A Reading of the Spong Book On The Fourth Gospel

Autographed by the author November 7, 2015.

Today I finished reading the Spong's book on the Gospel of John, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic. I bought it at the conclusion of the Spong lecture I attended on November 7th; I started reading it that evening and have essentially been reading a chapter a day.

The back cover of the book gives this summary: "Spong argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple." The result of this intriguing study not only recaptures the original message of this gospel, but also provides us today with a radical new dimension to the claim that in the humanity of Jesus the reality of God has been met and engaged." The adverts for the lecture further claim that in this book, "Spong provides a unique primer about how to be a Christian in the post-Christian 21st Century" (think about what that actually says).

My post is not intended to be a review or a critique of the book. Rather, my intent is to document a few quick thoughts after one reading of the book.

First, I found the book to be an easy read. Spong writes in a very personal style that feels like you are sitting together chatting rather than reading a book. Chapters are not overly long (roughly 10 pages each).

The Preface presents a sort of biography of Spong's life and career as an Episcopal priest and bishop (Newark, NJ). While it doesn't directly have anything to do with the subject, it gives the reader a sense of who the author is. The book is divided into five (5) parts:

1. Introducing the Fourth Gospel
2. The Book of Signs: Mythological Characters Wrapped Inside History
3. The Farewell Discourses and the High Priestly Prayer
4. The Passion Narrative: From Darkness to Light, From Death to Life
5. Resurrection: Mystical Oneness Revealed.

Footnotes are located within the chapters at the bottom of the page. These notes are limited to clarifications. An extensive bibliography is provided at the end of the text. An index and scriptural index are also provided.

A few editorial aspects irritated me. Use of scriptural references was inconsistent and often incorrect (by verse or two). I found myself penciling in the references for future use. A good editor should have caught this. Spong also sometimes slipped into an arrogant voice that assumed his position was obviously factual or truth (i.e., an air of superiority).

I came to this book hoping and expecting to learn something new about Jewish mysticism but was disappointed to find very little about this topic. I guess I will have to read further about that in other references. Instead, what I found was the not very new (to me at least) concept that the Gospel of John can be read as figurative rather than literal. Duhhh. 

I'm not sure if I learned much that was new to me from this book. Probably the most interesting new nuggets are other books that look intriguing: 

• Mysticism in the Gospel of John by Jey Kanagaraj (1998)
• Mystical Christianity A Psychological Commentary on the Gospel of John by John A. Sanford (1993)
• The Mystical Way in the Fourth Gospel by L. William Countryman (1995)

Who knows if I will ever get around to ready these. I have a lot on my list and have still many books of the Bible that I have not read.

A common proclamation in the book is that "one cannot know the fullness of life until one can give one's life away." [p. 316] This sounds very similar to a platitude in the 1970 rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, "to conquer death, you only have to die." [in the song, Poor Jerusalem].

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Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John

http://johnshelbyspong.com/store/the-fourth-gospel-tales-of-a-jewish-mystic

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2015/11/spong-lecture-can-you-believe-it.html
http://www.amazon.com/Mysticism-Gospel-John-Background-Testament/dp/0567446670

https://books.google.com/books/about/Mystical_Christianity.html?id=jsfYAAAAMAAJ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Sanford

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Mystical_Way_in_the_Fourth_Gospel.html?id=-Rd9QgAACAAJ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_Superstar

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Written Tuesday December 8, 2015.