Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World
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"Bishop Spong has built a much-needed bridge between the academy and the pews. Pulsing beneath his brilliant, thought-provoking, passionate book is this question: Can Christianity survive the education of its believers?--a question he answers with a resounding yes."--Sarah Sentilles, Author of Breaking Up with God: A Love Story
Product Description
For over 200 years, scholars have been debating, analyzing, and exploring one of the most important books ever written - The Bible - and overturning much of what we know about this sacred library of books. However, a large group of people who actually use this book, mainly lay Christians, aren't aware of this larger, deeper conversation. It is for these people that Spong writes "Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World", a primer on the history and significance of the Bible. In this informal and accessible survey, Spong will move book by book through the Scriptures, introducing their themes and messages by examining the sweep of history in which these books were originally written. What has history taught us? How should we read these stories today? What does it mean for how we live our lives? And why do people tenaciously hold on to so many myths associated with the Bible? There is a vast audience of religiously hungry people eager to explore a meaningful journey into the Bible, and Spong is leading the way with this book.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I love John Spong's books, and this one is a very good introduction to all the books of the Bible, helping us to appreciate them and be inspired by them without being oppressed by the need to believe everything in them. Unfortunately, it lets itself down in places with some silly mistakes that can only come from hasty writing. For example, in his imaginative re-telling of the story of David and Bathsheba (p 73) he says that the reader is not told that Bathsheba was a married woman until after we hear of her pregnancy: this is not so. On page 190 he says that Lamentations comes before Jeremiah, though he has rightly said earlier on the same page that it comes after Jeremiah. He also refers to Jairus (p 279) as 'a Gentile', though the text says he was one of the leaders of the synagogue (or am I missing something?).
I also find rather irritating his anachronistic references to 'Jews'. He refers to Abraham as the founder of the Jewish nation (p 21), and to the kingdom of Israel as 'a Jewish state' that traced its Jewish roots primarily back to Joseph (p 26). This is probably deliberate simplification, but in my opinion it is over-simplification. The 'Jews' were the people of Judah, who claimed descent from Jacob's son Judah. There is no way Judah's great-grandfather or his brothers could be Jews. Even in an introduction to the Bible meant for lay people, to explain the difference between 'Israelites' and 'Jews' is surely not too complicated.
Spong's relating of the form of the Synoptic Gospels to the annual round of synagogue worship is interesting, but not always well explained. I simply could not follow what he was saying about the Sermon on the Mount being a commentary on the Beatitudes in inverse order, in spite of his calling it 'a perfect fit' (p 332).
So thank you, Bishop Spong. Carry on giving us the benefit of your bold theology and fascinating insights, but please take a bit more time to explain yourself, and maybe get yourself a better proof-reader.
I also find rather irritating his anachronistic references to 'Jews'. He refers to Abraham as the founder of the Jewish nation (p 21), and to the kingdom of Israel as 'a Jewish state' that traced its Jewish roots primarily back to Joseph (p 26). This is probably deliberate simplification, but in my opinion it is over-simplification. The 'Jews' were the people of Judah, who claimed descent from Jacob's son Judah. There is no way Judah's great-grandfather or his brothers could be Jews. Even in an introduction to the Bible meant for lay people, to explain the difference between 'Israelites' and 'Jews' is surely not too complicated.
Spong's relating of the form of the Synoptic Gospels to the annual round of synagogue worship is interesting, but not always well explained. I simply could not follow what he was saying about the Sermon on the Mount being a commentary on the Beatitudes in inverse order, in spite of his calling it 'a perfect fit' (p 332).
So thank you, Bishop Spong. Carry on giving us the benefit of your bold theology and fascinating insights, but please take a bit more time to explain yourself, and maybe get yourself a better proof-reader.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I have read many of Spong's books all of which have inspired a renewal in my faith and offered me a vision that appeals to my intellect and rationality. This book is of no exception and is potentially his best. In a methodical and incisive manner Spong moves through the books of the Bible offering insights into their history and context whilst at the same time maintaining his ability to captivate the reader with his eloquent writing style. I recommend it to the reader who is interested in understanding where the latest scholarly research has reached together with the reader who wants to grapple with humanity's struggle to understand who and what God is and where this struggle will lead us.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Bishop Spong is a man with a mission - to disabuse Christians and, in this case, non-Christians of old-fashioned ideas and replace them with something modern. This leads him in the case of this book to attempt a very ambitious layman-level introduction to the main books of the Bible, and its overall structure. For me the book does not really succeed in its objective; much of the introductory material is informed with a sort of quirkiness which results from Bishop Spong's evangelically unorthodox position. He has a theory, for instance, about the Jewish liturgical structure of the synoptic gospels which is interesting but does not give any notion of the broad field of interpretations that exists. That being said, this is an interesting and in its way admirable attempt to breath fresh air into an old subject.
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