This Hebrew Lord

From the bestselling author of Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong’s original groundbreaking classic reveals the Jesus behind the language of myth, magic, and superstition.


Seeking to understand the “figure who stands at the center of all the Christian Church is,” Spong explores the life and teachings of Jesus in the light of the Hebrew tradition into which he was born. Candid, intimate, and soundly argued, this is Spong’s spiritual and intellectual pilgrimage to the Christ he discovered in Jesus of Nazareth. For Spong, This Hebrew Lord is not just an instructional book, but also a highly personal journey. As he writes: “When you are accepted, accept yourself; when you are forgiven, forgive yourself; when you are loved, love yourself. Grasp that Christ power and dare to be yourself!”

John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. As a leading spokesperson for an open, scholarly and progressive Christianity, Bishop Spong has taught at Harvard and at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. His books include A New Christianity for a New World, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Resurrection: Myth or Reality?, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and his autobiography, Here I Stand.