From Publishers Weekly
Continuing his project of making Christianity viable in a secular world, Bishop Spong here pursues the mystery of Easter. The solutions he proposes are not grounded in a literal understanding of the Bible; nor are they based in a quest for the historical Jesus. Easter, for Spong, was not a supernatural event that occurred inside human history. He asserts that even though Jesus was of history, we will never know all that Jesus was or meant. Most especially, we will never know exactly what happened on that moment that is called Easter. What we can know is that the first Christians became convinced that Jesus did not die and, to express the intensity of their experience, they used the language and style of midrash. Thus, Bishop Spong believes that to enter the meaning of the Gospels, to enter the experience of Easter, it is necessary to enter the tradition of midrash. His book, consequently, is a long and complex journey into the images of the biblical texts, the midrashic vehicles employed to carry the transcendent meaning of Easter. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Episcopal Bishop and prolific author Spong examines the Christian doctrine of resurrection and its biblical evidence to discover its true meaning beneath the legends and myths that encase it. Written for the lay reader, Spong's book has the tone of personal quest, but his actual findings are similar to those of recent New Testament scholars. This book will appeal to those wanting a reasonable, nonliteralist faith grounded in the mystery of reality beyond time and space. Highly recommended.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Resurrection happened . . . but it didn't. He's alive . . . but he isn't. Through a series of convoluted theological suppositions, Spong, an Episcopal bishop, attempts to show that Jesus' resurrection was not a real event, but simply a legend recounted in the Bible. Arguing that this perspective is more believable than objective biblical literalism, Spong uses the very tactics for which he criticizes literalists. For example, since the Bible doesn't say Jesus "rose from the dead" but instead that he "was raised from the dead," Spong claims that the Resurrection was only a spiritual experience or belief of the disciples, rather than a bodily resurrection. The bishop insists that no reasonable person could believe literal interpretations of the Bible, and claims that this impending death of literalism has caused him to transcend chronological time when viewing the gospel. This is more believable? The troubling thing about Spong's book, nonetheless, is that a great deal of it makes sense. Although flaws in Spong's theory may be found, readers who believe in literal Bible interpretation had better expect to be challenged. Virtually all of Bishop Spong's books have been controversial. This one will be no different. Patty O'Connell
From Kirkus Reviews
The Episcopal bishop of Newark, New Jersey (Living in Sin?, etc.--not reviewed), offers a controversial view of the key element in Christianity--the resurrection of Jesus. Spong suggests that Christians have forgotten that the New Testament frequently makes use of Midrash, a genre in which different biblical motifs are interwoven in order to speak of things that transcend human categories. Thus the story of Joshua's parting of the sea means that he was a second Moses, and the opening of the heavens at Jesus' baptism tells us that Jesus is the true Moses. Spong argues that since Jesus' resurrection is divine, it is beyond the realm of history, and the stories surrounding it are Midrash. The question we need to ask, then, is not whether these stories are literally true, but what experience they describe. For Spong, the transformation of the disciples is evidence that something did take place, and in the course of several chapters he attempts to get near their experience by decoding the language of Midrash. His conclusion is that no one knows what happened to the body of Jesus; there was no empty tomb, no angels, no appearances. Instead, Peter later saw Jesus--``in the realm of God''--in a way that Spong says was real but not objective. Although Spong considers his approach to the texts the only viable one today, many may find his view more difficult to accept than the traditional one and will want to question his basic premise--that modern people cannot, with integrity, believe in angels and the supernatural. He bases his own position, furthermore, on probabilities and literary criticism; yet he does not hesitate to make absolute statements such as ``Jesus could not have said, I am the bread of life.'' A stimulating study, although the author has hardly succeeded in his desire to avoid a ``pale subjectivity.'' -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
San Francisco Chronicle
"A gripping detective story. . . . [a] marvelously engrossing book."
Book Description
A daring examination of the foundational event
of Christianity, and an inspiring vision for
reconciliation between Jews and Christians.Using approaches from the Hebrew interpretive tradition to discern the actual events surrounging Jesus' death, Bishop Spong questions the hitorical validity of literal narrative concerned the Ressurection. He asserts that the resurrection story was born in an experience that opened the disciples' eyes to the reality of God and the meaning of Jesus of Nazareth. Spong traces the Christian origins of anti-Semitism to the Church's fabrication of the ultimate Jewish scapegoat, Judas Iscariot. He affirms the inclusiveness of the Christian message and emphasizes the necessity of mutual integrity and respect among Christians and Jews.
From the Publisher
The controversial bishop's bestselling examination of the Resurrection--the foundational event of Christianity--provides a daring vision and basis for reconciliation between Jews and Christians.
About the Author
John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark, New Jersey for twenty-four years before his retirement in 2000. He is one of the leading spokespersons for liberal Christianity and has been featured on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, FOX News Live, and Extra. This book is based on the William Belden Noble lectures Spong delivered at Harvard.
Resurrection: Myth or Reality? FROM THE PUBLISHER
In his previous books Living in Sin?, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, and Born of a Woman, Bishop John Shelby Spong courageously challenged traditional Christian positions on sexual morality, literal interpretation of the Scriptures, the understanding of women, and a variety of other issues central to the current cultural debate. Now, in Resurrection: Myth or Reality?, Spong takes a daring look at the very foundation of Christianity - the Resurrection and the story of Easter. The key to our understanding these events, Spong writes, is recognizing that the Early Christians were Jewish by background and deeply shaped by their formative Jewish tradition. With a close comparison of the New Testament witness to antecedents in the Hebrew scriptures, Spong argues convincingly that many of the details of Jesus' life and his crucifixion are not historical, but derive instead from the Jewish tradition of Midrash, expository teachings that employ the retelling of sacred stories from the Jewish past in order to understand the powerful experience of God in the Jewish present. Through this radical Jewish reading of the Christian story, Spong discovers startling clues to the mystery of the Resurrection and offers a provocative reconstruction of what actually happened when the reality of Easter first dawned in history. Among his fascinating conclusions are a physical bodily resurrection was not originally part of the Christian Easter claim; the Resurrection actually occurred in Galilee, not in Jerusalem; the phrase "on the third day" does not refer to chronological time; the Easter claim and the Reenactment of the Christian Common Meal are deeply intertwined; the story of Jesus' burial and the account of the empty tomb are in fact late-developing Christian legends; the Jerusalem account of Easter was created from the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, which occurs some six months after the passover; the triumphant journey of Palm Sunday was actually undertaken
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