The last few chapters of this book really captured me, but I was of more mixed feelings on the rest of it. It took me a couple tries to get through it, and as late as last week, I was ready to abandon it.

Spong is one of those writers who repeats arguments; having read another of his books, much of this one sounded familiar. Some of his arguments also felt simplistic, and I think a more nuanced look at the historical Jesus would stand in tension with his perspective (though this is based on my reading of other authors—this is clearly not an area of my expertise). In other cases, I would have liked to see more sources cited or despite his progressive commitments, a choice of words rubbed me the wrong way.

Yet, I really appreciate what Spong is going for, and as I already mentioned, the last few chapters on ecclesiology stood out to me. So, I’m giving him some credit despite the things that rubbed me the wrong way. It also must have been much harder to make these arguments in 2000 than now, and so maybe I should give him a pass for being less confident and insightful than defensive (or gleefully provocative) in his writing. At any rate, I’m glad I finished the book.

• A New Christianity for a New World
• John Shelby Spong
• ecclesiology