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Review Summary: A challenging read! |
Date: 2003-06-24 |
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Details: This is one of the poorest attempts at finding the Historical Jesus ever written, which is why it is so amazing! How did he ever get it published?! If he were not touting his title as "bishop", I doubt the publisher would have seen any value in it. The scholarship is seriously flawed, and the book that I recommend in its place will show why.
I confess-- I have something in common with most of the Rt. Rev. Spong's fans. Like them, I've read very little of what he's written. (For example, "Can A Bishop Be Wrong" has two five-star reviews from Spong fans who are under the impression that Spong wrote this book-- apparently, they feel comfortable praising Spong's work sight-unseen).
Don't get me wrong. I've tried to read Spong. But, alas, the Rt. Rev. S. is a ghastly writer. After a while, the charms of Spong's writing-- his relentless self-congratulation, his presenting of hackneyed 19th-century pop-biblical-criticism as his own daring innovation, his use of the passive voice to hide sweeping and questionable assertions ("...there is surprise at how insignificant were the theological issues dividing the two sides [of the Reformation]"), his utter lack of a sense of humor, his unforgivably poor skill with words-- begin to pall. I haven't yet met someone who can read an entire chapter of Spong at one sitting.That's where another book comes in handy- "Can a Bishop Be Wrong?". The authors don't exhaustively categorize the intellectual sins of the Rt. Rev. Spong-- such a task could never be worth the trees killed. But they provide a good survey of his looking-glass kingdom. "Can A Bishop Be Wrong" isn't a work of Christian apologetics, because it doesn't have to be. Spong's main contention-- the foundation of all his work-- is his claim that no intelligent person of the twentieth century can be an orthodox Christian. To respond, one doesn't have to prove Christianity-- one just has to provide a counterexample. This book categorizes his errors and logical lapses with admirable thoroughness. Not an exhaustive thoroughness, to be sure, but sufficient to the silly task at hand. This book has its flaws. As others have noted, it is a collection of essays, and they repeat some of the same points over and over. The authors sometimes let Spong goad them into anger. And they don't argue much against Spong's theological outlook-- but since Spong's outlook is just rehashed nineteenth-century "modernism", you can find plenty of orthodox arguments against heavier intellectual forces than Spong. (Try Chesterton's _The_Everlasting_Man_, for starters.) This book has a limited market. Spong's fans will not be moved by what they read here, if they were inclined to try reading it. But to the traditional theist of whatever religion, who wonders whether he ought to read Spong and find out what all the fuss is about, this book offers a strong and well-reasoned answer: "Nope." |
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Review Summary: Refreshing and insightful |
Date: 2003-03-30 |
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Details: If you have read the other reviews, you already know that Bishop Spong quckly sets aside the literal "Christmas Story" and the "Virgin Birth" in this book. Much more intersting to me, however, was his careful tracing of the crafting of what we know today as the "Christmas Story" in the order the various references were written, starting with Paul (I didn't realize his account was written earlier than the gospels).
The core of this book is Bishop Spong's combination of the few clues in the Bible with the intellectual and political currents of the day in the early church, and how they effected the moulding of the traditions we know today as the "Christmas Story" and the "Virgin Birth".
When he has finished his interesting analysis, he then adds a final chapter to discuss how he feels the developing concept of the "purity of Mary" has influenced the state of women in the centuries since, to the present day. While this is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the book, it builds on the lessons of the previous chapters, and opens up the possibility of dialog on the subject.
There is no question that this book has and will offend many Christians, but for those who are intellectually curious and like to think "out of the box", this book is a treat. |
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Review Summary: [...] Devil Incarnate? |
Date: 2003-01-07 |
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Details: [...]P>As any one who has studied the Bible knows, Satan is the chief liar, and uses lies to separate people from God. Satan is no doubt extremely pleased when he can get a "man of God" to propagate his lies for him. [...], we are saved by our faith in God. Being a Christian involves faith in God, and Christ His son as being divine. The first step that Satan takes his getting people to doubt or completely reject the divinity of Christ and God.[...] |
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Review Summary: A rational look at the Incarnation |
Date: 2000-12-20 |
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Details: Much of the time I feel that I am exactly the kind of person that Christians love to hate, in that I find it very hard to disconnect my brain and accept uncritically things that are clearly at variance with reality. It was therefore a huge relief to find a theologian (and a Bishop!) who espoused the same doubts as myself, and who didn't see anything wrong with rationalism, or even being an intellectual. If Christianity is to survive it needs more people like Bishop Spong. The book brings a reasoned, historical and thoughtful approach to bear on the issue of the Incarnation and comes to an interesting conclusion that salvages much of the mystery and majesty of Christ, while ditching the myth. It will be challenging reading for traditionalists, but they should not find their faith damaged. If anything their faith should be deepened by the removal of mythological crutches. For doubters the book should be a revelation, and make Christianity look rather more attractive. |
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Review Summary: If you like to "pray, pay and obey," read something else |
Date: 2000-11-05 |
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Details: The interest in this book goes beyond the extended title, which many will read and mistake for a feminist text with an ax to grind. In fact the entire way in which the bible has been presented to the masses will be turned on its head for the uninitiated reader. It is not that what is discussed in this book is a secret to biblical scholars of any major Christian subsect. However, such studies do not reach the level of the masses and most parish priests are either ignorant of these findings, or they (and almost certainly their parishoners) are more comfortable with the 1700+ year old fixed doctrine of the major churches. If you are content with the "opium of the people," do not read this book or any others by the author. If you are seriously interested in the evolution of the christian church and thought, and in figuring out that the whole thing is really all about, don't miss it. |
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out of 20 Reviews
