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    Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World

    Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World

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    by John Shelby Spong

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      ISBN-13: 9780062098696
    • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
    • Publication date: 11/08/2011
    • Sold by: HARPERCOLLINS
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 432
    • File size: 1 MB

    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. He writes a weekly column on the web that reaches thousands of people all over the world. To join his online audience, go to www.JohnShelbySpong.com. He lives with his wife, Christine, in New Jersey.

    Table of Contents

    Preface xi

    Part I Setting the Stage: Posing the Problem

    1 Examining the Bible's Mystique 3

    Part II The Formation of the Torah

    2 Breaking Open the Books of Moses 21

    3 The Yahwist Document: The Original Narrative 29

    4 The Elohist Document: The Torah Expands 37

    5 The Deuteronomic Writers: The Third Strand of the Torah 45

    6 The Priestly Document: The Fourth Strand of the Torah 51

    Part III The Rise of the Prophets

    7 The Transitional Books: Joshua, Judges and Samuel 63

    8 The Story of Nathan: All Are Subject to the Law 71

    9 I and II Kings, Elijah and Elisha: Step Two in the Prophetic Tradition 77

    Part IV Introducing the Writing Prophets

    10 The Prophetic Principle: Ancient and Modern 85

    11 The Isaiahs I, II and III 91

    12 Jeremiah: Prophet of Doom 105

    13 Ezekiel: Prophet of the Exile 111

    14 Daniel: Misplaced but Potent 117

    Part V The Minor Prophets: The Book of the Twelve

    15 Hosea: The Prophet Who Changed God's Name to Love 125

    16 Amos: The Prophet Who Changed God's Name to Justice 131

    17 Micah: The Prophet Who Turned Liturgy into Life 137

    18 Jonah: Definer of Prejudice 143

    19 I and II Zechariah: Shapers of the Jesus Story 149

    20 Malachi: The Dawn of Universalism 155

    Part VI The Bible's Protest Literature

    21 Job: Icon of a New Consciousness 163

    22 Ruth: The Myth of Racial Purity 169

    Part VII Liturgical Books and Wisdom Literature

    23 The Book of Psalms 177

    24 Wisdom Literature: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon 183

    25 Lamentations and Esther: Books Designed for Liturgical Observances 189

    26 The Chronicler, Ezra and Nehemiah: National Mythmakers 195

    Part VIII Introducing the Christian Scriptures, Commonly Called the New Testament

    27 A New Beginning-An Old Theme 203

    28 Dating the Historical Jesus 209

    29 Dating the New Testament in Relation to the Life of Jesus 215

    30 The Oral Period 221

    Part IX Paul: The First New Testament Writer

    31 The Witness of Paul 229

    32 Paul's Secret Thorn 235

    33 Paul's Early Epistles: I Thessalonians and Galatians 241

    34 The Corinthian Letters 247

    35 Resurrection According to Paul 253

    36 Resurrection Through Jewish Eyes 259

    37 Romans: The Gospel of Paul 265

    38 The Theology of Paul as Revealed in Romans 271

    39 Who Is Christ for Paul? The Gospel in Romans 277

    40 The Elder Paul: Philemon and Philippians 283

    41 Post-Pauline Epistles: II Thessalonians, Colossians and Ephesians 289

    Part X The Synoptic Gospels

    42 Exploring Mark: The Original Gospel 297

    43 Mark's Use of Synagogue Worship Patterns 303

    44 Mark's First Narrative of the Crucifixion: A Passover Format 309

    45 Matthew: The Most Jewish Gospel 317

    46 Matthew's Interpretive Secret 323

    47 Matthew and the Liturgical Year of the Synagogue 329

    48 Luke: Moving Toward the Gentile World 333

    49 Luke's Vision of Universalism 339

    50 Acts: The Spirit That Embraces the World and Drives Toward Wholeness 347

    51 Paul and Early Christians as Viewed Through Acts 353

    Part XI The Pastoral Epistles, Hebrews and the General Epistles

    52 I and II Timothy and Titus: "We Have the Truth!" 361

    53 The Epistle to the Hebrews 367

    54 The General Epistles: James, I and II Peter and Jude 373

    Part XII The Johannine Corpus

    55 Introducing the Johannine Material 381

    56 The Gospel of John: Not a Literal Book 387

    57 The Raising of Lazarus and the Identity of the Beloved Disciple 393

    58 The Epilogue of John 399

    59 The Johannine Epistles and the Book of Revelation 405

    Bibliography 411

    What People are Saying About This

    Andrew D. Scrimgeour

    “A master teacher and story teller, Spong brings the best of current scholarship to free the books of the Bible from Sunday School naïveté and literalistic interpretations. The result is an introduction to the Bible that will engage readers who no longer sit in church pews.”

    Gregory C. Jenks

    “A masterful reading of these texts that have shaped the Western world. This book is filled with insights from a lifetime of deep engagement with Scripture. Highly recommended!”

    Sarah Sentilles

    “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.”

