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Bishop Spong shown as shallow, inaccurate – Review by the late John Mackey DD, CBE

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FOCUS ON JOHN SHELBY SPONG (Apologia 1st pub. 2000) – Reviewed  

BOOK REVIEW: Reproduced from NZ Catholic – May 20, 2001, p. 19

Reviewer: The late Bishop John Mackey DD, CBE (d. 2014) was the Bishop Emeritus of Auckland.

Review Title: Bishop Spong shown as shallow, inaccurate

This is a difficult publication to review because it is a journal rather than a book, with almost 20 articles from a variety of authors. The presentation is attractive, the print clear and the photos and illustrations illuminating.

It is produced by The Wellington Christian Apologetics Society (Inc.), a body of Christians who defend traditional Christian beliefs against the more fashionable secular beliefs of people like Lloyd Geering, James Veitch and the American, Anglican Bishop Spong. This volume is devoted to a critique of Bishop Spong, his many publications and his lectures. There is also an article on Veitch, a follow-on from a previous volume, Focus on James Veitch.

The criticisms of Bishop Spong’s scholarship are really quite devastating. In almost every area in which he claims competence, and from which he draws his conclusions that Christianity is an outmoded proposition, he is shown to be either shallow or inaccurate, and often both. This is not surprising because the faith that Geering, Veitch and Spong expound is as much a faith as that of any other worshipper. The difference is that they have transferred their allegiance from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the worship of humanity. Such worship is hard to justify.

The essays are all very competently presented. Some are short and trenchant; others are longer and more meticulous in the exposition of Spong’s shallow erudition. This is especially true of three long essays by the editor, David H. Lane. He writes: “While there is sometimes a fine line between argument that is ad hominem and a rigorous critique, we have sought to avoid charges/accusations of dishonesty, stupidity, hypocrisy, and the like, even though the subject of our investigation regularly directs such barbs at his critics.” [Read more…]

DAVID LANE Wellington NZ – Author and Editor FOCUS ON JOHN SHELBY SPONG

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DAVID LANE Hataitai Wellington New Zealand – Author and Editor of Apologia

“FOCUS ON JOHN SHELBY SPONG”

Apologia Volume 7 (3/3) 2000 ISSN 1171-5863

Published by The Wellington Christian Apologetics Society Inc. (“WCAS”)

Copyright © 2000  135 pages.

Editor and major contributor – David H. Lane M.Sc. (Hons.), Dip. Tchg.

[Author of “The Phenomenon of Teilhard: Prophet for a New Age”

(Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1996)].

John Shelby Spong Apologia Image

DAVID LANE Hataitai Wellington New Zealand – Author and Editor of Apologia

 

Focus on John Shelby Spong has been republished by the Wellington Christian Apologetics Society (“WCAS”) to mark 25 years since the Society was founded and commenced publications of its journal Apologia. This work is a major critique of the published work of retired Episcopalian Bishop – John Shelby Spong – and deals with the man and his message. It thoroughly strips away the intellectual façade surrounding this provocateur who has bamboozled audiences with his rhetoric and become a darling with the liberal secular media for his espousal of a redefined version of Christianity which jettisons all traditional understanding of the Faith including the doctrines of God as Creator and Man made in the image of God.

A range of thought-provoking scholarly essays are provided by contributors including: the late Dr. George Duggan SM, one of New Zealand’s leading Catholic theologians; Dr Jonathan Sarfati, author of Refuting Evolution (1999); Michael Bott, former Vice-President of WCAS; David H. Lane, current WCAS President and author of The Phenomenon of Teilhard (1996); Prof. Gerald O’Collins, the late Archbishop of NZ Brian Davis; Dr Frank Mobbs; Kathleen Loncar;  David Mills; The Very Rev. Dr Peter C. Moore (Dean and President of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry); Dr Stephen M. Smith , Prof. of  Theology & Ethics, Trinity Episcopal School of Ministry; Wayne Jackson and others. The work includes a commentary on Spong’s 1997 lecture tour of NZ, a number of in-depth analyses of Spong’s theology and world-view, and reviews of Spong’s books: Resurrection: Myth or Reality?, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand.

How to purchase your copy Focus on John Shelby Spong

For orders of “”, from outside New Zealand, please contact “WCAS Publications” – C/- The Editor – Apologia”  by e-mail – (spcs.org@gmail.com) providing your postal address and number of copies required. Our administrator will quote you a price taking account of postage rates and negotiate payment details etc via email.

For orders from within New Zealand please send a cheque for $29.95 NZ (per copy ordered) made out to “Wellington Christian Apologetics Society” and send it to “WCAS Editor” C/- P.O. Box 13-683 Johnsonville 6440. Please provide your postal address and number of copies required.

Please note: Bulk discounts are available on request. For more details on the Journal visit www.christian-apologetics.org

Special Note: The republication of this work Focus on John Shelby Spong has been undertaken with the approval of SPCS Inc. which has as one of its objectives from Section 2 of  its constitution: 2.(c) To encourage self-respect and the dignity of the human person, made in the image of God.