Jesus for the Non-Religious

By: John Shelby Spong

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Writing from his prison cell in Nazi Germany in 1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German theologian, sketched a vision of what he called ""Religionless Christianity."" In this book, John Shelby Spong puts flesh onto the bare bones of Bonhoeffer's radical thought. The result is a strikingly new and different portrait of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jesus for the non-religious.

Spong challenges much of the traditional understanding, from the tale of Jesus' miraculous birth to the account of his cosmic ascension into the sky. He questions the historicity of the ideas that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he had twelve disciples, or that the miracle stories were ever meant to be descriptions of supernatural events. He also speaks directly to those critics of Christianity who call God a ""delusion"" and who describe how Christianity has become evil and destructive.

Spong invites his readers to look at Jesus through the lens of both the Jewish scriptures and the liturgical life of the first century synagogue. He proposes a new way of understanding the divinity of Christ as the ultimate dimension of a fulfilled humanity. Jesus for the Non-Religious may be the book that finally brings the pious and the secular into a meaningful dialogue, opening the door to a living Christianity in the post-Christian world.

Read by Alan Sklar

Preface, prologue, and epilogue read by the Author

©2007 John Shelby Spong; (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Compelling but ultimately disappointing

Two foci for this review: the text itself, and the narration.

First, narration. God save us. Bishop Spong reads the preface and epilogue, and I found myself wishing he would have read the entire book. His true sincerity, humanity and humility come through in his voice when he reads.

The narrator, however . . . slow, portentous, with odd emphases and ill-timed pauses . . . a real chore to listen to this fellow. He manages to inject a note of contemptuous sarcasm into passages, which seems often at odds with Bishop Spong's words. The narration almost put me off finishing the book.

Now, the text. Bishop Spong makes a compelling case for his vision of Christian scripture as liturgical in nature, freighted with symbolic references to Jesus' Jewish context. I couldn't wait for the final chapters, in which Bishop Spong would tell us how he specifically engages Christ in the modern age; how worship can (or should) be done; what is the nature of God as revealed through Jesus and Jesus' relationship with God - is God truly personal? Is Christ a person to this day, or simply a memory, the acheivements of which we should aspire to?

In essence, Bishop Spong spends a great deal of time methodically deconstructing Christianity in the modern age, but then replaces it with nothing - not even a suggestion on which we can build. I came away with the strong impression that Jesus was just a "really good guy".

Oddly, the resurrection gets short shrift in the concluding chapters. It's as if Bishop Spong doesn't know what to make of it - so he chooses not to deal with it at any length. But the resurrection, arguably the linchpin of Christology, deserves a fair assessment, because it is our understanding of the resurrection that will inform whatever relationship we have with the person of Christ.

I am ultimately frustrated and disapointed; that said, this worthy effort is still worth the listen.

great

great - enjoyed the unconventional path the author takes you down and is well informed

Blilliant

Very eye opening and educational. He brings up and answers a lot of questions that I often had but was unwilling to think about too long. Great for understanding religion better.

A much larger view of God than most religions dare

This work is a culmination of a life's work and search for God who is not made in the image of man. For years I have struggled with the institutional view of God, especially those who worship the scriptures at the expense of God and Jesus. Spong demonstrates how radical and remarkable Jesus was in his time while glimpsing a loving God through him. Spong's love of God and Jesus is palpable. As you can tell by the title, an extensive background in theology or religion is not necessary. However, I highly recommend this book to anyone who considers themselves an expert in Christianity or who think they have all the answers.

If you begin this book, commit to finishing the book.

I have received Christ power

I truly enjoyed the audiobook. It gave me a deeper understanding of what I already believed. Better yet, John articulated what I could not. I struggled because I thought that one day soon I would totally reject God and Jesus, but now i have an understanding that I can keep them with me and yet not bowing down to the mythology of Jesus. Thank you.