Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile

To paraphrase Tony Curtis’ character in “Some Like it Hot,” John Shelby Spong is a genius—his opinions exactly coincide with mine. For years, decades in fact, I have been a "Christian in exile," but didn’t know it until reading "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." This book is a godsend (possibly literally) for people who have grown up in the Christian tradition and desperately believe in the holiness of the spirit and person of Jesus, but have found it impossible to reconcile contemporary rationality with a confusing and myth-filled explanation of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of a group of believers of two-thousand years ago. Bishop Spong lays out the difficulties with the Christian religion in the modern era, the sources of conflict and confusion, and suggests ways in which we believers can reconcile ourselves with the original intention of Jesus and still call ourselves Christians. Finally, we can know we are still following the faith even though we recognize mythology and allegory in the foundational writing and traditions of the faith. So far, I have only read one other book by Bishop Spong, "Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes; Freeing Jesus from 2,000 years of Misunderstanding," and I highly recommend it also to help the “Christian in exile” understand the beliefs and traditions of the authors of the Bible. Only by understanding the society and worldview of the authors can one understand the intention behind their words. Both books are written with the knowledge of a scholar and the craftsmanship of an artist of the English language. They are compelling, to the point, and beautifully written. Ideas are presented clearly, logically, and explained in a way that flows naturally and organically from one to the next. If you’re a fundamentalist, one who needs to understand the Bible literally, you will not find comfort in Bishop Spong’s ideas. But anyone else, whether “Christian in exile,” Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other faith, even atheist, will find these two books compelling and eye opening.

The most remarkable thing about this book is that an Episcopalian Bishop wrote it. Neither the ideas nor the (constructive) criticism are radical by today’s standard, only that the author was an Episcopalian bishop when he wrote it. I don’t mean to be dismissive of Spong’s effort, when it was initially published I think it was constructive and controversial, but now it’s old news. Nevertheless, I think it's worth reading because it will make you think. Since Spong published this book the decline in membership of the mainline protestant churches and the Catholic church has continued and even accelerated. The early Christian mantra was “the end is near”; well maybe it is but it’s not the end they had in mind. At some point the decline in membership translates to reduced giving, and when that intersects with “fixed costs” for facilities and clergy the whole thing starts collapsing. Regrettably, I don’t see Spong’s ideas for the way ahead, or how to resolve the crisis, as useful or particularly Christian. I know little about Buddism, but his ideas seem Buddistic to me. Unfortunately Google informs me that Buddist membership is declining in much the same way as Christian membership, so if a Buddistic approach to religion is the solution someone should tell the Buddists. This whole issue deserves a lot of clear thinking and frank discussion. Plainly there are major intellectual issues that need to be resolved. Spong has made a down payment in that regard. I think this book will stimulate your thinking and you may find yourself involved with the discussion as a result of reading it. And if you like Spong's book(s) you might also like to read Marcus Borg or Paul Tillich. I found Borg, in particular, to be very accessible - but still no plain and clear answers. The Amazon transaction was excellent.

The Preface gives a good overview of Spong's books up to 2000 and addresses his controversial reputation. The first chapter is spent debunking the Apostles Creed that is not emphasized much in mainstream Protestant churches. Chapter length decreases from 21 or 20 pages to an average of 15.5 pages for the interior chapters and they get increasingly more interesting and useful, following the intellectual, Western, reductionistic research model. A viable and beautiful alternative is given for the external, rescuing, literal, intervening God, calling heavily upon Paul Tillich's Ground of All Being. The logic and scriptural support for showing how Christian traditions were made more and more literal, concrete, external, narrative and supernatural the later the Gospels were written down and placed earlier in the life of Jesus, from Paul's first writings proclaiming Christ and then attempting to explain the proclamation in the words and concepts of the time, is impeccable. Spong shows how prayer, the church architecture, worship and concepts about God and the church have changed, are changing and will probably change in the future. Anyone trained in science has given up the three tiered universe, and the liturgies and concepts based upon it must and will change, according to Spong. Other topics that he addresses, but that did not interest me as much as the above or were seemingly not as well argued were exile, atheism, Jesus as rescuer, Jesus as a spirit person, divinity, and ethics. His last chapter on eternal life gave me the best hope and enthusiasm to keep on learning and trying to live abundantly that I have ever had. Well done! As a life long Episcopalian and powerful and influential Bishop, he cannot quite get away from dwelling extensively on the Eucharist (Mass), and admits that he still sings the hymns, says the creeds and repeats the words that he finds archaic and non-sensical, even from the revised Book of Common Prayer. You train up a child in the way you want it to go and it cannot easily break the mold. The Epilogue is the best piece of contemporary religious writing that I have ever read. Spong sees the church clinging to outmoded thought even to its death, but is hopeful that it will reemerge, "not to convert the world, but to call all who are also part of the creation into the fullness of life." Richard Buckner, Ph.D.

