John Shelby Spong

a year of getting married. John Shelby Spong discusses the impact of a liturgical service to mark the end of a marriage. Would it encourage people to get a divorce or rather bring closure to both parties? After attending such a service, Spong was able to leave with many impressions as to why a liturgical service is beneficial. First and foremost “pain and death are present in divorce for both the husband and the wife, whether acknowledged liturgically or not.” (Spong, 1988, p. 192) Soon after my

sacred? As euthanasia has become a prevalent topic in our society, many opinions have formed regarding the morality of it and whether it goes against Christian beliefs. Two opposing points of view, both written by Christians, explore this topic. John Shelby Spong argues in his article “Euthanasia Does Not Violate Christian Beliefs” that Christians need to reevaluate their view on assisted suicide and that it should be an individual choice. Chris Armstrong argues against euthanasia in the article “Christianity

religions. Regarding the first set of quotes, John Shelby Spong in his respective work and Don Cupitt in The Way to Happiness each suggest that seeing religion theistically, while orthodox and familiar, often causes an individual to miss the deeper purpose of being religious. Don Cupitt clearly asserts that theistic religion is outdated and no longer agrees with modern scientific explanations of the natural world. Holding a similar vantage point, Spong even boldly claims that if one sees “God” as

Imagine you are hiking a mountain trail that, of course, leads up to the top of the mountain. As you make your way along the path, picking around obstacles and stepping over branches, you stop to rest and to absorb the beauty around you – to commune with God, if you will. Suddenly, a group of people approaches and begins to berate you over the path you have chosen. They insist that, “You are on the wrong path,” and, “You will never reach the top that way,” and you should take the path that they’re

As people age they begin to realize their fear of a painful death. This has lead to the desire for the creation of a “right to die”, where a person can be made dead painlessly with the help of a medical practitioner. Many believe that such a right is morally necessary, to prevent unnecessary suffering and because they feel patients deserve a death with dignity. Religious groups appear split on the issue, some arguing for the sanctity of life and others arguing that allowing unnecessary suffering

We cannot assume that we can prevent all acts of terror and therefore must also prepare to minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. As September 11 showed and proved to us that we are not where we are supposed to be, the aftermath showed us how vulnerable we were. The Department of Homeland Security has made tremendous improvement since then to ensure the preparedness of our nation’s emergency response professionals, provide the federal government’s response, aid America’s recovery

How far reaching are my rights when it comes to making decisions about my own life or the lives of loved ones? Does the medical profession have a say in those same decisions? As societal views change and medical advances rapidly develop, many questions have been raised about our rights as humans to do what we please with our body, specifically in the case of euthanasia. My interest in euthanasia was peaked after watching the movie Me Before You. In the story, a man is paralyzed and decides that

“All religion seem to need to prove that it’s the only truth. And that’s where it turns demonic. Because that’s when you get religious wars and persecution and burning heretics at the stake,” John Shelby Spong, a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church, stated about religious persecution circumnavigating the globe. In today’s world persecution is a natural reaction to any kind of foreign belief established in a country that is governed by the it’s original religious foundation. An example

Mother nature An American Bishop, John Shelby Spong, once proclaimed, “ Nature is not sweet”. Indicating that mother nature is an unpredictable force, that even man can not control. The man struggled to survive in the brutal Klondike/Yukon winter, even though he could have lived if he had listened to the old timer, instead, he believed that he could overcome the cold without help and ended up losing his life. In the story, “ To Build a Fire”, by Jack London, he uses naturalism to support Darwin’s

granted to believers and the source of religious authority was the Bible. “The Protestant Reformation was an attempt to recast the Christian faith in terms of the new learning of the 16th century, the enlightenment learning,” a quote stated by John Shelby