We've got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. We've murdered them; we've burned them at the stake; we've run them out of town for something over which they have no control. And that's immoral. John Shelby Spong burnchurchcontrol share on social
Many of the characters who appear in the pages of the Fourth Gospel are literary creations of its author and were never intended to be understood as real people, who actually lived in history. John Shelby Spong authorcharactercreation Change image and share on social
The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new dimensions of life which our religious boundaries - creeds, atonement theologies - have kept us from experiencing. John Shelby Spong aliveatonementboundary share on social
I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. John Shelby Spong begindignitygive Change image and share on social
I believe that is what the God experience does for us. It calls us beyond our limits into the fullness of life - into a capacity to love people we are not taught to love - and into an ability to be who we are. John Shelby Spong abilitycallcapacity share on social
I experience God as the power of love. John Shelby Spong experiencegodlove Change image and share on social
I do not live in a world where people can walk on water, or still a storm, or take five loaves of bread and feed 5000 men plus women and children. If that is a requirement of my commitment to Jesus, I find it difficult to stretch my mind outside the capacities of my world view. John Shelby Spong breadcapacitychild share on social
The way you become divine is to become wholly human. John Shelby Spong divinehumanwholly Change image and share on social
I spend my life studying that book, and every book I've written has in some sense been a book about the Bible, and that's what I mean by reclaiming its value and its essence for a world that no longer treats it literally and no longer reads it traditionally. John Shelby Spong biblebookessence share on social
