John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop from Newark, N.J., talks about why Christianity must change its view of hell. Spong is one of the leading spokepersons for liberal Christianity.This is a spiritual man who has grown sick of Christian bullshit, and is happy to hold onto a rather agnostic sense of reverence. While I don't necessarily agree with what he holds onto, I certainly hope that this movement catches on, and a more cerebral, less intrusive type of religion can remain in place for those who need the crutch.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Holy shit! A clergyman I respect
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Interesting video. A clergyman who isn't full of shit is a rare thing indeed.
Also, Bishop Spong had some interesting comments to make about Richard Dawkins:
"I think Professor Dawkins is both brilliant and an incredible communicator. The definition of God that he rejects is the same one I reject. The difference being that he thinks the God he rejects is the western God of Christianity and I believe that deity is a distortion of who and what God is. The Christian Church has made such incredulous claims about who God is and who God hates and how God acts that it is always on the defensive when new learning that challenges old definitions appears.
Traditional Christianity has been buffeted by the insights of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Freud and many others. They have destroyed the credibility of much of our God talk. Richard Dawkins points that out in powerful ways, feeding his conclusion that God is a harmful delusion that ought to be dismissed. I agree that God is in fact a delusion and ought to be dismissed. We disagree on the question of whether that God is the God encountered in Jesus of Nazareth or a gross distortion. I believe it is a distortion."
Of course, you can disagree with him (which I do), but it's still refreshing to hear such reasonable points from a clergyman...
Post a Comment