Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith in the 21st Century

Theologian Spong (Jesus for the Non-religious), the retired bishop of Newark, issues 12 theses for radically reforming Christianity in this provocative call for a modern Christian faith. Rejecting a traditional image of the supernatural and omnipotent God of theism, Spong declares that God is the name of the power and source of all life, and though God is ungraspable by human cognition, God’s force can be witnessed when living fully. Spong challenges the idea of original sin, claiming that Christians are not fallen creatures in need of salvation but are in fact evolving creatures always yearning for wholeness and seeking to be loved and empowered. This striving toward further evolution is the essence of grace, Spong argues, as it allows people to embrace all that we are capable of being. Resurrection, for Spong, is not some supernatural resuscitation of Jesus’s physical body, but God calling Christians forth into “our essential oneness, our universal consciousness, our interconnectedness.” Spong’s stimulating call for a newly revitalized Christianity will appeal to contemporary Christians who view traditional Christianity as dismayingly outmoded. (Feb.)