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The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic by [John Shelby Spong]

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John Shelby Spong

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic Kindle Edition

by John Shelby Spong (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple." The Fourth Gospel was designed first to place Jesus into the context of the Jewish scriptures, then to place him into the worship patterns of the synagogue and finally to allow him to be viewed through the lens of a popular form of first-century Jewish mysticism.

The result of this intriguing study is not only to recapture the original message of this gospel, but also to provide us today with a radical new dimension to the claim that in the humanity of Jesus the reality of God has been met and engaged.

Print length

373 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperOne
Publication date

June 11, 2013
File size

495 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The Gospel of John differs from Mark, Matthew, and Luke in terms of style, tone, and many of the events described. Further, the gospels tendency to negatively call out “the Jews” has led, in many ways, to anti-Semitism. So it’s surprising that Spong, a former bishop and educator who has written persuasively about the need for a nontheistic Christianity, would choose to devote a book to John. And in fact, Spong writes about his difficulties coming to terms with John’s message. But, in his eighty-second year, Spong feels he at last understands John, seeing it now in a new light, as the writing of a Jewish mystic. He moves readers deliberately through the pages of the gospel, explaining by example how he’s come to his conclusions. John, he maintains, was written after the Johanine community had been expelled from the synagogue. Consequently, John’s purpose in writing is to use Jewish symbolism to explain Jesus and his movement to those who would not or could not accept him. Spong himself says that many of the ideas here—let’s boil it down to God is love—aren’t new. But Spong is writing for a lay audience, and he does so magnificently. His thoughts are bracing, his writing exciting, and his conclusions thought provoking. Those who love reading about religion in general and Christianity in particular may want to go through this volume more than once. --Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

“We now approach our scriptures with a literalism that is unparalleled in the history of religion. This new and imaginative book by John Shelby Spong will liberate many people from this unnecessary complication of the religious life.” (Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009UWMVFQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; Reprint edition (June 11, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 11, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 495 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 373 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0062011308
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #134,255 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #44 in Christian New Testament Criticism
- #85 in Christian New Testament Study
- #93 in Christian Bible Study Guides (Kindle Store)

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A good exegesis of the gospel of John by the liberal John Shelby Spong will help enlighten readers on hope in Jesus Christ

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2014

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I am a Presbyterian minister who believes that Jesus DID APPEAR IN THE FLESH to his disciples following the resurrection..I also believe that John Shelby Spong has done the faith community a service in this splendid new book on John. Among many fascinating notes observed by Spong who spent five years studying John in detail the following proved the most salient to me:"
1. Spong clarifies the differences between John and the synoptic gospel. For instance, John has no parables, miracles and shows Christ appearing in Jerusalem on several occasions. The Last Supper occurs prior to Passover in the account in John.
2. Jesus is the triumphant Lord whose enthronement culminates on the cross. Spong believes that Jesus shows us how to transcend human barriers to exert complete and full freedom. John is adverse to atonement theology.
3. The first twelve chapters of John are ":the Book of Signs": Light and Darkness, Death and Life are all themes in the gospel. We see how various New Testament characters respond to Christ';s call to enter His reign of life and love. Peter accepts the Lord while Judas refuses I.
4. Mary the mother of Jesus represents Judaism. As Spong focuses on the major figures in the gospel he asserts that they are fictional symbols crafted by John and do not reflect real persons.
5. John was the last gospel written and its provenance is probably in Ephesus. Much of the gospel deals with the conflict between Judaism and the emerging Christian community which had been expelled from the synagogue.
6. Jesus speaks in long discourses which Spong says were composed by John., He believes there are no authentic words of Jesus recorded in John
7. Spong supports the Jesus Seminar which seeks to discover the actual words of Jesus. This is a highly controversial group!
8. Spong believes we need to eschew biblical literalism and explore the symbolism of the gospel of John.
9. Spong believes John is a deeply Jewish book influenced by mysticism.
Whether you agree with Spong's radical conclusions or not the book is a good study of John. Worthwhile.

25 people found this helpful

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fusiafinch

A compelling treatise!!

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2013

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No matter what your opinion about John Shelby Spong's ideas and theology, he sure writes in such a compelling and entertaining way that it's hard to put the book down! This book gives a brand new and fresh insight into the Gospel of John that will be especially attractive to those who have given up on Christianity. Spong's insights offer a new way to interpret the Christian story that will be compelling to many of us in the "Church Alumni Association, and give us a way to believe in the transformative message of the Christian story again.

Spong goes way beyond his primary thesis that the Gospel of John is not to be read literally, but symbolically. He supports his arguments with excellent Biblical scholarship that also incorporates ideas from his earlier books into this treatise. He not only presents many of the characters in John as symbolic literary creations or developments, but also finds new insights into history and theology by doing so. This book is compelling reading which will inspire those who have left the church because of the Church's adherence to dogmatic literalism. But the book will also disturb those who base their faith on the literal historical reading of the text. Either way, the book is never boring!

