Spong has the courage to review the Bible and find areas that need to be discussed . The Bible was written by a society who stoned women , thought the world wes flat, thought the earth was the center of the universe . Anyone who would say the earth was round could be put to death by the Pope of ancient times . Left handed or people who had an original idea were burned by puritans in the name of God . The same christians who hate and I men hate Spong are of that same school. If you know people so shallow do not drink the coolaide as this is the same people Jim Jones would have as friends . Jerry Farwell and his crowd have become millionaires tickling your ears and I don't think people want to know . The truth that the bible gives you the right to kill your first child , remove any woman's right to even speak in a house of worship as well as give a man the right to kill his wife if he becomes jealous should . People who think it is OK to kill and danm in the name of a god should move to Pakistan and never read Spong as it take 3 digits in your IQ to understand his work . Stupid people should read books written for their level of thinking and enjoy it as entertainment .
Rev. John Evers

The book, a collection of essays from many different Episcopal Bishops, takes on the task of refuting some of the wild and unscholarly writings of Retired Bishop John Shelby Spong. The book receives an average rating because the writing styles from so many different writers (10) doesn't flow naturally.

Further, while some authors do a good job refurting Spong's theology, others are not as good at communicating their position. The book does a good enough job in refuting "Spong theology", but lacks a coherent focus because of the many different authors. The book would have been better if only two of the Bishops wrote this book seeking editing and assistence from the others.

I confess-- I have something in common with most of the Rt. Rev. Spong's fans. Like them, I've read very little of what he's written. (For example, "Can A Bishop Be Wrong" has two five-star reviews from Spong fans who are under the impression that Spong wrote this book-- apparently, they feel comfortable praising Spong's work sight-unseen).

Don't get me wrong. I've tried to read Spong. But, alas, the Rt. Rev. S. is a ghastly writer. After a while, the charms of Spong's writing-- his relentless self-congratulation, his presenting of hackneyed 19th-century pop-biblical-criticism as his own daring innovation, his use of the passive voice to hide sweeping and questionable assertions ("...there is surprise at how insignificant were the theological issues dividing the two sides [of the Reformation]"), his utter lack of a sense of humor, his unforgivably poor skill with words-- begin to pall. I haven't yet met someone who can read an entire chapter of Spong at one sitting.

That's where this book comes in handy. They don't exhaustively categorize the intellectual sins of the Rt. Rev. Spong-- such a task could never be worth the trees killed. But they provide a good survey of his looking-glass kingdom. "Can A Bishop Be Wrong" isn't a work of Christian apologetics, because it doesn't have to be. Spong's main contention-- the foundation of all his work-- is his claim that no intelligent person of the twentieth century can be an orthodox Christian. To respond, one doesn't have to prove Christianity-- one just has to provide a counterexample. This book categorizes his errors and logical lapses with admirable thoroughness. Not an exhaustive thoroughness, to be sure, but sufficient to the silly task at hand.

This book has its flaws. As others have noted, it is a collection of essays, and they repeat some of the same points over and over. The authors sometimes let Spong goad them into anger. And they don't argue much against Spong's theological outlook-- but since Spong's outlook is just rehashed nineteenth-century "modernism", you can find plenty of orthodox arguments against heavier intellectual forces than Spong. (Try Chesterton's _The_Everlasting_Man_, for starters.)

This book has a limited market. Spong's fans will not be moved by what they read here, if they were inclined to try reading it. But to the traditional theist of whatever religion, who wonders whether he ought to read Spong and find out what all the fuss is about, this book offers a strong and well-reasoned answer: "Nope."

Book Too Tiny Reviewer: A reader from Erie, CO United States I normally am an advocate of any book or magazine published by Cook's Illustrated magazine. Unfortunately, this series of books are too small and the print too tiny to be practical. You have to hold the book too close to your eyes to read it which makes it totally impractical for putting in your cookbook holder to refer to while cooking. I like the recipes but it would be nice if I could read them without straining by eyes.