I would like the church to be a place where the questions of people are honored rather than a place where we have all the answers. The church has to get out of propaganda. The future will involve us in more interfaith dialogue. ... We cannot say we have the only truth.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of honoring questions over providing definitive answers in faith.
John Shelby Spong advocates for a transformative approach to religious communities, suggesting that churches should prioritize fostering dialogue and exploring questions rather than asserting absolute truths. This perspective encourages inclusivity and respect for diverse beliefs, promoting a future where interfaith conversations lead to greater understanding and mutual respect among various faith traditions.
In practice
In a sermon discussing tolerance and understanding, this quote could highlight the need for openness in faith communities.
When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it.
The church is like a swimming pool. Most of the noise comes from the shallow end.
Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. That is a paradigm shift of the first order.
It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.
The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new dimensions of life which our religious boundaries - creeds, atonement theologies - have kept us from experiencing.
When the dust settles and the pages of history are written, it will not be the angry defenders of intolerance who have made the difference. The reward will go to those who dared to step outside the safety of their privacy in order to expose and rout the prevailing prejudices.
It was both odd and unjust, a real example of pitiful arbitrariness of existance, that you were born into a particular time & held prisoner there whether you wanted it or not. It gave you an indecent advantage over the past and made you a clown vis-a-vis the future.
Let us think of people as starting life with an experience they forget and ending it with one which they anticipate but cannot understand.
Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.
Away with the cant of 'Measures not men!'-the idle supposition that it is the harness and not the horses that draw the chariot along.
Islam is itself destiny and will not suffer destiny.
The time will come when mankind will begin to get away from the consciousness of needing so many material things. More security and peace will be found in the simple life.
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