Literally . . .

. . . sell what you possess. . .

(from Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy by John Shelby Spong)
". . . "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor . . . and come, follow me". . . It was a hard teaching, one that could not be received by the questioner;  Matthew tells us that the young man "went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.". . .  That conversation then precipitated Jesus; teaching on wealth [in the gospel of Matthew] . . . I always find it interesting to see where biblical literalists cease to be literal.  This is one of those places. Far from listening to the demands of Jesus, we have rather developed a Christianity of affluence, in which the poor are judged and blamed for being poor. In the United States the political party that claims to represent the 'religious' or the 'Christian' vote constantly seeks to cut programs aimed at assisting the poor, and to do away with health coverage for any who cannot afford it. . . "

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Woman. . .

(from Born of a Woman by John Shelby Spong)
". . . Few people stopped to realize that the woman who was being hailed as the ideal mode was a woman who had been totally defined by men.  That a permanent virgin can be an ideal woman only to a celibate male did not appear to be  obvious as the values of the church were presented as objective revealed truths. Theological discussions continued to rage around Mary in the male citadels of theological learning. Without exception all of these discussions led to the further erosion of Mary's humanity.

The more evil the flesh was thought to be, the more Mary's virtue needed to be protected. She became not just the virgin but the perpetual virgin and then the postpartum virgin. It became an issue of great import to prove that Mary retained her unbroken hymen throughout childbirth. The male theologians were equal even to that task. They searched the Scriptures in a paroxysm of wild exegesis to find texts to undergird postpartum virginity. The prophet Ezekiel had once written (ca. 580 B.C.E.) , "This gate shall remain shut, . . . and no one shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut" (Ezek. 44:2). Without so much as an apology, this text was fastened on to prove the now-popular claim for postpartum virginity. It had been, the fathers shouted, preshadowed even in the prophets! Midrash separated from the Jewish tradition that created it had become absurd. . ."

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Literally . . .

 (From 'Born of a Woman' by John Shelby Spong)
". . . A literalized myth is a doomed myth.  Its truth cannot be rescued. Literalism is not even a benign alternative for contemporary Christians.  It is, in the modern world, nothing less than an enemy to faith in Jesus Christ. It is a belief system built on ignorance, which acts as if God, the infinite mystery, can be defined in the words of any human being or in the thought forms of a particular era.  Literalism is a claim that God's eternal truth has been, or can be, captured in the time-limited concepts of human history.  It is to pretend that knowledge is finite and that knowledge does not therefore explode in infinite new directions daily. Biblical fundamentalism reduces the religious options for people to the shallow levels of propositional truth and then fills them with a religious certainty that can be maintained only by a defensive, aggressive hysteria.  When that certainty explodes, fundamentalism leaves the would-be fundamentalist with no alternative save a Godless despair . . . "

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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
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Resurrection. . .

Many Christian ministers do not share things they learned in the seminary about the  'resurrection' passages in the new testament of the Christian bible during their Easter Sunday sermons.  Nor will they share this information on any other of the 52 Sundays of the year.  As a result, some members of the congregation will continue to read the Matthew resurrection story uncritically as factual history.  Conversely, others will us the story to reconfirm their skepticism about the truth in Christian Faith.  Then, there will be those who truly want to believe in something, but are left on their own to figure out what truth and value there may be in the Christian Gospel.

When the four canonical resurrection accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are compared side by side they cannot be reasonably reconciled.  Nor can any of the versions of the story be connected to any eye witnesses.  The Matthew account was written at least 50-60 years after the death of Jesus. But no one can doubt that within a few years a rapidly growing number of people believed that this man, Jesus, was raised from the dead. 

Did Jesus come back from the dead in real flesh and blood as one could be led to believe from the the resurrection accounts?  These accounts were  written by devout and believing followers who claimed Jesus as their Lord. But it was recorded in a time tested and honored literary tool widely practiced at that time and place.  Technically, mythology is any story or report in which a god is the primary actor.  Mythology will always defy historical analysis.

Truth, value?  Yes.  History?   No!  
(Thanks to both The Rev. Howard Bess,  a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is  hdbss@mtaonline.net) and to John Shelby Spong, retired American Episcopal bishop, religion commentator and author. He calls for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines. https://johnshelbyspong.com/ )

What do you think?
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OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be digitally downloaded at:

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Our own. . .

. . . creations. . .

(from The Fourth Gospel:  Tales of a Jewish Mystic by John Shelby Spong)
". . . How difficult it is for religious people to embrace an unbounded God.  We have through our history sought to define God as a particular being, albeit one possessing supernatural power.  With God defined as a being, we then had to locate God in a place.  Ultimately that place was thought to be somewhere above the sky in a three-tiered universe.  Then we had to build for this God earthly dwelling places that we called "houses of worship."

Next, we began to assert that God's very words were captured in the words of our sacred scriptures.  Then we convinced ourselves that God's very nature could be defined in our creeds, doctrines and dogmas.  We then built mythologies around each of these human creations, assuring ourselves that God was content to live within our developed theological and liturgical limits. 

