Abstract: The person and event of Jesus is the mystery of Christianity. Since the emergence of modernity, the event of Jesus has been reassessed according to modern historical and scientific knowledge. Such criteria have been presupposed by many modern theological thinkers who have attempted to reinterpret the significance of Jesus in a relevant way for the modern world. One such contemporary thinker is the American Episcopalian bishop, John Shelby Spong. This paper will attempt to present and critique from an Orthodox perspective Bishop John Shelby Spong’s theological understanding of the person and event of Jesus. It will demonstrate that Spong’s understanding of Christ is problematic on theological and exegetical grounds as it attempts to reinterpret the event of Jesus in accordance with the idealistic principles of historical objectivity and scientific certainty.

Keywords: Christianity, modernity, Jesus Christ, John Shelby Spong, Orthodox perspective