Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today

by John Shelby Spong

God is rather “Being itself.” God is not a noun that needs to be defined. God is a verb that needs to be lived. It was and is an ancient idea, but perhaps because it is not always a satisfying idea, it never grasped the core of our humanity. “Being itself” does not offer us a lifeline to security. It does not promise us aid in time of need. It does not put the supernatural at the service of the human. It does not teach us how to manipulate the divine for the benefit of the human. What these minority voices out of the Bible call us to do, however, is to step beyond a theistic understanding of God and to open ourselves to a new way to approach the Holy. It suggests that we are part of the Holy. Theology turns into anthropology. This is where reformation begins; it must not, however, be where it ends. So we press on.