When these "sacred idols" began to be destroyed by the expansion of human knowledge, we acted as if God had died.  The God who lived above the sky was rendered homeless when we began to embrace the infinity of space; yet we continued to address God as "our Father who art in heaven."  Next, the scriptures, which we once thought of as God's literal words, began to be understood as tribal tales and as human interpretations; but when we read then in public worship, we still asserted that "this is the word of the Lord."  Then the creeds, the doctrines and the dogmas-which, we asserted, had captured God's revelation-began to be understood as political and cultural compromises; but we, in our fear, had in the past invested these human forms with such authority that those who questioned them were burned at the stake as heretics, and we claimed the word "orthodox" for our own human formulations. . ."

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Next. . .

. . . in line

. . . to be read. . .  


(from "The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic" by John Shelby Spong)
". . . Throughout most of my professional career I was not drawn to the Fourth Gospel;  indeed I found it almost repellent. . . . Because this book was thought to have spelled out 'orthodox Christianity.'  John's gospel helped to fuel such dreadful events in Christian history as heresy hunts and the Inquisition. . . . [Eventually, though,] John's gospel began to unfold before me as a work of Jewish mysticism and the Jesus of John's gospel suddenly became not a visitor from another realm, but a person in whom a new God consciousness had emerged. . . . John's gospel is about life - expanded life, abundant life and ultimately eternal life - but not in the typical manner that these words have been understood religiously. . ."

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My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
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Real change . . .

. . . we are all evolving. . .

(from THE SINS OF SCRIPTURE by John Shelby Spong
© 2005 John Shelby Spong)
". . . if change is the tactic to be adopted, the change cannot be simply cosmetic, an adjustment around the edges of our faith story. It has to be so total and so radical that many will think such a change is either impossible or will result in the death of the patient. It would be easier, some say, to start over by building an entirely new religious system than it would be to seek to reform this one so totally that continuity might be strained to the breaking point. . . Our task is not to build tomorrow's church. That is something into which we have to live one day at a time. Our task is rather to face the need for radical change and take the first, probably tiny step necessary to erect a totally new foundation. That step is found, I believe, in acknowledging our evolutionary origins and dispensing with any suggestion that sin, inadequacy and guilt are the definitions into which we are born. This also means that we rid ourselves of the idea that the world was created for the benefit of human beings, or even that the planet earth is somehow different or special in the universe. . . "




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Have you ever really. . .

. . . read the story of Sodom from the book of Genesis? This is the text used by the literally 'uninformed' to defend their homophobic positions; those who think their Bible must be interpreted 'literally'.

(paraphrasing from The Sins of the Scriptures, by John Shelby Spong, © 2005 John Shelby Spong)
'Travel in the ancient world was hard and dangerous, so travelers were few. Visitors depended upon the hospitality of a citizen of the place they were visiting. Without it, more often than not, strangers became fair game for abuse which usually took the form of ribald play in which the manhood of the strangers was compromised.

The two 'messengers', who accompanied the Lord in his inquest of the citizens of Sodom with the intention of destruction, left the Lord with Abraham and visited the city of Sodom. Late on the evening of their arrival, Abraham's nephew Lot offers the strangers hospitality, much to the dismay of the town's menfolk who had been eagerly anticipating a night of debauchery since the arrival of the two. They surrounded Lot's house and demanded the surrender of the two visitors. Lot refused knowing that once the protection of a home had been offered, the honor of the entire household was at stake if that protection was compromised.

So Lot makes a counter offer, one that literal interpreters of the Bible generally fail to criticize. He offers his two virgin daughters to the crowd to "do to them as you please." (Also consider the literal interpretation of offering daughters as though they were property, precisely the ancient biblical view of women.) The daughters have, of course, not been consulted regarding the proposition, as being property only, they have no say in the matter.

Well, in short, Lot and his family (including the daughters) escape and the city is destroyed by the visitors in accordance with the Lord's intention.'

Have we learned the biblical condemnation of homosexuality from this fascinating little story? I must have missed it. What I did, and we all should, learn from it is that NONE of this material should be taken LITERALLY!




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A word from. . .

. . . my hero, philosopher, favorite author and scholar John Shelby Spong, who writes. . .

"Religion has to be about the enhancement of life through love. Religious rules are sacred only if they serve to enhance life. That is the point Jesus was depicted as making when he declared that human life was not made to fit into the Sabbath day rules, but that the Sabbath days rules were created to enhance human life. Suddenly the essence of ethics is seen not as something about good and evil, or even about justice and injustice; and it is certainly not about a code of rules or laws that is inscribed in a holy text or cut into tablets of stone. No, ethics are always designed to assist in the expansion of life. Every act, whether it be individual or corporate, must be judged as right or wrong based solely on whether it enhances or diminishes the life of another. If my action diminishes another, it also diminishes me. A diminished life is never the place where holiness will be found. Diminished lives will never be loving lives. . ."




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