Customer Reviews

This Hebrew Lord

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This is not a world in which one reads and agrees on everything a mind like Bishop Spong's puts forth as proposition. If one did agree on every proposition, it would be agreement absent rationality and akin to the petrified belief structure of evangelical fundamentalism. As a catholic I am not bound to a literal interpretation of Scripture and in my past as mainstream and fundamentalist protestant, I could never bring myself succumb to such notions.

Spong causes anyone who is not frightened by the venture to explore the Jewishness of Christ. He was-despite the typical Aryan images of him foisted on us from an early age-a semite, a Jew well-grounded in Jewish culture and belief. To understand him as a Jew is to know better the Christ whose name we claim to reverence.

I cannot help but endorse Spong's conclusion that the mission of Jesus-ordained by God or otherwise-was to set us free to realize the fullness of life and in doing so to make our own choices. And I find his blend of existentialism with a freeing view of the meaning of scripture to be thoughtful and wholly palatable. Those who believe in the limitations of literalism, who accept the chains of fundamentalism, whose minds are threatened by demons of their own making, who stifle thought and make a jest of genuine goodness, will necessarily find Spong's book anathema. For them belief is a prison from which escape is impossible.

In THIS HEBREW LORD Spong gives us a glimpse of Jesus of Nazareth and the example he revealed of a life being fully lived and shared. In order to appreciate Jesus, Spong believes it is necassary to look at him through first century Hebrew eyes. From this vantage point the meaning of spiritual is to be alive to both God and the world. To have faith is to have the courage to enter life where one is also able to find God. To the Hebrew in the time of Jesus there is no separation between God and the world as there is in Greek philosophy.

The author shows us a few Hebrew images from the Bible to help us observe Jesus in this new light. They are Jesus as a new Moses and new Elijah as well as the suffering servant from Second Isaiah.

Spong also discusses certain words attributed to Jesus in the fourth gospel which allow us to see Jesus more completely. These words refer to Jesus as Light, Life, Resurrection and the Bread of Life. In this gospel Jesus is given what the author refers to as "Christpower."

Spong provides a hopeful message for anyone who is having trouble relating to traditional Christianity but is still searching for meaning in religion. He writes with clarity and the text is filled with examples from his own personal quest for the truth.

I will say right off that I write this review pretty much as an atheist. I certainly do not believe in much of what the Christian Scriptures have to say regarding miracles. I want to get that out so that any bias I have might be obvious.

That said, I think this is an excellent book. Spong writes very well, in a conversational and engaging style. You never feel you are being preached to and you have no doubt at all of this man's intelligence in his writing. Regarding the book, it seems to be showing you Spong's view of Jesus that he has come to accept in order to be an intellectually fulfilled person in this day and age and yet still be a spiritual one. Is this a redefinition of Jesus? To many, that is how it will be perceived. I think to Spong he feels that his view of Jesus is one that actually gets back to what Jesus represented and how the early writers (such as the Gospel writers) were actually representing him. To that end, I would say that Spong does a great job convincing me of the veracity of his vision in the sense that he presents a wonderful life philosophy. The book would do nothing to convince me to believe in the veracity of Jesus, per se, except in so far that one might call this life philosophy by "the Christ". Spong manages to do this, in some fashion, without believing in all the miracle stories of the Bible. At least I feel this to be the case. After reading the book I am not exactly sure where Spong stands on all the issues regarding Jesus' life (he refers you to his later books, which I will definitely read now) but I get the impression that he seems to feel Jesus was certainly more man than some sort of incarnation of the Hebrew Yahweh.

Regarding the book content itself, I like the idea of seeing Jesus through Hebrew eyes. I think that really was a mainstay of the book because you always have to look at people from the past in terms of what they represented in their cultural milieu. Spong makes a good case about the gospel writers (some of them, anyway) being influenced by Second Isaiah. That was interesting to me as I had never considered that. However, for myself, I disagreed (tentatively) with some of Spong's conclusions regarding how the gospel writers wrote. His interpretation of that, however, is definitely a good one and worthy of study. For myself, I do not think the gospel writers were as sophisticated as Spong seems to give them credit for but, then again, he does at least present the tendrils of a good case in that regard. I also do not feel that this book takes into account some of the notions that Jesus was part of the Zealots, which would undermine some of what Spong has to say.

However, one has to remember that this book is not meant to be a treatise on scholarship regarding the actual life of Jesus. So if one expects it to succeed in that realm, one would be missing the point of the book. The book is the story of how one man has looked at a definition of Jesus that he believes is relevant to the twentieth and twenty-first century. I highly recommend this book, particularly to those like myself who have little faith in religion. This book will probably not make you a believer but it will make you realize that it is possible to be very intellectual, very engaging, very articulate, as well as being very spiritual. I think that even if you abstract out the religious elements of Spong's book, the main theme still holds together. That is quite an accomplishment and makes it, in my opinion, well worth the read.

One of the best books out there to help modern spiritual seekers understand who Jesus was as a Jew in early first century. Bishop Spong skillfully strips away the layers of myth that plague modern Christianity to reveal a more accurate picture of Jesus that is far more practical and real than the Jesus you meet in most churches today.

