I am only 14 years behind, reviewing a book that came out in 1990.  Nevertheless, this book was new to me (and the first written by Bishop Spong that I have read).  I found this to be an excellent read for those in its target audience:  those Christians who do not believe that the Bible should be interpreted literally, but have not yet developed a biblical understanding to replace literalism.  The book focuses exclusively on understanding the Bible itself, however, and does not attempt to analyze in any detail how the worship of Christianity is or is not altered by the Biblical scholarship that he summarizes.  Within these limitations, this book is an informative reference work that can provide a good introduction for further study in developing answers to the broader questions in Christianity today. 

Bishop Spong’s theme is consistent throughout:  If we interpret these texts literally, they are in such conflict with what we know of the world that the texts will eventually cease to have any meaning whatsoever.  He demonstrates that each author had his own purposes in drafting each of the texts, and that the deepest meanings lie beneath the literal words.To help alleviate the biblical ignorance that he identifies as a crucial problem among both liberal christians and fundamentalists, Bishop Spong provides a very readable “walk” through the Bible, covering and summarizing the state of Biblical scholarship at each main point. 

            Bishop Spong’s main analysis is broken into seven sections, presented in chronological order of their authorship:  (1) the five books of history in the Old Testament; (2) the Old Testament Prophets, Psalms and Proverbs, (3) the writings of Paul, and (4 through 7) the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke ,and John, in that order. At each point, he provides a grounding in the authorship and origin of the various texts.  In particular, he focuses on the timing of the writing of the New Testament and the perspectives of each of the authors.  He ties this timing to the events occurring in the early Christian community, and demonstrates the purposes for which each of the Gospels written, and the problems that each was intended to address.  Finally, with this knowledge in hand, he turns to many of the conflicting details that make it absurd to interpret these writings literally.

The interpretation of the New Testament is, not surprisingly, the central part of his work.  By lining these texts up in order of writing, beginning with Paul, Bishop Spong provides a clear, but succinct, presentation of the extensive modifications that were made to the Christ story between the time of Paul and the time that John was written many years later.  One striking (and commonly referenced) example is provided by the timing at which the Spirit entered Jesus, or Jesus became the Son of God.  In Paul’s letters, this occurs at the time of crucifixion and resurrection.  In Mark, at the time of Jesus’s baptism.  It occurs at the time of Jesus’s birth in Matthew and Luke.  Finally, in John, the most recent source, Jesus’s divine nature existed from before the creation of the world.  If one reads these texts literally, one loses the meaning that each author is trying to tell, and instead must expend enormous energy to reconcile their inconsistencies.

            Now, many folks may not appreciate Bishop Spong’s work as much as I.  To those with more of a formal education in the Bible, this book will contain little that is new.  To those who are already Biblical literalists, while Bishop Spong repeatedly identifies contradictory passages in the Bible, he does not really try to persuade those whose minds are made up.  Rather, he assumes, in his language and tone, that his reader is already convinced that the Bible is not inerrant.  With this assumption, Bishop Spong provides a valuable and well written resource to understanding the Bible.  I highly recommend this book for those seekers who are trying to break away from the "traditional" way in which the Bible has been used, or rather mis-used.