Bishop John Shelby Spong 斯龐主教

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psalm
19:1   諸 天 述 說 　 神 的 榮 耀 ． 穹 蒼 傳 揚 他 的 手 段 。
19:2   這 日 到 那 日 發 出 言 語 ． 這 夜 到 那 夜 傳 出 知 識 。
19:3   無 言 無 語 、 也 無 聲 音 可 聽 。

人能對事情有認識有三個條件，
一：客觀上事情真的存在
二：人透過感官認識及了解這事情
三：人決定這些感官的訊息是真實的還是delusion

依我看來自由派的問題出於第三點，自由派的priority 是科學，對接收的訊息有偏見，基本上把所有超自然的也否定了。就算神的顯現及啟示出現在你的面前，也會被解讀為delusion。



法 利 賽 人親眼看到 耶 穌 趕 鬼 醫病的神蹟也可得到以下的結論：
mark  3:22   從 耶 路 撒 冷 下 來 的 文 士 說 、 他 是 被 別 西 卜 附 著 ． 又 說 、 他 是 靠 著 鬼 王 趕 鬼 。


法 利 賽 人再要求 耶 穌 顯 個 神 蹟 給 他 們 看，得到的答案是：

mark  8:11   法 利 賽 人 出 來 盤 問 耶 穌 、 求 他 從 天 上 顯 個 神 蹟 給 他 們 看 、 想 要 試 探 他 。
8:12   耶 穌 心 裡 深 深 的 歎 息 說 、 這 世 代 為 甚 麼 求 神 蹟 呢 。 我 實 在 告 訴 你 們 、 沒 有 神 蹟 給 這 世 代 看 。

[Alex]

如果眾人都觀察到某一個超自然現象，不可能以 delusion 解釋掉。如果今天，在人群密集的鬧市，天開了，有大聲從天上說：「耶穌是我的愛子！」眾人都看見了、聽見了，有人錄影了。世界新聞必會報導，現象必定得到公認，無法否認。這篇好文說得清楚，如有超自然現象被觀察到，科學無法否認。

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假如真有這現象出現，你能保證自由派的朋友們不會用mass hysteria 來解釋這現象?

[Alex]

John Rowley, via the Internet, writes:
At a recent Jesus Seminar meeting I heard a comment something like this, "Jesus went to John to be baptized as he wanted to become a follower of John. Jesus became divine when he came up out of the water and God called (made) him his son." What do you think?


Dear John,

I think you misheard at the Jesus Seminar. I cannot imagine any of the Fellows making such a statement! I have a hard time knowing how to unload the various assumptions that this statement makes but let me try.

I think we can with reasonable certainty state that Jesus began his career as a disciple of John the Baptist and that he was baptized by him. The gospels spend so much time and energy trying to explain how Jesus could have been baptized by John "for the forgiveness of sins" that I must assume that it was a compelling reality that they felt obligated to explain. I also take seriously the suggestion found in the gospels themselves that Jesus moved into his public career only after the imprisonment of John the Baptist.

I do not know how to speak of Jesus "becoming divine" until we define what it means to be both human and divine. I am not a dualistic platonic thinker. I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my world. I rather experience God as the source of life willing me to live fully, the source of love calling me to love wastefully and to borrow a phrase from the theologian, Paul Tillich, as the Ground of being, calling me to be all that I can be. So Jesus lives out the meaning of God as life, love and being rather than "becoming divine" as if that is a new status. The only way I know to enter "divinity" is to become deeply and fully human.

I recognize that if one is unfamiliar with this way of thinking, these concepts are hard to understand. When I wrote "Jesus for the Non-Religious" I addressed these issues much more fully than I can do here. The great thing about the Jesus Seminar is that not all of the "Fellows" agree for debate there is vigorous. It is, however, a debate on a common understanding of reality. The comment you quote does not share in that common understanding and that is why I feel quite confident that no member of the Jesus Seminar said anything like that.

I hope this helps.

