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Jesus for the Non-Religious

By: John Shelby Spong
Narrated by: John Shelby Spong, Alan Sklar
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Publisher's Summary

Writing from his prison cell in Nazi Germany in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German theologian, sketched a vision of what he called "Religionless Christianity". In this book, John Shelby Spong puts flesh onto the bare bones of Bonhoeffer's radical thought. The result is a strikingly new and different portrait of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jesus for the non-religious.

Spong challenges much of the traditional understanding, from the tale of Jesus' miraculous birth to the account of his cosmic ascension into the sky. He questions the historicity of the ideas that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he had 12 disciples, or that the miracle stories were ever meant to be descriptions of supernatural events. He also speaks directly to those critics of Christianity who call God a "delusion" and who describe Christianity as having become evil and destructive.

Spong invites listeners to examine Jesus in the context of both the Jewish scriptures and the liturgical life of the first-century synagogue. He proposes a new way of understanding the divinity of Christ as the ultimate dimension of a fulfilled humanity. Jesus for the Non-Religious may finally bring the pious and the secular into a meaningful dialogue, opening the door to a living Christianity in the post-Christian world.
©2007 John Shelby Spong (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers
Christian Living
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Profile Image for David

A new book of Revelation

Love Spong's work. The first part of the book with his exposition of Biblical 'errancy' illuminating. Every book of the Bible was written at various times of history and claims of direct divine intervention for any of it is dubious to say the least. Reading the first part you are left questioning what sort of faith or belief survives for the good bishop. Yet it does. He takes what I call the best humanitarian aspects of the Gospels - a message that empowers us all to live better lives in harmony with our neighbours and that doesn't require miracles or fear of a reprehensibly vicious God. Love and mercy wins the day. Particularly enjoyed the poem in the last chapter summarising one of his sermons.

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Profile Image for Camraid

Tough on the stories of the new testament

I felt the author was a bit too tough on organised religion, and overly critical on the stories of the new testament and Christianity itself, drilling them needlessly hard. The narration however is excellent. I wouldn't recommend this book if you have spirituality and don't want to take a beating, but if you are completely devoid and atheist to the core, this might help you understand Jesus as a man.

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