Jesus for the Non-Religious

This was a wonderful book in which John Shelby Spong—retired bishop and active (at the time of this writing) reformer—delves into the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth and provides a framework for understanding Jesus's philosophy in the post-Darwin era. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the historical Jesus and the Judaic roots of the New Testament.

This is an excellent book for anyone to read who is interested in learning how Christianity developed into the religion it is today. His arguments are well thought out and to the point and he raises some very pertinent questions that anyone who considers themselves to be a Christian should be asking. His views on what Christianity is meant to be are both fascinating and believable and his predictions of where this religion is headed are sound. He brings the man, Jesus,to life in this work and he brings an understanding to what his life really meant and what his death really meant too. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Spong has always been excellent at critiquing the errors and problems in traditional, especially fundamentalist, Christianity. What I liked most about this book is that he gives an alternative understanding of Jesus at the end of the book. While he often repeats points excessively, I found his arguments convincing and scholarly. Digging through and discarding the centuries of Christian orthodoxy and dogma to find the truly revolutionary core of Jesus is well worth the effort. Spong's view of the real Jesus is the one that makes the most sense to me. It is intelligent, moral, and inspirational and doesn't require ignoring or denying 21st century knowledge. The true message of Jesus is not unique to Jesus nor does it require the authority of Jesus. In addition to Christians, it can be embraced by freethinkers, humanists, agnostics, atheists, and most faith traditions. But if Christianity is to survive in our modern world, this book could restore its wisdom and relevance. I would recommend it to anyone.

The title of this book does not convey its thrust very well. I think that "Christianity for the Twenty-first Century" would have been a better choice. (Note: if you are a bible literalist, this book and this review are not for you.) In this book Bishop Spong continues his exploration of the meaning of Jesus for modern people. His message is that you can believe in science and rationalism without having to abandon Christianity. For example, on p. xii he says, "God and truth cannot be incompatible," and on p. 215, "So theism can die without God dying." The heading for the first part is "Separating the Human Jesus from the Myth," where "myth" is to be taken in its best definition as a meaningful story that is the basis for a belief system. He then goes through many chapters separating the human teacher from the christology, rather successfully, I believe. If there is a weakness to his book, it is that his statement of what is left for a modern belief system could have been made stronger. I would have liked to have seen more on the idea of acting on the message of Jesus: help for the poor, the sick, and the down-troddened.

Tired of Bible-thumpers, door-to-door evangelists and televangelists? Ashamed to call yourself a Christian because people will think you're a bigoted know-nothing? Do you have a deep attachment to the man Jesus but wouldn't be caught dead in a church? Well, take hope! Jack Spong has thrown religious clutter overboard in this exciting new book and allowed people of the 21st century to see the wonder and awe which Jesus' original followers must have experienced in his presence. Not superman just a super man! In the first third of the book, Spong, dismantles all the man-made supernatural rubbish layered on the human Jesus. The reasons why the early Church did these things are many and varied but "modern" scholars, over the past 150 years or so, now know that things like the virgin birth and bodily resurrection were NOT things that the earliest followers of Jesus would have recognized as having anything to do with what Jesus was about. The middle third of the book focuses on how and why the original evangelists made Jesus look like the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy and/or a figure of importance like Moses or David. Most of us read this stuff in the Bible and just assume that it's "history" but once again, Spong points out that modern scholarship recognizes this as interpretive material to make Jesus the next logical step for Jews and eventually Gentiles in God's "plan" for us. The final third of the book is really the pinnacle of Spong's thinking regarding where people of a spiritual inclination (Christian or otherwise) can go with this de-mythologized human Jesus. We don't need to grovel before a God and thank a God for getting Jesus killed so that in some bizzare way we think/believe that Jesus' blood washes away "original sin" that most of us don't even think/know we've got! Rather we, like the original followers of Jesus, need to see something "God-like" in the way in which Jesus lived and died. If, as Spong argues, God can provisionally be described as "the source of love, the source of life, and the ground of being" then in Jesus we have seen someone who loves wastefully, enhances being and exhorts us to live fully. This is not just some New Age bumper sticker. This is a challenge for all of us to follow in Jesus' footsteps and create the world that we know God would want. Confronting injustice, corrupt power and killing prejudice can get us crucified, too - but that is the path of Jesus. Don't bother reading this book if you're a "born again" Christian - it'll just make you mad and confuse you. But, if, like me, you see beauty and richness in the Christian tradition and the man Jesus DESPITE all of the ugliness of institutional religion (now and in the past) this book is a MUST read. Highly recommended.

Bishop Spong puts forth a case for a new Christianity for a new age. With the current Christian Right Wing of our society, manipulating government, preying on fears, espousing Jesus Christ and their narrow doctrine as the only genuine faith; we need a voice of reason, intellect and enlightenment. Bishop Spong steps out where other clerics dare to tread. I highly recommend this book for all people who have doubts and are seeking a path where they can embrace faith, find a sound doctrine and live a life that Jesus intended. I am on my second reading as while it is very readable, the case and research is voluminous and difficult to absorb at one reading.