Zach Christensen’s Reviews > Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World > Status Update

As I come to the end of things book, I am bummed that Spong wrote almost nothing about Revelation. I think Revelation will be one of the most important books for American Christians, particularly due to its political criticism against the domination system.

Spong’s treatment of the Gospels is similarly explained in other works of his. He makes the case the Synoptics all reflect the Jewish liturgical calendar, as these gospels were written within the synagogue. I find this to be quite convincing. Spong then basically asserts that the Gospels contain very little history. I do not see this as a necessary conclusion, although I do not think the Gospels are pure history.

Spong’s treatment of the Gospels is similarly explained in other works of his. He makes the case the Synoptics all reflect the Jewish liturgical calendar, as these gospels were written within the synagogue. I find this to be quite convincing. Spong then basically asserts that the Gospels contain very little history. I do not see this as a necessary conclusion, although I do not think the Gospels are pure history.

Probably some of Spong’s best writing in Paul. Rather than just saying he was a primitive and misogynistic lunatic, there is actually a fair treatment here (for the most part).

Upon getting to the section dedicated to the Pauline epistles, there is one of Spong’s ideas that I think is perhaps his silliest: St. Paul was a repressed gay man. In Romans 7:23, Paul states that the law of sin “dwells within my members.” The Greek noun for “members” (melos) means bodily appendage. Spong takes this to mean “the male organ.”

At the very least, it is entertaining.

“The book of Ruth, like the book of Jonah, was written to protest all of the limits that human prejudice forever tries to place on the love of God.”

“It was largely through the contribution of Amos that from henceforth in Judaism worship and justice would never again be separated. Worship, rather, came to be views as human justice being offered to God, while justice began to be seen simply as divine worship being acted. In this context, justice became another name for God.”

Spong’s exposition of Hosea is simply beautiful.