...and needs to speak directly to believers and doubters in the 21st century. Bishop Spong, an Episcopalian, preached for many years and wanted believers to think their faith through. He was never afraid to challenge old doctrine that no long spoke to today's congregants. I have marked this text, underlined passages, written observations and questions in the margins like an old professor (which I happen to be.) At one time, I told close friends at church, "If we can't question the relevance of our faith, is it worth having?" He may shock the reader, ask uncomfortable questions, but read along to the very end. With an open mind, I believe, in the end, the reader will find Spong's wonderful book a treasure.

Nobody writes quite like John Spong. Deep issues, to the point, non-exhaustive and user friendly. This book is an absolute GEM and favorite of mine, along with his 1992, "Rescuing The Bible From Fundamentalism." It is a book for those who do not walk within their limited neurotic safety nets of fundamental meanings and allows entrance into the insecurity of real life, to see the Spirit behind the Letter, that is, the ambiguous paradox of truth, far beyond the subjective, limited, narrow and exclusive view of both theism and traditional Christianity. Spong speaks like many mystics of old, such as Meister Eckhart, but even so, much more direct and to the point, as he has no church hierarchy waiting on the side to assassinate him or his character for speaking out against theological formulas and literal definitions that put barriers and conditions on both love and God. Objective truth and Spirit is an experience and not an explanation, as all explanation acts as a pointer to truth but is never able to adequately articulate that beyond human terms. Spongs' outline of who Christ was and is, is far more meaningful than any church and biblical literalist attempts to define, as they do not even come close to Spong's open and yet subjective perspective in acknowledgement of the literalist's inability to ever obtain objectivism in God, Christ and the meaning of life itself. What Spong recognizes is the power behind all: Love, that is: Love, Life and Being. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERY LIBRARY.

This book exactly expresses what I have believed since I was in my teens. I could never understand why God would set us up like bowling pins, only to knock us down if we didn't tow the line exactly the Bible is written, especially since it is written by common men, in their day and time, from their perspective. Bishop Spong totally gets why so many are disillusioned with stories written over two thousand years ago and how they can relate to us in this century and presents a new perspective on embracing the spirit of God. Excellent read, and I look forward to reading his other books.

For someone like me, who reached all the conclusions Spong does by the time he was in his teens, this book is unnecessary and redundant. His points are obvious to anyone who has a functioning brain and sees no reason to turn it off when entering a church. For those who believe (as far too many do) that being a "believer" by definition means accepting the impossible and embracing irrationality, the book will be useless. So one wonders at whom the book is aimed, just who will find it useful. It would be far more useful and inspiring to read a book that envisions just what a "new" Christianity would look like - which Spong does attempt in a later book.

Finally someone has written a book that shows some hope for a failing and sometimes desperate religion. So many so called "Christians" just don't get it. It's not about sin, guilt and condemnation based on 2000 year old ideas written by MEN not GOD-but it is about love, compassion, understanding and acceptance-qualties shown by a man named JESUS. Bishop Spong deserves credit for standing against the establishment that guilts people into going to church and acting on the ancient scriptures as though they are the literal breath of God himself. Bravo Bishop Spong-I am a better person for reading your book for you articulate what I have known in my heart for many years. A must read for anyone who dares to question more deeply our current system of religious beliefs and seek answers beyond the hell fire and damnation church of today. Fundametalists are destroying Christianity. A message to you, Jesus was a radical, not a Fundamentalist. I believe he would be ashmed of the the way these Fundamentalist attack so called "sinners" with threats of eternal punishment. READ THIS BOOK!

If Christianity stopped making sense to to you but you still have a conviction that there is a spiritual realm, this book will help you begin to live past the shackles of religion into a purer idea of who God is

Excellent book on the issues with modern Christianity and changes needed to become more relevant.

Excellent troubling thoughts brought to the forefront and examined with honesty. Yes God still lives in 2017 xxx thank you

Perfect. Our Minister read it, but will not change. He bosses God around, like in the Old Testament.

Excellent, thought provoking and stimulating. answering a lot of my questions, but not with easy answers!