    Katie Ford

    “In Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World, Spong offers a way for critical and curious readers to discover the exquisite and profound ways the Bible can, in fact, lead towards abundant life. After a decade of feeling banished by the Bible, I am now drawn back.”

    Fred C. Plumer

    “Bishop Spong’s newest book is not only for the ‘non-religious’ but it will find its way into churches, study groups, seminaries and the seekers. This book should renew a sincere interest in the biblical story that for too long has been lost in our corporate ignorance.”

    David Felten & Jeff Procter-Murphy

    “If your addiction is the shallow, narrow, literal interpretation of the Bible doled out by most churches, then you need an intervention. Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religous World is like a treatment center in a box.”

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    In Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World, bishop and social activist John Shelby Spong argues that 200 years of biblical scholarship has been withheld from lay Christians. In this brilliant follow-up to Spong’s previous books Eternal Life and Jesus for the Non-Religious, Spong not only reveals the crucial truths that have long been kept hidden from the public eye, but also explores what the history of the Bible can teach us about reading its stories today and living our lives for tomorrow.

    Sarah Sentilles, author of Breaking Up With God: A Love Story, applauds John Shelby Spong’s Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World, writing that “pulsing beneath his brilliant, thought-provoking, passionate book is this question: can Christianity survive the education of its believers?…A question Bishop Spong answers with a resounding yes.”

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    Publishers Weekly
    Episcopal bishop Spong, author of more than 20 books, may be retired, but he hasn’t stopped. His newest grows from a series of summer lectures that clue the people in the pews on the kinds of topics biblical scholars discuss among themselves: for example, biblical characters such as Judas and Joseph, Jesus’ earthly dad, appear to be literary creations. Everybody who hasn’t abruptly left the room on hearing it suggested that the Bible may not be literally true is in for a wonderful ride as Spong tours Christianity’s sacred text, leaving little unexamined and demythologized as he urges Christians to grow up and take the Bible seriously—just not literally. Spong’s arguments aren’t new, but he has the gift and motivation for making biblical scholarship accessible; he writes with charity and clarity. His fans will want this for Bible study groups; his detractors may simply decide that Spong, still unwelcome and still here, is being his heretical self once again. (Nov.)
    Reverend - David Felten & Jeff Procter-Murphy
    "If your addiction is the shallow, narrow, literal interpretation of the Bible doled out by most churches, then you need an intervention. Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religous World is like a treatment center in a box."
    Gregory C. Jenks
    A masterful reading of these texts that have shaped the Western world. This book is filled with insights from a lifetime of deep engagement with Scripture. Highly recommended!
    Sarah Sentilles
    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.
    Katie Ford
    In Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World, Spong offers a way for critical and curious readers to discover the exquisite and profound ways the Bible can, in fact, lead towards abundant life. After a decade of feeling banished by the Bible, I am now drawn back.
    Rev. David Felten & Rev. Jeff Procter-Murphy
    If your addiction is the shallow, narrow, literal interpretation of the Bible doled out by most churches, then you need an intervention. Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religous World is like a treatment center in a box.
    Andrew D. Scrimgeour
    A master teacher and story teller, Spong brings the best of current scholarship to free the books of the Bible from Sunday School naïveté and literalistic interpretations. The result is an introduction to the Bible that will engage readers who no longer sit in church pews.
    Fred C. Plumer
    Bishop Spong’s newest book is not only for the ‘non-religious’ but it will find its way into churches, study groups, seminaries and the seekers. This book should renew a sincere interest in the biblical story that for too long has been lost in our corporate ignorance.
    Booklist
    Spong here achieves what may be his most reader friendly, helpful book . . . a wonderful, illuminating adjunct to anyone’s Bible study.
    Kirkus Reviews
    Tiring attack on the "ancient, sacred, and mythological book we call the Bible." Though former Episcopal bishop Spong (Eternal Life: A New Vision, 2009, etc.) claims to have had a "longtime love affair" with the Bible, it is hard to see that in this book-by-book attack upon the Old and New Testaments. The author makes it clear that he sees the Bible as at best a collection of heavily edited myths and allegories, at worst an outright lie. Spong's stated purpose of introducing modern higher criticism of the Bible to ordinary readers seems laudable, but he fails to pull it off. He does not effectively introduce biblical criticism to those who might actually believe the Bible. Instead of building a bridge of understanding, he challenges readers to leap across a canyon from ignorance to enlightenment. Spong shows no interest in compromise; rather, he judges as deluded or silly those readers who believe that anything in the Bible is literal or based on historical fact. The author doesn't seem to comprehend or care that the world is far from "non-religious," and his book is geared toward those who are already at the cusp of disbelief. Though many of his ideas are already well-known arguments, Spong also includes theories of his own--e.g., the Apostle Paul was "a deeply repressed gay man"; basically nothing in the Gospel of John should be taken literally. The author is so lost in refuting scripture that he has forgotten what that scripture's tie to real people even is. Once intriguingly controversial, Spong is now tediously irrelevant.

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