Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell

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Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: HarperOne; Reprint edition (October 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780060778422
ISBN-13: 978-0060778422
ASIN: 0060778423
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

In this challenging, intellectually rigorous culmination of his body of theological work, retired Episcopal bishop Spong (Jesus for the Non-Religious) provides a lucid historical analysis of the development of human religious thought from the onset of self-conscious awareness to the present, and a compelling argument for the creation of a new religious paradigm. Offering deeply personal reflections on his own Christian journey and priestly career, Spong reviews a lifetime of passionate engagement with biblical study and with questions of faith, charting his growing discomfort with language that seemed limited, falsifying and inadequate. Arguing that modern scientific understanding necessitates dismissing outdated metaphors and assumptions by which faith seeks to calm human anxiety, Spong suggests an understanding of God not as a person, but as the process that calls personhood into being. Spong's examination of the gospel resurrection accounts includes an intriguing interpretation of John's portrayal of Jesus as a being so courageously present that he was open to the ultimate reality of life, love and being. This work, bound to be influential, offers new insights into religion's big questions about life and death, making an invaluable contribution to both religious scholarship and faithful exploration. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Review “With subtlety and complexity, Spong promotes an idea of an ongoing existence beyond our physicality, one that entirely supercedes “religious” notions of Heaven or Hell and even conventional notions of God . . . Spong’s writing here as elsewhere is intelligent, engaged, comforting, and uplifting. ” --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition. Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell