And another:
RESCUING THE BIBLE FROM BISHOP SPONG, January 1, 2006
Well the old Bishop has struck again. This time he has donned his collar and priestly vestments, whipped out his pen and returned with a new volume to set us straight about the alleged errancy of Scripture. While he does make the odd point here and
there that shows some erudition, most of his writing shows ignorance towards understanding the Scriptures. He does not grasp the overall picture. Back to hermeneutics 101 for him.
Yes, there is a lot of violence and blood shed in the Old Testament, occasionally at God's instigation. And understandably, a person may get the wrong idea about it.
Including a few Christians who through the years may have taken these Scriptures out of context to justify questionable motives and excuse bad behavior. If Bishop Spong is looking at things from that point of view, then he should put the blame where it belongs - on those who have abused and misused God's word to justify their own misdeeds.
The reason there is a lot of blood shed in the Old Testament is because from sin comes death. And without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Put another way, there was a lot of wicked and detestable human behavior in the lives of some of the people and cultures living in Old Testament times. A Righteous and Holy God who is the holder and owner of this life demanded His revenge and His justice. He could not stand idly by and let this wicked behavior go unpunished. God wanted His
revenge and He took it - sometimes through the Israelites acting as His instruments. Sometimes acting on His own.
When Christ or God incarnate came to the earth, died on the cross and resurrected from the dead as traditional Christianity asserts, a new covenant was born. God had made a new deal with believing humanity. The sins of the world past, present and
future and the punishment for them was placed on Jesus. This vicarious substitute had assuaged the wrath of God. No longer would God deal as harshly with people as He had in the Old Testament or as he had prescribed in His Law, (the Torah). God would now deal with the world, particularly with those having faith in Christ, under the banner of Grace - unmerited favor. And this is why Christian societies as a rule don't stone
others and people are not sentenced to death by Church tribunals for their infractions against God. (The abuses of the Spanish Inquisition and the like not withstanding. Such tragic and inexcusable events in Christian history must also be taken in their context -as severe aberrations of Jesus' teachings and the Christian principles they invoke.)
Conversely, a faith in Jesus Christ is not a license for idiocy either as Spong clearly implies. Because those who trust in Him for their salvation also take on his life and nature that is not based on hatred but love. Spong seems to understand none of this! Instead he takes a simplistic, contemptuous and imbalanced look at the Holy Bible. I'd prefer an exegete who can give us a contextual and balanced overview.
As for some of his other bizarre Biblical exegesis...
Just because St. Paul was not married and had issues with homosexuality does not provide plausible evidence that he himself was a closeted gay man. Christ died for gay and straight people alike and God's Grace extends to both!
As for Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene, this is old unsubstantiated nonsense, peddled by the likes of Hugh Schonfield in "After the Cross"; Michael Baigent, Richard
Leigh and Henry Lincoln in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", and Dan Brown in "The da Vinci Code". It appears that they in turn based their allegations on things implied in the pseudographia of "The Gospel of Thomas" and on a hoax perpetrated by the Priory of
Sion. These false allegations alter Jesus' role as Supernatural bridegroom of the Christian Church to human husband of Mary Magdalene.
Bishop Spong again denies the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the literal physical and spiritual resurrection of Jesus, we have no Christianity. (I Corinthians 15).
That is the central tenant and foundation of Christian faith and without it Christianity is not existent.
The cleric's assertions that the Bible somehow advocates or excuses slavery, sexism and racism is also bizarre. Slavery is implicitly and explicitly condemned in both the Old
Testament and the New. (Isaiah 61:1; I Corinthians7:23;
I Timothy 1:9-11) The lines of gender, race and ethnicity are obscured in Christ so that everyone is regarded as intrinsically equal before God. (Galatians 3:27-28); And women are to be given a place of honor in a Christian home. (Ephesians 5:25-29 ) How Spong arrives at his assertions is beyond me.
Spong's denial of theism is also bizarre. One of the things that distinguishes the dry or dessert religions of the Middle East, like Judaism and Christianity from the wet religions
of the East is the belief in a Personal, Transcendent and Theistic God who can be petitioned by His people to intervene on their behalf. That is the God of the Bible. Pantheism, Deism and Polytheism have absolutely no basis in the Holy Bible, neither in
the Old Testament or in the New.
While it is true that some people throughout history have unfortunately used the Holy Bible to justify questionable behavior, the fault lies in us, in our human nature, not in
God's Inspired Word. Bishop Spong is out to save us from the sins of Scripture. Golly Gee thanks. A better question is who will save us from him and his likes whose pens and sloppy scholarship are looking to mislead us?
The Bible deserves better than Bishop Spong's misinterpretation of it! For a more scholarly presentation of Christianity from an astute thinker and bishop with better insights, I recommend, "The Orthodox Way" By: Bishop Kallistos Ware. And
"Mere Christianity" by the legendary, C. S. Lewis.
