Posted on 04/12/2005 11:19:52 PM PDT by churchillbuff
O'Reilly has written a dustjacket blurb for Bishop Spong's new book: "The Sins of Scripture challenges Christians to look beyond the myths of their faith into the heart of the matter." I also got an email from a Spong-promoting outfit that says O'Reilly will have Spong on his show.
Here's the Publishers Weekly review on amazon:
Spong, a retired Episcopal bishop and prominent spokesperson for liberal Christianity, focuses this book on "terrible texts" which have been used to justify such "sins" as overbreeding, degradation of the environment, sexism, child abuse and anti-Semitism. These biblical texts, according to Spong, are not the incontrovertible Word of God, but flawed human responses to perceived threats. An incendiary example of this is Spong's assertion that Paul was a closeted gay man whose anti-gay statements were motivated by little more than his own self-loathing. Spong does not stop there; in the course of the book he suggests that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married; that none of the supernatural events described in the Bible took place (including the resurrection); and that theism itself is a misunderstanding of God. Interestingly, readers who do not endorse Spong's radical reinterpretation of Christianity will still find much in this book they can affirm. His explanation of the roots of Christian anti-Semitism is fascinating and much less challenging to orthodoxy than many of his other claims. Unfortunately, Spong leads with his weakest section, which features a variety of poorly constructed arguments claiming, but giving inadequate evidence for, a strong causal relationship between biblical injunctions and both overpopulation and environmental problems. Nonetheless, this absorbing book has much to offer readers of all persuasions.
In speaking of his immortal soul, he'll not have fallen through the ice until he's died, as I understand it.
BTW, I don't understand how any Christian could remain in the Episcopal church these days..
That's the correct term, and on the whole, what BOR is saying is a
grotesquely distorted understanding of Roman Catholic dogma.
According to BOR there is some tenet by which people are saved by works. He has mentioned it by name a couple of times but I havent ever been able to comprehend what he said.
A person like Spong has a very hard heart. He's very deceived, so deceived it's sad. Only a 100,000 volt ZOT from God wakes up these people. I pity him and actually am afraid for anyone related to him because sometimes innocent people suffer for someone's disobedience (like King David's little baby).
I saw an interview once on TV with a nun who worked in Sunset Park. She provided family services, etc. She said something that always stuck with me, something to the effect of, "I never judge the people I work with. We're all born broken and look to God to make us whole."
I really liked that attitude.
It seems more correct to say that all men have fallen through the ice, but they may be saved if they grab the lifeline before they die.
Anybody catch o'reilley sucking up to al sharpton tonight? Pretty pathetic even for the bloviator.
True enough. I won't bicker. My 'ice' was faith in Jesus as He is revealed in the Gospel.
A lot of Christians might go there to evangelize, lol :o)
Let me guess. He really believes Al Sharpton didn't cheat on his taxes right!
I agree with all of it, but this part is especially good.
I understand.
Tawana lost the quarterly tax deposit.
Well, the above article seems to imply that the Bible is not only not true, it's detrimental. The problem with a person's own "relationship" to God, is there is no objective criteria. Charles Manson, for example, had his own ideas about his own personal relationship with God, and without objective criteria, how can anyone say it is less valid than another?
Kinda like that. He called Rev. Al a "standup guy", and said that whoever "leaked" this story was the real bad guy.
Wow how sad. those of us that live in NY know what a BS artist Sharpton is.
It's a free country. People can and should believe whatever they want (just as long as they don't annoy me). Faith is a highly personal kind of deal, but I'm always wary of those who claim to know God's will. Mostly because right after telling you that they either:
A)Want to persecute some poor slob or group of poor slobs.
B)Ask for money.
I'm so tired of so called "scholars" proclaiming that certain biblical figures and great men of history were gay!
Paul was gay, Abe was gay.....and these men aren't around to defend themselves. It's as if these "authors" are trying to bring these people down to their own degenerate level. How sick.
And shame on you, Bill. I thought you were a reasonably intelligent person. Boy was I wrong.
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