At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Christianity was in a state of crisis, riven by conflicts that gave birth to the Reformation. Martin Luther’s movement was later followed by a “revolutionary time of human knowledge.” Yet these philosophical and scientific advances had little impact on Christians’ adherence to doctrines developed before these intellectual advances—which is why Christianity has become “unbelievable” today.Bible scholar and Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong contends that the slow withering of the traditional church makes it imperative for Christians to develop a radically new kind of Christianity—a faith deeply connected to the human experience instead of outdated dogma. To keep Christianity vital, he urges modern Christians to update their faith in light of these advances in our knowledge and to challenge the rigid and problematic church teachings that emerged with the Reformation.
With its revolutionary resistance to the authority of the church in the sixteenth century, Luther’s movement can still serve, according to Spong, as a model for today’s discontented Christians. In fact, while the Reformers’ answers have become outdated and irrelevant, their questions can still serve to guide us today: Does the idea of God still have meaning? Can we still follow historic creeds with integrity? Are not such claims as an infallible pope or an inerrant Bible ridiculous in today’s world? In Unbelievable, Spong outlines twelve “theses” to help today’s believers more deeply contemplate and reshape their faith.
In this final book of his storied career, Spong continues to integrate a rigorous schol-arly tradition with the Christian faith and so offers a new approach, one that challenges Christians to explore their beliefs in new and meaningful ways.
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