Jesus for the Non-Religious

This was a wonderful book in which John Shelby Spong—retired bishop and active (at the time of this writing) reformer—delves into the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth and provides a framework for understanding Jesus's philosophy in the post-Darwin era. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the historical Jesus and the Judaic roots of the New Testament.

This is an excellent book for anyone to read who is interested in learning how Christianity developed into the religion it is today. His arguments are well thought out and to the point and he raises some very pertinent questions that anyone who considers themselves to be a Christian should be asking. His views on what Christianity is meant to be are both fascinating and believable and his predictions of where this religion... Read Full Review

Spong has always been excellent at critiquing the errors and problems in traditional, especially fundamentalist, Christianity. What I liked most about this book is that he gives an alternative understanding of Jesus at the end of the book. While he often repeats points excessively, I found his arguments convincing and scholarly. Digging through and discarding the centuries of Christian orthodoxy and dogma to find the... Read Full Review

The title of this book does not convey its thrust very well. I think that "Christianity for the Twenty-first Century" would have been a better choice. (Note: if you are a bible literalist, this book and this review are not for you.) In this book Bishop Spong continues his exploration of the meaning of Jesus for modern people. His message is that you can believe in science and rationalism without having to abandon Christianity... Read Full Review

Tired of Bible-thumpers, door-to-door evangelists and televangelists? Ashamed to call yourself a Christian because people will think you're a bigoted know-nothing? Do you have a deep attachment to the man Jesus but wouldn't be caught dead in a church? Well, take hope! Jack Spong has thrown religious clutter overboard in this exciting new book and allowed people of the 21st century to see the wonder and awe which Jesus' original... Read Full Review