RESCUING the BIBLE from FUNDAMENTALISM: A BISHOP RETHINKS the MEANING of SCRIPTURE by John Shelby Spong


Originally published in 1991.

John Shelby Spong (1955-2021) was the retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, New Jersey. He wrote a series of books with themes similar to this one, but Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism is one of the earlier explorations into this topic. Seeing as how it is an early look, it is a little muddled.

Sprong makes a compelling argument that the entire Bible is not actually literal written history. This is an easy argument to make with some books. Jonah, for example, clearly has a point about people valuing things and/or revenge over other people.  This does not mean that the book does not have value - it is my favorite book in the Bible because of the points it makes, regardless of the value of the book as a history text.

Spong's embryonic thesis is that these stories had great value in their time period and had great meaning according to their world view but don't necessarily have to be real. He did not make this analogy, but I will. Compare them to Jesus' parables. No one insists that the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son were real people. Still, those stories are among the most powerful teachings of Jesus and are very instructive for Christians.

Spong argues that the insistence on revering every chapter and verse as unadulterated actual history weakens the overall Christian message because sometimes the verses contradict themselves. Many times, he nitpicks which, ironically, similarly weakens his overall message.
The author
If Spong had stopped there, I'd have been completely with him. Spong goes onto a tear and goes after every possible miraculous event in the Bible on the grounds that...well, he's not really clear on that except that it is simply not possible that an All-Powerful God can do those things, I guess. There is a long leap between not being able to act and choosing not to and Spong does not recognize that distinction at all.

Spong proposes to replace all of the miraculous and the Fundamentalist view of the Bible with something else. The problem is that he's not really clear with what. He spends 90% of the book tearing it down and only 10% (including a summary chapter) is spent on the alternative.

So, for offering a vague, unclear alternative and for excessive nitpicking, I give this book 3 stars out of 5. Interesting perspective, poor follow through.  It can be found on Amazon.com here: RESCUING the BIBLE from FUNDAMENTALISM: A BISHOP RETHINKS the MEANING of SCRIPTURE by John Shelby Spong.

Note: Review updated on December 28, 2024.

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