Retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong presents a provocative idea in his latest book. Reading the Bible literally, he says, is heresy. He bases his argument on a close reading of the Gospel of Matthew, which he argues was written by Jews for Jews. Spong says the gospel was not written as a literal account of Christ’s life, but rather as an interpretative portrait of God’s love. Spong joins us Friday to talk about biblical literalism and his uniquely progressive approach to Christianity.

John Shelby Spong is the retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark. He has lectured at more than 500 universities, colleges, and theological seminaries around the world. He is the author 25 books, including his newest, Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy [Amazon|Indiebound].