The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic

This is an excellent book. I highly recommend it for anyone who is ready to grow beyond overly literal interpretations of the New Testament.I too agree John's gospel was never intended to be a literal account. John is not speaking of dates and facts; John is speaking to the deepest *meaning* of what Jesus reveals to us in the experience with God. This is far, far more important than thinking of the New Testament as a historical account of events surrounding the life of Jesus (which is far too limiting).For me, +Spong has taken a gospel I didn't really know what to do with, and has transformed it from a late account of the story of Jesus (circa 95 ce) and one which emphasises blood sacrifice (blood of the lamb: Jesus' crucifixion being moved to take place at the same time the lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple for Passover), into a mystical understanding of the *meaning* of Jesus' life and ministry. (It is not at all about blood sacrifice!)Mysticism? A scary proposition for some. For good reason. Mystics write to convey an experience that cannot really be put into words; doing so greatly diminishes their experience, yet it is the best they can do to point us toward finding our own experience of which they write and have experienced. Thus, mystical accounts are difficult to grasp. They require a lot of work, in that we must learn to see with new eyes and hear with new ears. This is challenging and sometimes frightening. The unknown provokes fear, and mystics ask us to step with them into the unknown.But if one reads the Gospel of John through the lens of mysticism, and specifically Jewish mysticism of the 1st century, it really does reveal a great depth of meaning to the text. For modern Christians, this too is difficult, because few of us have any understanding of that perspective. +Spong helps us acquire this lens. And I find it extremely useful.The point really is "I am." That the Father is in Jesus, and we are in Jesus, and Jesus in us; thus, we are in the Father too. This is speaking to what the late Prof. Ron Miller called Unity Consciousness, and living on the rooftop garden of consciousness. The second coming is available to us, the breath of life, is available to us; these are transformative experiences which will change who we are, how we behave, and how we interact with others.+Spong offers a beautiful interpretation of the meaning of Jesus' life, as bringing the in-dwelling spirit into our consciousness, and into our lives. We need only learn to overcome our fear and survival-mentality, and walk though the door Jesus opens to us. And then we are to live our lives in such a manner as to help others take this same step, into the in-dwelling I AM.While +Spong never uses the term, those familiar with the Eastern Orthodox teaching of Theosis will find a lot of common ground in this book. Jesus showed us how to live in such a manner as to bring forth the in-dwelling spirit -I AM- and this is the Light we are being shown. Theosis is what the authors of the Gospel of John are trying to reveal to us.I'm sure this sounds all fuzzy and misty to some. I suppose it is. This is mysticism, after all. Words pale. That said, +Spong has provided me a number of key insights which I sincerely believe will help me advance my spiritual maturity. And I now have a way of reading the Gospel of John that will advance my spiritual maturity.

For those who are not content to stick with traditional Christian symbols, liturgies, and rituals, this book helps redefine Christian spirituality for a modern age. Some might call it a "secular humanist" perspective of Christianity, and I personally am fine with that, although others might call it "atheistic" Christianity.First Spong dismantles most traditional Christian thought -- there is no father figure in the sky who listens to prayers, cares for us, and periodically intervenes in human affairs to change outcomes; the Scriptures are not blueprints to salvation, but rather ancient spiritual perspectives, and should not be interpreted literally; there was never any "perfect" creation as portrayed in Genesis from which human beings could "fall" -- instead of being sinful, wretched creatures, we are evolving, incomplete people, with our only sin being exactly what the universe "created" us to be -- humans, with all our faults and gifts.After tearing apart traditional Christianity, Spong then begins to rebuild Christian thinking in the light of modern knowledge. Here is a person who respects the ancient traditions, but does not feel bound by them. "Faith" in his scheme of things, is not assent to a set of unbelievable propositions, but the courage to embrace the uncertainty and insecurities of modern life, and walk boldly into tomorrow. Instead of being viewed as a "super human," Spong posits that perhaps God might best be expressed as a verb -- love, drawing from the gospel and letters of John.God is not a deity "out there" somewhere, but rather a permeating force in the life of everyone, calling us to achieve our highest potential by overcoming the barriers and limits of our evolved humanity -- transcending tribalism, misogyny, racism, and all the walls that separate one person from another another. He uses the ancient Jewish idea of God as "rausch," or the breath of God, a permeating presence that gives life. He gives us a vision of humanity as a natural part of the processes of the universe, no less than the trees and stars. We were built into the DNA of universe at the Big Bang -- or we would not be here. Science tends to view everything as discrete items, with everything separated into its little boxes, and there is nothing wrong with that -- it is a perspective. In contrast, Spong offers a vision of wholeness, of oneness with all humanity, and with the whole of "creation."It is an inspiring vision of what the human race might become, rooted deeply in the traditions of Christianity, while not being constrained by centuries-old thinking. I would recommend this book to anyone who is having trouble with a religion trapped in a pre-scientific mindset, anyone who wants to challenged in their spirituality, and seeks to move into a new, more transcendent consciousness of the universe, and our part in the natural order. It is a mystical view of connectedness, as opposed to the scientific perspective of division. Both are valid perspectives, but from opposite viewpoints. And either one seems impoverished without the other in my opinion.My only complaint is that the book got a bit repetitive at times, hammering the same themes over and over. Nonetheless, I found it both comforting and challenging at the same time. The bottom line is, it's nice to know there are people out there like me, who are not comfortable with traditional Christian forms, and who want to approach spirituality with some good, old-fashioned common sense, while still respecting the spiritual perspectives of our ancenstors.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

A very compelling read. My first Spong. Not sure I am convinced by all of his arguments but he has done lots of research and had me discussing this with theologians.