060675365
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
EAN: 9780060675363
ASIN: 0060675365
Publication Date: May 1, 1999
Release Date: April 21, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 An inexcusably illiterate book with an overt political agenda March 28, 2007
18 out of 25 found this review helpful
Bishop Spong is a retired Episcopal bishop with a simple point of view. Christianity, to him, is defined by the most aggressively illiterate and anti-modern types of Fundamentalist Protestantism. It is anti-science. It is anti-evolution. It takes a rigidly literalist view of the Bible. Christianity, in short, is against reason and it is against the modern world. Thus, it is dying. The only way to fix it is to radically change it, to make it into a religion of love, instead of one of judgment.
With all due respect, Bishop Spong is simply wrong, about every single aspect of this.
First, as Spong should know, there are many kinds of Christianity. Yes, there are churches which arguably fit his description, particularly if viewed in an uncharitable way. However, as an Episcopalian he should have at least basic familiarity with Catholic teaching. The Catholic Church is not, and never has been, anti-reason, anti-evolution or anti-science. It has never taken a literal view of the Bible. The Episcopal Church once upon a time considered itself very close to Rome, in theological terms. While the Episcopal Church has recently had a long series of very public fights with the Catholic Church, and with the world Anglican Church, over, first, the ordination of women, and, second, the ordination of gay priests and bishops, most Episcopal priests and congregations still pride themselves on being well-educated. It is, frankly, bewildering to have an Episcopal Bishop say that he can not see any difference between his own Church and the most illiterate form of hardshell fundamentalist. I honestly do not know what he thinks he is talking about. One can criticize the Episcopal Church for many things, but excessive Fundamentalism and overly-strict Biblical literalism are not features that any sane, competent observer thinks characterize the Episcopalians.
Second, as a practical matter, it is the liberal churches which are dying not the fundamentalist ones. Every liberal church has shrunk dramatically in the last genertion. Every staunchly conservative church has grown in members. One can like this or not like this, but it is simply a fact that it is the liberal churches which are dying, not the other way around. It takes willful blindness, a stubborn refusal to face basic facts, to deny this. (One can see this, among other places, in the differing fortunes of the Episcopal and the Catholic Churches in America. The two were quite close, in many ways, fifty years ago. The Episcopal Church, however, has gone from being "the Republican Party at prayer", as it was a century ago, to being perhaps the most liberal Church in America today. The Catholic Church, while it has flirted with liberalism, has basically stood fast to its historic teachings. The Episcopal Church has lost nearly half its members and has far more priests -- gay, straight and female -- then can possibly find pulpits. The Catholic Church has grown steadily and faces a severe priest shortage, so pressing is the call for them.)
Third, when Spong says that the Church must be transformed, he advocates nothing new. He wants a Church based on reason and love. Here is an idea for you, Bishop. Go read St. Augustine. Read St. Thomas Aquinas. Read Luther. For that matter, go read Cardinal Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity. Read John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Read some Edith Stein. Acquaint yourself with the classics of the literate Church, both historically and in the our era. You will find tht the "new" church you want is not new. You will find that all of the values you advocate have always been in the Church. What we need is not radical newness, but leaders who actually read and understand the tradition.
Is Bishop Spong truly ignorant of the Theology 101 reading list which I just ticked off? It is possible, in which case it is truly appalling that the Episcopal Church made such an illiterate a priest, never mind a bishop. But I do not think so. Something tells me that Spong has heard of Augustine and Aquinas. I think he ignores the classics of the literate Church, deliberately, because he has a different agenda. He basically wants to turn his back on the Bible, and make Jesus Christ into a pitchman for the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party instead. It is certainly his right to believe as he wishes. LIke so many other Episcopal leaders, however, he is not unable to draw any firm line between where religion ends and politics begins. As a result, what he teaches is basically a muddled form of left-wing political ideology. The voice of the Gospels, the voice of the Apostle Paul, the voice of Moses, these are voices that Bishop Spong is not listening to any more.
 A Path to the Future December 31, 2006
12 out of 17 found this review helpful
Bishop Spong is a thoughtful, caring man with a deeply religious sensibility. In this book he restores meaning and wonder to the great passages in the New Testament, and in the process has undoubtedly lead many readers to a deeper and fuller understanding of God and Christ.
The Reformation permanently changed the way people thought about Christianity. This is another age in which our views of religion are going through major changes. In his small, modest way, Bishop Spong is helping to lead the way for modern day Christians who have lost faith in the old forms and who seek a richer, more meaningful understanding of their religion.
Biship Spong does a good job of answering many of the questions that educated modern Christians ask about their religion. It is increasingly difficult for many of us to accept literal interpretations of certain passages in the Bible. And yet they have not lost meaning to us, they simply need to be reinterpreted for modern readers.
I don't think of Spong as one of the great religious leaders who have changed our view of life. I see his role as more modest, but nonetheless important. He brings the living spirit of God to his readers, and for that he is surely blessed.
Must read December 15, 2006
4 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book will challenge your Sunday School mentality and teach you to think for yourself. When it comes to believing religious leaders, text and traditions, you may want to consider why you believe what you believe!
Yvonne Perry,Author of:
More Than Meets the Eye: True Stories about Death, Dying and Afterlife
Right to Recover: Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in America [...]
SO SAD! November 3, 2006
6 out of 20 found this review helpful
This author has surly become disallusioned with his religion and is trying to bend it to his liking.
 Great book for the open minded June 7, 2006
6 out of 14 found this review helpful
Religion traditionalists of all faiths are going to hold on to their beliefs at all costs. Each faith is convinced they alone know "The Truth" and all the other beliefs are wrong. This book is meant for people who aren't afraid to confront old dogmas and it is meant for people who have faced the reality that the bible is the word of man. There is no "Big Daddy" in the sky to tell us what to do. The traditionalist church wants us to continue being "sheep". We have to grow up and be responsible for ourselves. Bishop Spong offers some light on steps towards that goal.
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