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In the history of the Western World, the Bible has been a perpetual source of inspiration and guidance for countless Christians. However, this Bible has also left a trail of pain. It is undeniable that the Bible is not always used for good. Sometimes the Bible can seem overtly evil. Sometimes its texts are terrible. Bishop John Shelby Spong boldly approaches those texts that have been used through history to justify the denigration or persecution of others while carrying with them the implied and imposed authority of the claim that they were the "Word of God." As he exposes and challenges what he calls the "terrible texts of the Bible", laying bare the evil done by these texts in the name of God, he also seeks to redeem these texts, hoping to recover their ultimate depth and purpose. Spong looks specifically at texts used to justify homophobia, anti-Semitism, treating women as second-class humans, corporal punishment, and environmental degradation, but he also delivers a new picture of how Christians can use the Bible today. As Spong battles against the way the Bible has been used throughout history, he provides a new framework, introducing people to a proper way to engage this holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition.… (more)
User reviews
The problem with Sins of Scripture is that Spong either needs to be more
That errors of fact and ignorance that creep into his text are irritating. He repeatedly refers to Andrea Yates, the Texas woman who drowned her five children, as "Agatha Yarnell."
He writes that the world's population has doubled in 30 years; it hasn't. He believes there's a population explosion under way that threatens human survival; there isn't. The decline in birthrates worldwide since 1962 has begun to be felt. Population is falling in many countries and is expected to peak globally in 2040 before beginning a long and steep fall.
The errors of fact and subtance are embarrassing to read, and it undermines the credibility of his theological arguments.
His book also tries to make the case about the bible as a source of hatred, intolerance, discrimination, inequality and slavery. And he does as good a job as any, I suppose. But you have to dig through an awful lot of manure before you find the pony in this book.
Can we really worship a God who murdered all the firstborn males in every Egyptian household? How about a God who stops the sun in the sky, providing more daylight so that Joshua can slaughter more of his enemies? Would the God you worship instruct Samuel to “Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass”?
Is it ok to possess slaves, or sell your daughter into slavery? Should cursing or violating the Sabbath be cause for death? Is it right to stone disobedient children? Of course not, neither today or 2,500 years ago, and we know this.
How about the treatment of women as chattel? Encouragement of homophobia? Anti-Semitism? Spong guides us into a more liberal understanding of the Bible, pointing out the texts that exhibit human thinking, human fear, and comparing them to texts where the love of God shows through, and briefly touching on his vision of the Kingdom of God. It’s true that this book is one of the more negative of Spong’s works, but it sets us up for books yet to come.