I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I don't want a God that would go around killing people's little girls. Neither do I want a God who would kill… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I think one of the things we've got to look out for is human beings claiming that they know how God operates. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
It's just not easy enough to say that I pray and God will accomplish. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
God is a presence that I can never define but I could never deny. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I experience God as the power of life, the power of love and the ground of being. I don't say that's what… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I think I can tell you how I experience God. I experience God as the power of life calling me to live,… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
What kind of god is it that some human brain can shatter the illusions that have been built up around such a… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I believe that God is very real. I believe that I live my life every day inside the reality of this God.… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I believe God is real, but I believe God calls me beyond myself to take responsibility for my life and to try… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Now they are people who… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I believe that is what the God experience does for us. It calls us beyond our limits into the fullness of life… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
Let me say that I consider myself a deep believer in the reality of God. I might define God quite differently from… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
So who is God? No one can finally say. That is not within human competence. All we can ever say is how… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
In that process of coming to know that which we name as divine, the God who is love is slowly transformed into… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I would like the church to be a place where the questions of people are honored rather than a place where we… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
The God of the Hebrews is a God that human language, we're not even supposed to speak the holy name. We were… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I'd like to turn the whole Jesus story around and look at it from a different vantage point, to consider that he… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
The powers of nature are so great, and our power is so inept. So,in order to cope with the incredible anxiety that… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I go into the Hebrew Scriptures frequently, looking for different ways in which minority voices have expressed the reality of God, and… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. What I'm trying to… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
Jesus represents the possibilities of a new dimension of existence that transcends all the boundaries that restrict us from opening ourselves to… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I think the best way to view the Gospels is to view them as a magnificent portrait being painted by Jewish artists… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
The way that I see Christianity is that its role is to enhance the life of every person. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
The Sins of Scripture is an interesting title; most people don't put sins and scripture together in the same title. It jars people. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
“When a human life is open to all that humanity can be, humanity and divinity flow together as one. It was and is a… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. The primary reason the old idea of… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
My basis of morality is this: does this action enhance life, or does it denigrate life? Does it build up or does it tear… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
I want the traditional family upheld, but I don't want it upheld to the detriment of other people. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
We live in a very pluralistic society today. There are Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, atheists, Roman Catholics, Evangelical Christians, and Christians like me. There are… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
The Bible was written between 3,000 and 2,000 years ago, and it's filled with the knowledge that people had in that period of time,… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
We are in a survival mentality, and that's hard-wired into our humanity, because we are the winners of an evolutionary struggle of millions and… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
Some people think prayer stops bullets or rockets or land mines. It doesn't. That's magic, that's not God. Sometimes, you're just in the wrong… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
The Hebrew scriptures say it's okay to enslave anybody except your fellow Jews. It says you should enslave only your neighbors. I say to… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
I know Jerry [Falwell] fairly well, and he's probably not bright enough to recognize all of the implications of what he said. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
Benedict XVI kept saying that homosexuals are deviant. They're not deviant. They're deviant only if you say that anyone who is different from me… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
I find it fascinating that Paul [the apostol], writing to the Galatians, responds to the question, "What does it mean to live in Christ?"… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share
