Home / Quotes / Quote by John Shelby Spong

Quote by John Shelby Spong

“My audience is made up of two groups of people. The first group includes people whose roots are deep in the Christian faith, but for whom the traditional symbols, as traditionally understood, no longer make sense. The other audience is the audience that has left. I call them the Church Alumni Association, citizens of the secular city. They are a bit nostalgic about this faith of their childhood, but they aren't really interested in trotting it out or becoming involved with it again as it is presently organized.”

Quote by John Shelby Spong

Author

John Shelby Spong

John Shelby Spong is an American author and theologian known for his modern interpretations of Christian doctrine and his challenges to traditional religious beliefs. His work spans multiple fields, including religion, theology, history, and literature. more

You May Also Like

“When I look back at the Christian faith, I see that we have had to retranslate, almost reinvent ourselves a number of times.”

Looks Christian Numbers Christian Faith

Author:John Shelby Spong

“We were born in a Jewish world, as part of a Jewish faith tradition. We had to translate ourselves into the neo-Platonic thinking Greek world; that took us about 400 years. Then, finally a man named Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, recast Christianity in terms of neo-Platonic thought.”

Thinking Men World Years Term Born Christianity Tradition Greek Translate Bishops Platonic Augustine Hippo Jewish Faith

Author:John Shelby Spong

“What happened in the Western world was that Plato ceased to be the way people thought. Aristotle was rediscovered, and the modern, educated world moved toward Aristotelian thinking.”

People Thinking World Way Happened Modern Moved Western Educated Plato Western World

Author:John Shelby Spong

“The Protestant reformation was an attempt to recast the Christian faith in terms of the new learning of the 16th century, the enlightenment learning. It was the first time that the Christian church did not have the capacity to keep itself unified as it recast itself, so it split into Protestant and Catholic traditions.”

Firsts Christian Term Church Century Enlightenment First Time Capacity Tradition Catholic Splits Reformation Protestants Christian Faith Unified Christian Church Protestant Reformation

Author:John Shelby Spong

“It's the 21st century, and somebody has to rise from within this faith tradition and retranslate it for the post-modern world... The Earth is not the center of the universe, therefore, God is not a being who lives above the sky, who splits the Red Sea from time to time, or creates a miracle, or whatever.”

World Earth Universe Sea Sky Modern Century Red Tradition Miracle Posts Splits 21st Century Modern World Center Of The Universe Red Sea

Author:John Shelby Spong

“I don't like to talk about it in those terms; it's impossible to describe who or what God "is." Suppose you were a horse, and you were asked to describe what a human being was like. You couldn't do it.”

Humans Term Human Beings Impossible Like You Horse

Author:John Shelby Spong

“There's no way a human being can escape his or her human-ness to be able to imagine God. We can talk about how we've experienced God, not what or who God is.”

Way Humans Able Human Beings Imagine Who God Is

Author:John Shelby Spong

“I experience God as the power of life, the power of love and the ground of being. I don't say that's what God is; I say that's my experience of God.”

Author:John Shelby Spong

“Some people think prayer is telling God what to do. I don't think that's the case.”

People Thinking Prayer Cases

Author:John Shelby Spong

“Some people think prayer stops bullets or rockets or land mines. It doesn't. That's magic, that's not God. Sometimes, you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

People Thinking Sometimes Prayer Magic Land Mines Bullets Rockets Wrong Time

Author:John Shelby Spong