I have only one criticism. Spong makes a clear argument in favor of the resurrection of Jesus as a non-literal, non-physical event. But he also implies an objective reality to resurrection that is clearly more than the disciples subjective experience. But he does not elaborate too much on what that objective event could be. He mentions that resurrection "means something" but does not speculate further on what that "something" is. He does mention entering into a "universal consciousness" or "entering into the life of God" and I would have loved to hear his personal speculation about this. I know it would be speculative, but I hope he addresses this more in his other writings. But this criticism does not diminish the profound insights found in the rest of the book.

Some pages of this book dazzled me with insights that I have never even thought of before. He also offers new ideas about traditional biblical characters that create whole new meanings for the Biblical text. For that alone, I recommend this book.

98 people found this helpful

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Ernest G. Barr

An Eye Opener for Readers of the Fourth Gospel

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013

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This is among the best books retired Bishop Spong has written. I don't claim that lightly; while I haven't read them all, I have read twelve and in this one Spong does a masterful job of unraveling the obscured messages that the author (actually three writers) have written in the Gospel of John. The writers, Jewish mystics, use stories and characters that are not historically verifiable, however, they convey truths that cannot be discerned by literal interpretation.

An example is the story of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, who came at night (suggests "religious night"). The phrase,"born again" confused Nicodemus. Spong suggests that the meaning is, "You must enter a transformative experience. You must see with insight...You must open yourself to a totally new perspective."

Throughout the book there are fresh interpretations of familiar word or concepts. For example: there is no such thing as "the faith". "Faith is not believing in creeds, doctrines, or dogmas; faith is trusting the divine presence to be in every moment of every tomorrow." Faith is about more than believing--it is living!

"For John there was no fall into sin and thus no time when the human and the divine were separated: One literally permeated the other." Jesus, therefore, did not "die for your sins." Neither was he the victim whom God punished in our place. The death of Jesus was not punishment. Jesus gave his life away in love."

These are just a few of the gems that await. While Spong usually leaves the reader a bit unsettled, it is my contention that it is through that turmoil the thoughtful, seeking reader grows in the Christian faith.

Ernest G. Barr

19 people found this helpful

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J. Mann

Fascinating and Informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2019

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JSS takes us through the gospel of John, tracing it's original sources and identifying the roots of the symbolism and language in the Hebrew Bible. He sees the author as a Jewish mystic writing a literary masterpiece of spiritual insight. As he takes the reader through the gospel JSS shows how he believes the theology of this gospel gives us the basis of a reformed Christianity that can supercede that of Paul with its emphasis on original sin and the atonement, and point to a post-religious spirituality that is about life and love and community.

One person found this helpful

Joseph Cash

Deep insights into the mystic meaning of John's Gospel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2014

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In Bishop Spong's books, he consistently argues for a very non-literal approach to interpreting the Bible, including the Gospels. From my perspective, he often combines powerful insights with a tendency to throw out too much (sometimes far too much for my liking) - for example he seems to have no room whatsoever for the miraculous (or even what might have seemed in the 1st Century to be miraculous) and argues that the Gospel miracle stories are but restatements of Old Testament stories designed to bring out the spiritual meaning of who Jesus was (and is). But if the historical Jesus did not DO things that his followers saw as miraculous, I doubt his words would have been heard as so life-changing. If one can see past that limitation, then this book contains very useful insights about the mystic meaning of John (which most scholars do agree is the least literal of the Gospels). Its argument is very convincing and I believe Bishop Spong has unlocked the most meaningful way of reading John's Gospel. In this interpretation of the gospel, Jesus represents the divine I AM in which we can find infinite life beyond all the ego's survival orientated limits, including the limit of bodily death. In his later work, Bishop Spong seems to have moved in more mystical direction and this book reflects this. Even if one is more conservative theologically than Bishop Spong, this book is well worth reading as an insight into the deeper mystical meaning of this gospel and as an interpretation of Christianity that can be meaningful to the world of the 21st Century and beyond. (Although Bishop Spong does not mention this directly, I found it interesting that his interpretation of the Gospel of John seems consistent with many insights from Advaita and other mystical traditions.)

4 people found this helpful

Mr. I. A. Smith

Revealing new truths

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2018

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I was not ready at the start of the book to accept the ideas being proposed but as I continued with the book I understood more of the gospel and I saw everything in a new light that increased my understanding of faith. I am very glad to have found this book and I will be reading more.

D. Walker

for good and ill

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2015

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The author doesn't offer set answers as to who wrote the fourth gospel or as to why whoever wrote it wrote what he did or why he had Jesus say and do everything he had Jesus say and do. But, I think that a reading of this book will, for some readers, as it did for me. open a gate on the path of seeking to understand what has been or was, for good and ill, one of the most influential documents in the western world in the Christian era.

nora maher

dependable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

Everything was very satisfactory. Thank you. Nora Maher

One person found this helpful

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