Make sure you read the chapter "The Meaning of Prayer in the World with No External Deity". Compelling! The subtitle of this book brought a wonderful debate with my dear friend that is reading this also. "A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile." We both find we no longer feel at home in our church. They church hasn't changed, we have. Nothing wrong with the church, we just have either grown or changed our vantage point. This book has been perfect for those pursuing what she and I decided to simply call "the truth" (no caps). It's been a wonderful series of books I have read lately and posted here. Titles I would never pick up for fear of being deceived, disobedient, oh.. and one of my favorites my pastor use to throw around like unholy water... a "BACKSLIDER"! “Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear”. Thomas Jefferson. This book is a healthy way to question. ( )

Delightful to read his freedom in his soul. It helped me fly into Gods arms instead of waiting to do it right... ( )

Some good points, but frankly they felt a little labored, as though the author was trying TOO HARD to prove his point when he really didn't have to, and as a result, not enough issues were addressed that I view as viable. Decent book, could have been much better. ( )

William James would say that the reason I like Bishop Spong so much is that because he reconfirms all of my already existing prejudices. But this book rang like a revelation to me. At a time when I continued to be disillusioned with the Christian church, yet was beginning to despair that I would find anything else spiritual that would be truly meaningful to me, Bishop Spong opened a door and told me that it was okay to go back inside. That the fundamentalists don't own Christianity. That I could believe as I did and still call myself Christian. I've said before that without reading this book, I never could have married Andrew, that my whole life would have been different. And I still believe that to be true. I can't really explain how grateful I am that I found it. ( )

This book probably would have appealed to me more if I were in its target audience (which I think is "Christians who are skeptical of their religion, but don't want to stop being religious".) In any case, the part that I got through was interesting. ( )