– John Shelby Spong


重點中譯：

耶穌的「神性」。耶穌以成為約翰的門徒來開始自己的事業。耶穌很可能接受過約翰的洗禮，以「洗清罪」，《聖經》因此花了很多唇舌解釋這點。耶穌在約翰被收監後，才正式開始自己的公開事業。對我來說，神是生命之源，願我活得完全；又是愛之源，呼召我去無條件地愛；亦是存在的基礎，感召我自我實現。耶穌成為「神性」，因為他活出神作為生命、愛、與存在的意義。進入「神性」就是深度及徹底地成為人。

[Alex]

David Gaines, via the Internet, writes:
Thank you for your columns. I have been reading them for seven years and have enjoyed every one. I use them for reference in many discussions with other Christians and non–Christians or, as you say, "Church Alumnae." Having just finished a column about New Testament books, a thought occurred to me. Do you or other biblical scholars use any of the writings that were not adopted or canonized as New Testament material to determine the authenticity of those books that were accepted as New Testament material in the 4th or 5th century? I am speaking of the material discovered at Nag Hammadi. When you say that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a reference, could those groups that wrote that material have used for example the Gospel of Judas or the Gospel of Mary? Thank you for your time with this question.


Dear David,

Extensive studies have been made of non–canonical books by many scholars, including members of the Jesus Seminar who, for example, elevated the Gospel of Thomas into the Canon of the New Testament when they published their book, "The Five Gospels" — edited by Robert Funk and Roy Hoover. Professor Elaine Pagels of Princeton University has published a major study of Thomas entitled "Beyond Belief". Professor Karen King of Harvard has written a book on another of the non–canonical gospels, entitled: The Gospel of Mary Magdala.

Most of the material discovered at Nag Hammadi is considered later than the New Testament period and is not used to authenticate events in the life of Jesus so much as to throw light on the early development of Christianity or, as Professor Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina would say, "early Christianities" because there was clearly more than one until what we now call "orthodoxy" finally won out. I think we need to remind ourselves constantly that "orthodoxy" does not necessarily mean it is right, but it does indicate that it won.

Hope this helps.

– John Shelby Spong


重點中譯：

「耶穌研討會」出版的《五褔音》將《多馬褔音》提升到《聖經》正典的地位。早期基督教史顯示初時有多個不同的「基督教」，後來才有一個從競爭中脫穎而出，成為「正統」；所以，「正統」，不必是正確，只是勝出罷了。

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當Gospel of Thomas 和四福音出現矛盾時，你怎樣取捨？

e.g Gospel of Thomas :
14. Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits.

[Alex]

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic
By John Shelby Spong
Release date: June 11, 2013
http://progressivechristianity.org/resources/the-fourth-gospel-tales-of-a-jewish-mystic

John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus’ life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the “Beloved Disciple.”

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic was designed first to place Jesus into the context of the Jewish scriptures, then to place him into the worship patterns of the synagogue and finally to allow him to be viewed through the lens of a popular form of first-century Jewish mysticism.
The result of this intriguing study is not only to recapture the original message of this gospel, but also to provide us today with a radical new dimension to the claim that in the humanity of Jesus the reality of God has been met and engaged.
 
“We now approach our scriptures with a literalism that is unparalleled in the history of religion. This new and imaginative book by John Shelby Spong will liberate many people from this unnecessary complication of the religious life.”
— Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

“No one has done more to articulate a vibrant, post-mythic vision of Christianity than John Shelby Spong. Bishop Spong’s masterful interpretation is destined to become a classic.”
— Michael Dowd, author of Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World

“Spong is always readable and informative, but this book reads like a cross between a detective story and an adventure saga that is founded on excellent scholarship. I could not put it down.”
— Fred C. Plumer, President of ProgressiveChristianity.Org

[Alex]

Gospel of John: What Everyone Should Know About The Fourth Gospel
John Shelby Spong
Retired American Bishop of the Episcopal Church
11 June 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shelby-spong/gospel-of-john-what-everyone-knows-about-the-fourth-gospel_b_3422026.html

[Alex]

Retired priest: 'Hell' was invented by the church to control people with fear
Jul 2nd, 2015
Urban Intellectuals
http://urbanintellectuals.com/2015/07/02/retired-priest-hell-was-invented-by-the-church-to-control-people-with-fear

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https://www.facebook.com/JohnShelbySpong

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