As Spong exposes and challenges what he calls the “terrible texts of the Bible,” laying bare the evil done by them in the name of God, he also seeks to redeem these texts, hoping to recover their ultimate depth and purpose.

The Bible contains many passages that believers and nonbelievers alike would recognize as appalling theology. Whether these texts are used to discriminate, oppress, or condemn, they distort the truth of Christianity and cast doubt upon the love of God. Now, legendary Episcopal bishop and advocate for liberal Christianity John Shelby Spong addresses these passages, shattering our misconceptions and delivering a new vision of how Christians today can use the Bible.

Review
“Spong demonstrates the prophetic vocation that prefers truth to lies, honesty to hypocrisy, common sense to sick religious ideologies.”—Matthew Fox, president, University of Creation Spirituality, author of Original Blessing, Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet, and One River, Many Wells

John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark for twenty-four years prior to his retirement in 2000. Since then he has taught at Harvard University, the University of the Pacific and Drew University and he has been a visiting lecturer at universities and churches throughout North America and the English-speaking world. His books have sold over a million copies and he is regarded as one of Christianity's frontier twenty-first-century thinkers. His bestselling titles include "Eternal Life: A New Vision, Jesus for the Non-Religious, The Sins of Scripture, A New Christianity for a New Worl