Bishop John Shelby Spong leads the 2:00 pm audiences through a week-long conversation based on his newest book: Eternal Life: A New Vision -- Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell.
This week having been inspired by the Eileen and Warren Martin Lectureship Fund for Emerging Studies in Bible and Theology, Jack Spong in his unique style makes accessible to the ordinary layperson emerging understandings within contemporary theology, and offers new ways in which to engage with traditional concepts.
Bio
Bishop John Shelby Spong
John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. Acclaimed as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson, he is considered the champion of an inclusive faith, both inside and outside the Christian church. In one of his recent books, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Discover the God of Love (2005), Bishop Spong sought to introduce readers to a new way to engage the holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition. A committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it, Bishop Spong says that he is a believer who knows and loves the Bible deeply, but who recognizes that parts of it have been used to undergird prejudices and to mask violence.
A visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches worldwide, Bishop Spong delivers more than 200 public lectures each year to standing-room-only crowds. He was previously a 2:00 pm Lecturer of the Week at Chautauqua in 2000. His bestselling books include Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, A New Christianity for a New World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand. His extensive media appearances include a profile segment on "60 Minutes" as well as appearances on "Good Morning America," "Fox News Live," "Politically Incorrect," "Larry King Live," "The O'Reilly Factor," "William F. Buckley's Firing Line," and "Extra." His newest book is Eternal Life: A New Vision - Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell.
Religion stemming from the teachings of Jesus in the 1st century AD. Its sacred scripture is the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Its principal tenets are that Jesus is the Son of God (the second person of the Holy Trinity), that God's love for the world is the essential component of his being, and that Jesus died to redeem humankind. Christianity was originally a movement of Jews who accepted Jesus as the messiah, but the movement quickly became predominantly Gentile. The early church was shaped by St. Paul and other Christian missionaries and theologians; it was persecuted under the Roman Empire but supported by Constantine I, the first Christian emperor. In medieval and early modern Europe, Christian thinkers such as St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther contributed to the growth of Christian theology, and beginning in the 15th century missionaries spread the faith throughout much of the world. The major divisions of Christianity are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Nearly all Christian churches have an ordained clergy, members of which are typically though not universally male. Members of the clergy lead group worship services and are viewed as intermediaries between the laity and the divine in some churches. Most Christian churches administer two sacraments, baptism and the Eucharist. In the early 21st century there were more than two billion adherents of Christianity throughout the world, found on all continents.
Costaire, it appears you seek intellectual authority through complexity; however, you clearly lack that ability and have settled for complication instead. Unfortunately, in your attempt to confuse others, it appears you have confused yourself, and as a result much of your meaning is lost.
"I do apologize, but my integrity forbids it." - A paradoxical statement.
"...attempt the acquisition of greater intellectual capacity." How exactly does one acquire greater intellectual capacity.
"...retreat into the fantasy realms of discrimination, cultural cleansing, and egocentric raids on humanity..." On the contrary, discrimination (the act of consideration on the basis of type as opposed to merit) and cultural cleansing are not fantasies, but realities. Furthermore, neither of these actions are states of being or places, and thus, cannot be considered "realms". And how exactly does one participate in an "egocentric raid on humanity" anyway?
You have demonstrated remarkable proficiency with the thesaurus, but with the wealth of knowledge and resources readily available on the internet in the modern age, that is a small feat at best. Bdoolan was on to something when he suggested you "Try using simpler language." If I were you, I would heed his advice, and maybe, just maybe, you'll actually understand what the f*ck you're talking about.
Thank you costaire, for that refreshing vocabulary, I enjoy it.
as for the lecture, its all good from the perspective of social knowledge.
55 years of religious safety, where death is ignored, and a life after death only negates the present moment. Death can have a learnt meaning, read Tibetan book of the dead,by W.Y.Evans-Wentz, they also speak positively of a conscious death and like everything else training death can be trained for. The Kabbalah from 10 to 11 century very good death understanding. Christianity Islam useless when understanding death, My parents are Nazi camp survivors, they saw, smelled, ate death. Itīs all a matter of education, "Death to death for thou are not so, death to death I say". John Donne.
I could not reduce myself to the entrails of such intellectual dishonesty. I do apologize but my integrity forbids it.
I agree with your conclusion that Spong makes no attempt or appearance to "answer" anything. I think that pretty much sums up my point nicely of which I'm in full agreement. Thank you for your honesty.
Wherein circumstances require that I use simpler language I must try, if by doing so you attempt the acquisition of a greater intellectual capacity.
Insofar as aspiring to question, provocation and thoughtfulness. I can admire such aspirations but further question their respective relevance to the dubious claims made by those who invoke the words of eternity and immortality. Entertaining as they might be, one wonders how important the provocations of thoughtful questions are when they are focused upon the lingering nonsense which soon follows close behind. Not to mention the proliferation of dissociative mental retardation that is attained once these amusements turn to delusional convictions. Convictions which inevitably lead to a disdainful retreat into the fantasy realms of discrimination, cultural cleansing, and egocentric raids on humanity that are wielded by those who claim (without evidence of any kind) to have divine authority contrary to what reality would otherwise dictate.
"We are arrant knaves, all; believe none of us." - Shakespeare
What arrant nonsense from Costaire! Try using simpler language. Spong makes no attempt to be the "answer" to anything. At all times he is questioning, provocative and thoughtful - three characteristics to which you might aspire!
Existential insecurity and fear if you ask me, but if you are so inclined as to be moved by such a presentation such as this, surely you will not.
How curiously authoritarian it must be to speak on matters that cannot be known. How inclusively peculiar it must be to listen to these self proclaimed authorities (on matters empirically unknown) and to delude yourself into thinking that this guy is actually on to something.
It never ceases to amaze me how so many charlatans sell these self indulging delusions to the public. Not to say that Spong is a charlatan, however if he was he is probably unaware of the fact. More accurately however I cannot help but think that he is closer to the majority of indoctrinated zombie-phones resurrected by the inspiring nonsense of Christian theology and propagandized American proliferation of undead or overmedicated (which may or may not be mutually exclusive). In the case of this illustrious primate, it's amazing how these people have the ability to negotiate and solicit their sham antiquities so easily to the public. More alarming is the price that these false consolations go for. No less than the inescapable price of reason and reality. Not to mention the ever present contradiction that what is being sold, is being sold in connection with "truth." Quite frankly I think derivatives have a better shot at being authentic.
member. 
