John Shelby "Jack" Spong (June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, he served as the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, from 1979 to 2000. Spong was a liberal Christian theologian and author who called for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.

He held progressive and controversial views on Christianity, including rejection of traditional Christian doctrines, his advocacy for LGBTQ rights, and his support for interfaith dialogue. Spong was a contributor to the Living the Questions DVD program and was a guest on numerous national television broadcasts. Spong died on September 12, 2021, at his home in Richmond, Virginia, at the age of 90.

Early life

John Shelby Spong was born on June 16, 1931, in Charlotte, North Carolina. After his father died when he was 12 years old, Spong began to attend an Episcopal church, finding a mentor in its rector Robert Crandall, and leading him to reinterpret and become more deeply involved in his faith.

Career

Spong was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 1955.

Spong was the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark from 1979 to 2000. He was a leader of the church's liberal wing. Spong held visiting positions and gave lectures at major American theological institutions, most prominently at Harvard Divinity School. He retired in 2000. As a retired bishop, he was a member of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops.

During a speaking tour in Australia in 2001, Spong was banned by Peter Hollingworth, the Archbishop of Brisbane, from speaking at churches in the diocese. The tour coincided with Hollingworth leaving the diocese to become the Governor-General of Australia. Hollingworth said that it was not an appropriate moment for Spong to "engage congregations in matters that could prove theologically controversial". After Spong's book Jesus for the Non-Religious was published in 2007, Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, banned Spong from preaching at any churches in his diocese. By contrast, Phillip Aspinall, the Primate of Australia, invited Spong in 2007 to deliver two sermons at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. In a 2013 interview, Spong credited the Anglican bishop John Robinson as his mentor in this journey and said reading Robinson's writings in the 1960s led to a friendship and mentoring relationship with him over many years.

A recipient of many awards, Spong was a contributor to the Living the Questions DVD program and was a guest on numerous national television broadcasts (including The Today Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Dateline, 60 Minutes, and Larry King Live).

Spong received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Virginia Theological Seminary and Saint Paul's College, Virginia, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Muhlenberg College. In 1999, he was awarded the Humanist of the Year award by the American Humanist Association.

Beliefs

Spong's views on the Bible, God, and Jesus Christ challenged traditional Christian beliefs. Elaborating on this last idea, he affirmed that Jesus was adopted by God as his son, and he says that this would be the way God was fully incarnated in Jesus Christ.

Spong was a proponent of the church reflecting the changes in society at large. Towards these ends, he called for a new Reformation, in which many of Christianity's basic doctrines should be reformulated.

Spong debated Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig on the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus on March 20, 2005.

Views on inclusion of women and LGBT people

Spong advocated for expanding the role of women in the church. He was one of the first American bishops to ordain a woman into the clergy, in 1977,

Writings

Spong's writings relied on Biblical and non-Biblical sources and were influenced by modern critical analysis of these sources. whom he called his favorite theologian. In A New Christianity for a New World, Spong argued for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from Theism and outlined his ideas for doctrinal changes within Christianity in the modern world. In Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Spong challenged the literal interpretation of the Bible and argued for a more nuanced approach to scripture; he also argued that St. Paul was homosexual, a theme that was satirized in Gore Vidal's novel Live from Golgotha.

Spong's influence on the theological debate can be seen in the work of other theologians, such as Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Karen Armstrong, who also challenged traditional Christian beliefs and called for a more inclusive and progressive faith.

Personal life and death

In 1955, Spong married Joan Lydia Ketner. She died in 1988. In 1990, Spong married Christine Mary Bridger. Spong had five children.

Publications

  • 1973 – Honest Prayer,
  • 1974 – This Hebrew Lord,
  • 1975 – Christpower,
  • 1975 – Dialogue: In Search of Jewish-Christian Understanding (co-authored with Rabbi Jack Daniel Spiro),
  • 1976 – Life Approaches Death: A Dialogue on Ethics in Medicine
  • 1977 – The Living Commandments,
  • 1980 – The Easter Moment,
  • 1983 – Into the Whirlwind: The Future of the Church,
  • 1986 – Beyond Moralism: A Contemporary View of the Ten Commandments (co-authored with Denise G. Haines, Archdeacon),
  • 1987 – Consciousness and Survival: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into the Possibility of Life Beyond Biological Death (edited by John S. Spong, introduction by Claiborne Pell),
  • 1987 A Plea for Inclusive Catholicity
  • 1988 – Living in Sin? A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality,
  • 1991 – Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture,
  • 1992 – Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus,
  • 1994 – Resurrection: Myth or Reality? A Bishop's Search for the Origins of Christianity,
  • 1996 – Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes,
  • 1999 – Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile,
  • 2001 – Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love and Equality,
  • 2002 – God in Us: A Case for Christian Humanism (with Anthony Freeman),
  • 2002 – A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being Born,
  • 2005 – The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love,
  • 2007 – Jesus for the Non-Religious,
  • 2009 – Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell,
  • 2011 – Re-claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World,
  • 2013 – The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic,
  • 2016 – Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy,
  • 2018 – Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today,

References