I see from James McGrath that Marcus Borg has passed. I never met Borg, and he was always an example to me of the wrong trajectory with regard to the historical Jesus. But I read Jesus: A New Vision when I was working on my doctorate. I always felt like Borg was someone whose head had undergone quite a change with his studies but who had just as warm a heart as he ever might have had. Never met him, but really respected him.
He, Tom Wright, and Lincoln Hurst were all students of G. B. Caird, all four of whom had an impact on me. I encountered Caird's Language and Imagery of the Bible in seminary. Amazingly clear and helpful, I thought. Wright inherited some of that sense that apocalyptic imagery wasn't always meant to be taken literally (e.g., the Lord coming on the clouds). Borg also brought that to his "non-apocalyptic" Jesus.
Again, he didn't convince me in the end, but I'm saddened today by his passing.
Showing posts with label Marcus Borg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marcus Borg. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Book Review: Borg's Jesus
I have a student finishing up his graduation requirements with an independent study reading two books. The first is Marcus Borg's Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary. Here are some of my thoughts after reading through this book.
1. First, it is probably a book for more mature evangelicals rather than for the impressionable or of shaky faith. While Marcus Borg has a strong personal faith, it is not a traditional faith and certainly not an evangelical faith. Borg started out a fairly conservative Lutheran but found himself intellectually unable to maintain that faith in a traditional form the further he went in his studies.
The result is that he has continued in faith in the only way he knows how. This is a faith that embraces the human side of Christian faith without committing to an objective God or resurrected Christ in a traditional sense. He affirms Christian spirituality as real, just as he would affirm Buddhist or Jewish spirituality. If I remember correctly Ben Witherington characterized his Jesus as a new age Jesus.
Borg now refers to Jesus as a mystic. I read his Jesus: A New Vision back in the 90's in preparation to make some lectures in England on the historical Jesus. This is a great improvement on that book in many ways.
2. But this makes Borg a good read for someone who is about to throw the Christian towel in completely. Borg, like Bultmann before, is keenly interested in legitimating Christian faith. At several points in this book he says things like "Believe what you wish with regard to whether this happened historically or not, but do not miss the real point, which is the more-than-literal meaning of this story."
Borg will be attractive to many emergents, and he hopes to be helpful to them. His Jesus is a Jesus who appeals to the part of Jesus and Christianity that they see as the part most important and valuable in our current context. His message fits with themes like generous orthodoxy and explicitly mentions Jim Wallis' God's Politics with approval in his epilogue.
3. ... which of course means that opponents to the emerging and to the Sojourners movement will attempt to assassinate them by association. Let me say before anyone tries to do this that this is logically invalid. X advocates such and such and Y advocates such and such; therefore X is Y is an invalid argument--ticks me off when Christians make God look stupid. Don't be stupid--Wallis and McClaren don't agree with Borg's understanding of God or Christ.
4. For mature evangelicals, this book is a very convenient look "outside our bubble." Borg was a part of the famed Jesus Seminar. He considers the books of the Bible a human response to the sacred but clearly rejects any claim that it might be inerrant. He matter of factly says things like, "mainline scholars do not see the stories of Jesus' birth as historically factual reports" (62).
That is not to say that there is not a good deal of correct information here and historical insights. With a sensitive guide to walk with you through the book, a person can go a 1000 miles ahead in his or her understanding of the first century context in which Jesus walked. A fundamentalist will jump off Borg's boat soon, an evangelical at some point a little further. To remain orthodox, you will need to jump off a little further on the way.
But for some who were poised to leave Christianity all together, this book might convince you to stay.
1. First, it is probably a book for more mature evangelicals rather than for the impressionable or of shaky faith. While Marcus Borg has a strong personal faith, it is not a traditional faith and certainly not an evangelical faith. Borg started out a fairly conservative Lutheran but found himself intellectually unable to maintain that faith in a traditional form the further he went in his studies.
The result is that he has continued in faith in the only way he knows how. This is a faith that embraces the human side of Christian faith without committing to an objective God or resurrected Christ in a traditional sense. He affirms Christian spirituality as real, just as he would affirm Buddhist or Jewish spirituality. If I remember correctly Ben Witherington characterized his Jesus as a new age Jesus.
Borg now refers to Jesus as a mystic. I read his Jesus: A New Vision back in the 90's in preparation to make some lectures in England on the historical Jesus. This is a great improvement on that book in many ways.
2. But this makes Borg a good read for someone who is about to throw the Christian towel in completely. Borg, like Bultmann before, is keenly interested in legitimating Christian faith. At several points in this book he says things like "Believe what you wish with regard to whether this happened historically or not, but do not miss the real point, which is the more-than-literal meaning of this story."
Borg will be attractive to many emergents, and he hopes to be helpful to them. His Jesus is a Jesus who appeals to the part of Jesus and Christianity that they see as the part most important and valuable in our current context. His message fits with themes like generous orthodoxy and explicitly mentions Jim Wallis' God's Politics with approval in his epilogue.
3. ... which of course means that opponents to the emerging and to the Sojourners movement will attempt to assassinate them by association. Let me say before anyone tries to do this that this is logically invalid. X advocates such and such and Y advocates such and such; therefore X is Y is an invalid argument--ticks me off when Christians make God look stupid. Don't be stupid--Wallis and McClaren don't agree with Borg's understanding of God or Christ.
4. For mature evangelicals, this book is a very convenient look "outside our bubble." Borg was a part of the famed Jesus Seminar. He considers the books of the Bible a human response to the sacred but clearly rejects any claim that it might be inerrant. He matter of factly says things like, "mainline scholars do not see the stories of Jesus' birth as historically factual reports" (62).
That is not to say that there is not a good deal of correct information here and historical insights. With a sensitive guide to walk with you through the book, a person can go a 1000 miles ahead in his or her understanding of the first century context in which Jesus walked. A fundamentalist will jump off Borg's boat soon, an evangelical at some point a little further. To remain orthodox, you will need to jump off a little further on the way.
But for some who were poised to leave Christianity all together, this book might convince you to stay.
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