Benedict XVI kept saying that homosexuals are deviant. They're not deviant. They're deviant only if you say that anyone who is different… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
I go where I'm invited. And all I can tell you is if we accepted every invitation we had, I'd be away… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
Now, if Mary has an egg cell, then Jesus gets 50 percent of his genetic make up from his mother. And if… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
The Hebrew scriptures say it's okay to enslave anybody except your fellow Jews. It says you should enslave only your neighbors. I… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I still hope. I wouldn't be in this position if I didn't. I love the church. I love the Bible. But I… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The thing that intrigues me about Matthew is that I don't believe anybody would read it if they aren't Jewish and understand… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
The trouble is, the same thing that enabled us to survive evolution is also going to kill us, because in the final… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
...secular journalists... tend to accept uncritically the oft - repeated Evangelical Protestant and Conservative Roman Catholic definitions that the Bible is anti… — 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
Matthew is the only gospel that uses the Sermon on the Mount, for example, because that's the new Moses making a new… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
If you're going to live in a community, you have to refrain from killing one another and stealing from one another. You… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I think Jesus is a fact of history. I think a man named Jesus of Nazareth lived and was crucified. I think… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
If I want to put a Christmas tree in my yard, or three crosses for the crucifixion story, that's fine. But if… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
If the resurrection of Jesus cannot be believed except by assenting to the fantastic descriptions included in the Gospels, then Christianity is… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
When we unravel the theological tomes of the ages, the makeup of God becomes quite clear. God is a human being without… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
There's one other interesting thing about Western democracy. It didn't arrive at the end point that Karl Marx thought it would that… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I think the worst way to go is to have somebody think they speak for God. If you look at history, every… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
If you're really thinking prayer can stop rockets or bullets, you have to ask why some people do get hit by rockets… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
If you want to be a Roman Catholic scholar and write, you've got to write in such a way that nobody understands… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
One of my professors said to me once, "Any god that can be killed off will be killed, but if I can… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
I think if you're convinced that you're evil, and that God has had to rescue you, then the best you can be… — 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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
I want the traditional family upheld, but I don't want it upheld to the detriment of other people. — 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. There are… — John Shelby Spong Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
