I am trying to understand what it means to be a Christian without being religious. — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
It's almost inevitable that we become religious people. The question is, what kind of religion is it? — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The Bible Belt, the religious South, is the section of the country that practiced slavery until the war made them give it… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
I think human beings are almost, by definition, religious people,in the sense that we ask questions of meaning, we anticipate future events,… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Jesus becomes the captive of the hysterically religious, the chronically fearful, the insecure and even the neurotic among us, or he becomes… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I don't see Jesus as rescuing the fallen; I see Jesus as expanding the potential of life. The primary reason the old… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
We live in a very pluralistic society today. There are Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, atheists, Roman Catholics, Evangelical Christians, and Christians like me.… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
Theism, as a way of conceiving God, has become demonstrably inadequate, and the God of theism not only is dying but is… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I get letters every week from people who live in rural Texas or rural Mississippi and who feel totally alone. They feel… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
My hope is that a religious consciousness will begin to rise, one based on enhancing humanity, grasping life in all of its… — 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
