John Shelby Spong

John Shelby Spong

Former Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Newark

"“On Faith”" panelist John Shelby Spong served as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2000. His books, seeking to make contemporary theology accessible to lay readers, have sold over a million copies. His latest book, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Discover the God of Love (2005), examines the holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition. A committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it, Spong has been a visiting lecturer at universities, Including Harvard, and churches worldwide, delivering more than 200 public lectures each year to standing-room only crowds. His best-selling books include Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, A New Christianity for a New World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand. Close.

John Shelby Spong

Former Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Newark

"On Faith" panelist John Shelby Spong served as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2000. His books, seeking to make contemporary theology accessible to lay readers, have sold over a million copies. more »

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Faithful Ask Smarter Questions

This question assumes that faith is related to external events and that believing means things will work out properly in the life of the believer. As such this question is a parody on both faith and life.

Life is not fair. It is full of cruelty and pain. Good people die young. Scoundrels live to ripe old age. Despots thrive, idealists perish.

Faith is not a good luck charm. Believing does not provide life insurance or assurance.

Faith means that we live in trust that God is life calling us to live, God is love calling us to love, and that God is the ground of Being giving us the courage to be all that we were meant to be. Faith means we do not engage in pious self-deception. It means that we walk boldly into the unknown. It means we transform the present with a vision of the reign of God.

Only worshipers of an idol of their own wish fulfillment could ask this particular question in the way it is posed. Only one who uses faith as a drug against reality could answer it in this form.

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