Unbelievable, John Shelby Spong
Unbelievable, John Shelby Spong
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Unbelievable
Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today

Author: John Shelby Spong

Narrator: Bob Souer

Unabridged: 7 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/26/2018


Synopsis

Five hundred years after Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses ushered in the Reformation, bestselling author and controversial bishop and teacher John Shelby Spong delivers twelve forward-thinking theses to spark a new reformation to reinvigorate Christianity and ensure its future.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Christianity was in crisis—a state of conflict that gave birth to the Reformation in 1517. Enduring for more than 200 years, Luther's movement was then followed by a "revolutionary time of human knowledge." Yet these advances in our thinking had little impact on Christians' adherence to doctrine—which has led the faith to a critical point once again.

Spong contends that there is mounting pressure among Christians for a radically new kind of Christianity—a faith deeply connected to the human experience instead of outdated dogma. To keep Christianity vital, he urges modern Christians to update their faith in light of these advances in our knowledge, and to challenge the rigid and problematic Church teachings that emerged with the Reformation. There is a disconnect, he argues, between the language of traditional worship and the language of the twenty-first century. Bridging this divide requires us to rethink and reformulate our basic understanding of God.

About John Shelby Spong

John Shelby Spong, the Episcopal Bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000, has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard and at more than 500 other universities all over the world. His books, which have sold well over a million copies, include Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy; The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic; Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World; Eternal Life: A New Vision; Jesus for the Non-Religious, The Sins of Scripture, Resurrection: Myth or Reality?; Why Christianity Must Change or Die; and his autobiography, Here I Stand. Spong writes a weekly column on the web that reaches thousands of people all over the world. He lives with his wife, Christine, in New Jersey.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Carolyn on June 14, 2018

As a Religious Studies major at a Catholic university in the 1980s, I came to realize that theologians' understanding of religion diverges enormously from the popular understanding, which the powers that be don't think the congregants can handle. That is the primary reason this is sure to be a contr......more

Goodreads review by Josh on November 29, 2023

Spong is….. interesting. In some ways I love his willingness to cut through bs and just say what people mean. But on the other hand, I think he’s a bit much and a bit too American. His new vision for what Christianity must adapt to or die is a bit overstated, but he is right a lot of the time. He is......more

Goodreads review by Jon on January 18, 2019

Ever since my mother warned me of the “radical” bishop in New Jersey in 1980, I have admired Bishop Spong as an interpreter of Christian thought and as a champion of women and LGBT participation in the Episcopal Church. I have worked with him through my association with three different churches, as......more

Goodreads review by Robert on February 25, 2019

What kind of Christianity is left when much that has been traditionally affirmed is deemed "unbelievable"? John Shelby Spong, who has long been recognized as one of the most liberal Christian leaders offers his take on that question. On the cover of the book one will find a declaration attributed to......more

Goodreads review by Ray on February 26, 2018

As a reader of John Shelby Spong's other books, I thought this was a fitting culmination of his thoughts on the nature and future of the Christian religion. A caution to readers who fear radical theological thoughts: this book will only make you angry, so best to move on to something else. Our Sunda......more