Darren Main
Author of "Hearts and Minds: Talking to Christians about Homosexuality"

Excellent book. Bought a few more and had Amazon send to my family and friends who live in different states. It is a very different book I have ever read on the Messiah Jesus. It truly takes "a step into tomorrow." Easy reading for the average person to read and understand. It is a book for a "different way of thinking" but one does not have to be a theologian to understand the message. So very futuristic - keeping up with the 21st generation of readers who are seeking answers to their questions on Jesus' followers' claim to His Divinity. For instance: Was/is Jesus the true Son of God? Why should one worship or pray to Jesus, who was a human being after all? I simply "love" this book! It gave me answers to many questions I was thinking about but could never put into words.

Anyone, of any religion, who wants to understand the 'facts' not the fiction of the Bible should indeed read this book. It portrays a wonderful picture of Jesus in the right light.

Anyone interested in understanding the Holy Bible accurately should engage in reading ANY of Spong's books. Of course, you may get upset with some statements but once he proves it by outlining where to read and compare and once you realize he is a dedicated Christian only desiring truth, you get a whole new big picture.
Blessings, Marilyn J. Awtry

I was hungering for some books on Faith; but not one that had the same old stuff!! This Author renewed my zest for study of the Bible and added great interest in reading his other books!! It makes such "sense" and created great understanding of my Lord.

Anyone holding to an orthodox Christian faith should read this to understand the prevailing post-modern thinking about Jesus Christ, which Spong embodies so well as he follows in the tradition of Bultmann, Tillich and, more recently, John A.T. Robinson.

His thesis is basically that Christ makes one "free to be, free to live, free to love." Spong's bibliography includes "I'm OK, You're OK." While most clergy desire to grow up to be like Luther or Augustine or St. Paul, my guess is that Spong wishes he would have been born as Copernicus, Darwin, or Freud, three men whom he seems to regard higher than any Christian thinker.

Spong fails in several areas. He misuses the whole notion of Jewish midrash (read Jacob Neusner's "Midrash in Context: Exegesis in Formative Judaism"); he relies heavily on the theology of a man (Robinson) who mistranslates the Greek New Testament; and he makes some simply incredible statements (I won't spoil the surprises for you).

What serious Christians need to take away from this book is this: post-modernists think that the New Testament is a Jewish, apocalyptic vision/midrashic construct, and that Jesus of Nazareth was an incredibly self-actualized man (but merely a man, mind you) who lived out what he "thought" was his Messianic mission (Spong never does quite address how Jesus manages to get himself crucified between two criminals as prophecy predicted).

Read this book, then read II Peter 2, and then go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Spong won't slow you down any.

Spong aims to remove the layers of church varnish and restore the real Hebrew Jesus. Worthy aims but Spong utterly fails and fails in a dishonest fashion.

His removal of church varnish primarily consists of asserting a modern, liberal view of Jesus, which Spong states to be his "personal" one. The fact that it is modern or personal neither makes it wrong or right. But, informed critique of church dogma and doctrine is almost entirely lacking.

Instead, Spong relies on a counter-point between traditional church teachings and what he claims to be the authentic, Hebrew Jesus.

In this he reflects some trends in New Testament studies and, conveniently finds the authentic Hebrew Jesus attunes to his (Spong's) modern sensibilities.

One might smell a rat and, indeed, it is here that Spong's argument becomes dishonest. His method essentially is to discard miracles and all that inconvenent stuff and emphasise "love" as the real Jesus. But Spong is performing no more than a conjuring trick.

If we are to place Jesus in context then we must do more than project some 20th/21st century mindset and nice words back onto the 1stC. Hebrew context demands an understanding of the tenach (Old Testament) and how Jesus (Yeshuah) saw himself in relation to them.

If one bothers to understand the context properly (which Spong does not), then it becomes clear that Yeshuah, even from his first quoted words as a child in the temple and His first miracle of healing the lepers (which did not occur according to Spong), saw and presented Himself as the Messiah. The Messiah in the tenach is to heal the breach of covenant between the Lord and Israel.

Concepts such as peace and love (in terms of the Hebrew tenach, not exposition of Greek words in the N.T.) can only be understood in terms of covenant. Peace and love only occur within covenant relationship. Actiosn that break covenant are, by definition, violence. This is quite different from the modern mind set and usage of these terms. Covenant, and obedience (about which Yeshuah spoke often) is the yardstick.

That is why so many at the time found encounter with Yeshuah disconcerting. When we are presented with truth as the yardstick, our vain imaginings are challenged. Even John the Baptist had to be told not to be offended by Yeshuah.

What Spong preaches is conveniently absent of any yardstick beyond internal feelings and a vague do-goodism. No awkward challenge here. Covenant is not only ignored but cast aside. Thus, in terms of the very perspective that Yeshuah moved within and teaches, Spong is preaching violence yet calls it love and, what is worse, calls it authentic.

If you are searching for the authentic Jesus then Spong does not answer your search and will mislead you whilst pandering to your sensibilities.

I doubt the authenticity of the family lineage of Jesus. In Matthew, it was Jesse to David to Solomon (see Matthew 1:06), : in Luke, it was Jesse to David to Nathan (see Luke 3:31). See also John 7:52 and Matthew 4:14.