tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post3029685220398257378..comments2024-03-28T10:26:20.408-04:00Comments on Ponderings on a Faith Journey: Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy (John Spong) -- A ReviewRobert Cornwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-68295465019995171082017-03-12T15:22:23.245-04:002017-03-12T15:22:23.245-04:00Spong is easy to read -- at one level -- but he ca...Spong is easy to read -- at one level -- but he can be infuriating. Borg has some similar views, but unlike Spong, Borg was a Bible scholar. Thanks for sharing!!<br />Robert Cornwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-608483288679369112017-03-11T22:44:17.074-05:002017-03-11T22:44:17.074-05:00I am reading this book right now. I have always f...I am reading this book right now. I have always found Spong infuriating, but I decided to read this anyway. It is a useful starting point for someone getting into the Bible at a late age, and someone who is not literal minded. Still his lazy scholarship is annoying. If my memory is correct Matthew is quoting the Septuagint and not translating Isaiah from Hebrew so the section on that is puzzling to me. It even infuriates me when Spong dismisses the concept of the star of Bethlehem. The Jews didn't study astrology and modern astronomers making an educated guess on what a star of Bethlehem was understood that real magi would not need a moving star to have found the Messiah. I don't believe in astrology but I do understand the basics. I've gotten only 80 pages into it, but it's an easy read that I will finish. Jerry Mc Kennahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02395712495722374971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-66288917102968067652016-08-29T11:08:36.459-04:002016-08-29T11:08:36.459-04:00Thanks so much for this review. I have been seeing...Thanks so much for this review. I have been seeing quotes pop up on facebook from Spong's book. He is quite popular and "relevant" but I have a hard time with the idea of rejecting the miracles of Jesus, or His resurrection, among other things. <br /><br />Without the atonement and resurrection there seems to be no basis for the early Christian church or Christianity at all, and then what have we left to build our faith upon? <br /><br />I think that if atonement and resurrection were actually metaphor, the disciples and apostles would not have sacrificed everything, risking imprisonment and death to spread the message. <br /><br />Sam M Hartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-76773201224745233662016-05-06T16:39:27.604-04:002016-05-06T16:39:27.604-04:00Bart,
Though on the liberal side, the work of Mar...Bart,<br /><br />Though on the liberal side, the work of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan would offer a counterpoint of sorts. More critical of much of the current attempts at reconstructing Jesus is the work of Luke Timothy Johnson. He has been a critic of the Jesus Seminar. Hope this helps!Bob Cornwallhttp://bobcornwall.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22980286.post-5235883368262295562016-05-05T18:36:44.700-04:002016-05-05T18:36:44.700-04:00Thank you for a critical, yet helpful review of Sp...Thank you for a critical, yet helpful review of Spong's latest work. Could you recommend a counterpoint book(s) that would be accessible to an wide audience?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06990404139839284908noreply@blogger.com