Who Is Jesus?

“I have walked through picket lines in San Diego, California to deliver a lecture. I have endured a bomb threat at Catholic University in Brisbane, Queensland. I have been the recipient of sixteen death threats, all of which came from bible-quoting ‘true believers.’

“I am grateful for each of my critics. What they unwittingly did was identify me as a resource for the religious seekers of our world who yearn to believe in God but who are also repelled by the premodern literalizations that so frequently masquerade as Christianity.”

This passage comes from Bishop John Shelby Spong’s book "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." Published in 1998, it has become much more relevant in the ten years since.

Spong, who is a retired Episcopal bishop, is very concerned that the mainline church is shrinking. His thesis is that some of the central doctrines of the church are based on woefully outdated information and are thus incomprehensible to modern spiritual seekers.

Most “experts” on church growth talk about a myriad of tactics to market, invite and welcome people to church. Instead of this “outside-in” approach, Spong advocates that the church move inside-out. And so he examines and critically questions the roots of doctrine.

Then he goes back further in an effort to discern what the life of Jesus and the earliest Jewish and Christian tradition has to say about the relationship between humans and the divine.

An example of Spong's approach is his examination of the common belief in Jesus as “rescuer.” This has become an embedded part of Christianity, and is proclaimed by conservative Christians as ultimate truth.

But Spong reminds us that this is but one of several interpretations and understandings of the life of Jesus, and is not the earliest. Just like any doctrine, it is based on reading the bible in a particular way, using some specific assumptions.

Some people react to Spong's questioning as if the Christian faith itself is being attacked. That's why he continues to be vilified and even threatened.

His goal, however, is not to tear down Christianity but rather to challenge everyone who cares about the church to get serious about growing it.

By the way, the earliest understanding of Jesus comes from the beginning of the first-written of Paul's letters (and thus the first-written part of the new testament), 1 Thessalonians, which refers to Jesus as spirit.