There's an awful lot of biblical ignorance, and the church perpetuates that ignorance.
John Shelby SpongI think I could make the case for any kind of organized religion, but I'm not an expert in those, so let me narrow my focus to talk about Christianity.
John Shelby SpongI have no problem with anybody who wants to bear public witness to their religion, but I don't think they can do it on public property. They have to do it on private property. There's nothing unconstitutional about that.
John Shelby SpongHysterical fundamentalism is not the way into the future; it is the last gasp of the past.
John Shelby SpongI think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God.
John Shelby SpongIn the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three images of the Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground....I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. I am content to learn from them and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us.
John Shelby Spong