“ I admire our ancestors, whoever they were. I think the first self-conscious person must have shaken in his boots. Because as he becomes self-conscious, he's no longer part of nature. He sees himself a… John Shelby Spong
“ I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God. John Shelby Spong
“ Let me say that I consider myself a deep believer in the reality of God. I might define God quite differently from the way some people in the Christian faith would do so, but I do not doubt the realit… John Shelby Spong
“ The God of the Hebrews is a God that human language, we're not even supposed to speak the holy name. We were told in the Second Commandment we could make no images of this God, and I don't think that… John Shelby Spong
“ It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different. John Shelby Spong
“ All religion seems to need to prove that it's the only truth. And that's where it turns demonic. Because that's when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake. John Shelby Spong
“ Whatever it was that people experience in Jesus has today come to be identified with medieval doctrines based on premodern assumptions that are no longer believable. That identification means that ser… John Shelby Spong
“ This is the picture of a woman cast in the role of a learner, a pupil, even a rabbinic student. Quite obviously this is a prohibited role for women in those days and in that culture. Yet Jesus affirms… John Shelby Spong
“ You learn that you either are going to have a police state where you don't have any freedom left, or you're going to build a world that doesn't create terrorists - and that means a whole different way… John Shelby Spong
“ Erich Fromm, a German-American psychologist and author, reminds us that people never think their way into new ways of acting, they always act their way into new ways of thinking. John Shelby Spong
“ The audience that I try to reach are members of what I call the church alumni association. Now they are people who have not found in institutional religion a God big enough to be God for their world. John Shelby Spong
“ If you begin to give people hope that there is a brighter future, there is a new tomorrow, then the people who were yesterday's terrorists become tomorrow's elected officials and they're part of the s… John Shelby Spong
