Bishop: Religious Belief is Evolving

There are those, in all faiths, who have unshakable faith in God. And in Christianity, there are those who devoutly believe in not only the teachings of Jesus Christ, but also his bodily resurrection from death and his virgin birth born of the Blessed Mother.

But what if you don't have iron-clad faith in all aspects of the traditional Christian doctrine? Can you still consider yourself a Christian? 

For religious scholar Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, who served as the Bishop for the Diocese of Newark for 24 years until he retired in 2001, acknowledging Jesus and practicing the compassion and love that he taught and lived, is at the heart of what it means to be Christian. 

Spong said for him, God is an experience.

“I experience God as the source of life calling me to live, and the source of love calling me to love," he said. "For me, God is the ground of being and Jesus was the remarkable manifestation of God.”

He said he is mystified that anyone can claim they know exactly who and what God is and that their tradition, their faith, is the unique gatekeeper to that God.

“I don’t define God, I just live God. I worship God by loving,” Spong said.

At the forefront of liberal Christianity, Spong’s books have sold over one million copies. He delivers over 200 presentations each year around the world, and has been featured on television programs including: 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, FOX News Live, Politically Incorrect, Larry King Live, The O’Reilly Factor, William F. Buckley’s Firing Line and Extra.

He and his wife Christine have five children and are members of . On Sunday, July 3, he will be leading all services in Rector Janet Broderick’s absence.

In many ways Spong has spent most of his 80 years moving toward a truth that was as far away from his Southern Evangelical Christian background as possible.

“Growing up in that tradition at that time, I was taught that segregation was the will of God and the Bible was used to confirm that belief, as well as prejudice against Jews, gays and women,” he said.

While initially educated in traditional Christianity, Spong believes that we must translate the Christian faith for people living in the modern world by studying scripture, but at the same time acknowledging scientific and scholarly progress that has been made.

For Spong, blind adherence to a doctrine rooted in a specific time in history does not serve human beings or the human condition, which are both continually evolving and changing. “Fundamentalism is a personality type and what fuels it, I believe, is a need for security–a security that we can never have in this world,” he said.

Spong said he believes that what spirituality should provide is the courage to face a world of insecurity and continual change.

With regard to organized religion, Spong said he sees it going through a transformation.

“I think the traditional form of religion is dying out," he said. "I think that religion as we have known it represents the childhood of our humanity, but we are evolving."

According to Spong, our world began to go awry when, at the dawning of human-self consciousness, we began to view ourselves as separate from nature and all other beings.

“We began to organize the world with ourselves at the center,” he said. “We are the only creature who knows we’re going to die and so we are chronically anxious. We are the only creatures who become alcoholics, take tranquilizers and take our own lives."

Spong said he believes that the evolution of human consciousness is taking us toward an understanding that we are part of everything and everyone–and that we are all interconnected, and this will bring with it a new religious and spiritual understanding.

Because of this understanding, Spong said, we will no longer need to envision a God that is separate and apart from the earth or a God that is a judge or a father, instead a growing number of people will acknowledge that God is that which flows through everything and everyone.  

“What science has now confirmed for us is that we are kin to everything in the universe," he said. "We are comprised of the same elements that can be found on the furthest galaxies. We are the product of stardust."

This realization that we are interconnected, he said, will lessen the impulse to hurt or destroy others.

Spong said he sees the idea of God as a deity eventually passing away. He said he has great difficulty in relating to a God that is viewed as father or judge whom we must bow to or appease with an acknowledgement of our inferiority and state of sin.

“In most traditional manifestations of Christianity, we are always praying to be delivered because our theology victimizes its people,” he said.

Spong’s beliefs and awareness manifest in daily habits. “Whether we are at home or out in public, we join our hands and say grace before a meal because we realize that everything on our plate was once alive–even plants and vegetables–and all of these things on my plate had to sacrifice their life so that I could live,” he said.

In addition to actions taken by individuals, Spong said he hopes that the town of Morristown will become a "Compassionate City" by joining the Compassionate Action Network and signing the Charter for Compassion, which was initiated by Religious Scholar Karen Armstrong, who recently spoke at

Over 70,000 people worldwide have signed the Charter. The city of Seattle was the first to become a "Compassionate City"–which means that as a community, it has made a promise to act with compassion in all its official and unofficial endeavors.

When it comes to Spong’s personal journey, he said that he hopes to live in accordance with Jesus’ purpose–to give life and give it abundantly.

“I hope that I can help to expand people’s lives," he said. "I hope that I can help people to consider alternative ways of being–to get beyond racism, sexism, ageism and all other prejudices that diminish the life of another human being. I hope that I can inspire people to reach beyond the limits of their humanity.”

For more information about Bishop Spong, visit his website.