Religion Quotes by John Shelby Spong

Religion is a mixed blessing.

— John Shelby Spong

It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.

— John Shelby Spong

Oh the Christian church has encouraged enormous immaturity among the peoples who are its primary adherence.

— John Shelby Spong

I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious.

— John Shelby Spong

It's almost inevitable that we become religious people. The question is, what kind of religion is it?

— John Shelby Spong

So much organized religion, in my opinion, ends up being life-denying.

— John Shelby Spong

I think we have to recover our spiritual nature. The way we have interpreted Christianity does not do that.

— John Shelby Spong

Prayer cannot be a request made to a theistic deity to act in human history in a particular way.

— John Shelby Spong

The virgin birth, understood as literal biology, makes Christ's divinity, as traditionally understood, impossible.

— John Shelby Spong

The church is not going to survive if they are going to tell people that they have to twist their minds into…

— John Shelby Spong

There are some great values in Christianity, but I think the values are located more deeply in our humanity than they are…

— John Shelby Spong

All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. And that's where it turns demonic. Because that's when you…

— John Shelby Spong

The Bible tells me that every life is holy; the Bible tells me that every life is loved; the Bible tells me…

— John Shelby Spong

The ultimate meaning of the Bible escapes human limits and calls us to a recognition that every life is holy, every life…

— John Shelby Spong

The miracle stories of the New Testament can no longer be interpreted in a post-Newtonian world as supernatural events performed by an…

— John Shelby Spong

Apologetic explanations do not develop unless there is a reality that has to be explained and defended. Jesus was undeniably a figure…

— John Shelby Spong

The Jesus experience expanded people into a position where they didn't have to have defensive tribal lives, "God loves my people, my…

— John Shelby Spong

I never really liked the Gospel of John because I never could find the humanity of Jesus in it. I thought it…

— John Shelby Spong

The task of the church, for example, becomes less that of indoctrinating or relating people to an external divine power and more…

— John Shelby Spong

The 20th century was a turning point; it freed and emancipated women, broke the back of segregation, and began the struggle to…

— John Shelby Spong

...secular journalists... tend to accept uncritically the oft - repeated Evangelical Protestant and Conservative Roman Catholic definitions that the Bible is anti…

— John Shelby Spong

The God content of the past no longer sustains the contemporary spirit. We sense that our only hope is to journey past…

— John Shelby Spong

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

I could not believe that anyone who has read this book would be so foolish as to proclaim that the Bible in…

— John Shelby Spong

Some people in the church, like Martin Luther King, Jr., came out against segregation. But if you look at the bulk of…

— John Shelby Spong

Biblical higher criticism is preserved in the particular enclave of academic Christian scholarship and is thought to be too unfruitful to share…

— John Shelby Spong

A major function of fundamentalist religion is to bolster deeply insecure and fearful people. This is done by justifying a way of…

— John Shelby Spong

One of my great experiences in life was to be interviewed on a late-night talk show by a guy named Tom Snyder.…

— John Shelby Spong

My audience is made up of two groups of people. The first group includes people whose roots are deep in the Christian…

— John Shelby Spong

I began to read [Bible] as a critic, an in-house critic. So I got to a place where when I got to…

— John Shelby Spong

I do assert that one prepares for eternity not by being religious and keeping the rules, but by living fully, loving wastefully,…

— John Shelby Spong

True religion is not about possessing the truth. No religion does that. It is rather an invitation into a journey that leads…

— John Shelby Spong

The view of the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world is a barbarian idea based on primitive concepts…

— John Shelby Spong

The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new…

— John Shelby Spong

The priesthood in many ways is the ultimate closet in Western civilization, where gay people particularly have hidden for the past two…

— John Shelby Spong

As for the status of Western Christianity, we are in a place where our task is to redefine the primary symbols of…

— John Shelby Spong

I cannot say my yes to legends that have been clearly and fancifully created. If I could not move my search beyond…

— John Shelby Spong

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

The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.

— John Shelby Spong

I think the story of the Christian faith is how you can become more deeply and fully human, not how you can…

— John Shelby Spong