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Title: The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith by Marcus J. Borg ISBN: 0-06-052676-9 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.04 (24 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Christianity at its best...
Comment: I just finished reading Marcus Borg's new book "The Heart of Christianity" and it's the best book on contemporary Christianity that I've read in a long while.
Borg talks about the "earlier paradigm" of Christianity and an "emerging paradigm". He discusses the history of the "earlier paradigm" and provides useful insights such as the rather recent notions of Biblical infallibility (post-Enlightenment) and Papal infallibility (1870) which many may assume have ALWAYS been a big part of the Christian tradition.
Borg makes quite clear early on in the book that the "earlier paradigm" can and does WORK, insofar as bringing people into fuller communion with God and can certainly produce lives which work for compassion and justice. However, for various reasons (institutional, scientific, and cultural - for example), many in the modern Western world find the "earlier paradigm" to be uncompelling and "unbelievable".
Borg attempts to show throughout the book how much more deep and wonderful the Christian tradition is than merely "believing" certain doctrines or defending the literalness of certain events (creation, the flood, the Exodus, walking on water etc...) in order to "prove" the strength of our faith. Did the Exodus really happen? Maybe not. Is it a true story of the human need for liberation from bondage - certainly. Confusing "did it really happen - could I have videotaped it?" with "Is that story true?" is a big issue.
Borg argues that we diminish our faith stories by making them merely literal. He pushes for the "more-than-literal" meanings in the Christian scripture. It is a modern Western mindset which equates "facts and proof" with "truth".
Borg is a deeply spiritual person who has experienced God personally, who claims that Jesus is Lord, and that "the Other"/"the Spirit"/"God" is real. He even more or less agrees with the value of intercessionary prayer (as opposed to Spong) along the same lines as Catholic doctrine.
The Christianity which Borg portrays in the "emerging paradigm" is very compelling for me. It is deeply spiritual, rooted in historical Christian traditions, non-exclusivist, and transformative on the personal and community level. A brilliant easily readable book. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Borg at his best
Comment: I've read several of Prof. Borg's books, and all of them are excellent. In his latest book, The Heart of Christianity, Borg summarizes a lifetime of reflection on the Christian faith.
Borg claims that the "traditional paradigm" is losing it's power over people. Here traditional paradigm refers to a Christianity where God is a being out there with a will and who has all the power in the world and who sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins--literally. Christianity is the only true religion, and if we don't get ourselves to believe in doctrines about God and Jesus (and perhaps eschatology) then we're in big trouble when Jesus returns to earth. While the TP is still nourishing for many in the church, others find it harder and harder to accept; they just can't believe that the Bible is a biography of God, of Jesus, and of the end times. There are several reasons, the biggest one being that contemporary Biblical criticism gives us a different picture of the origin of the Bible; instead of the Bible being God's words about humans, its the words of humans about God. This doesn't mean that the Bible is false and doesn't contain anything divine; it just means that humans had a lot of say about what's in the Bible.
Borg endorses the "emerging paradigm". Here there's no emphasis on giving intellectual assent to a body of doctrines or creeds in order to be saved, that is, go to heaven. For Borg, this isn't the heart of Christianity. Rather, Christian faith deals primarily with *this* life, and it's a life that emphasizes a *relationship* with God, the key elements being trust in God to provide for all our needs, as well as loving what God loves--in other words, compassion and justice. Thus, as we live a life in God, and take seriously what God takes seriously, which we see in the person of Jesus, we are transformed in this life, saved in this life, so that we bring about the Kindom of God on earth. That's what really matters, not believing in a set of propositions so that we can get to heaven.
As I read Prof. Borg's book, I found myself believing in God again. It wasn't the God of the "traditional paradigm", a supernatural being out there who has all the power and knowledge and intervenes and sometimes doesn't intervene; who demands that we accept doctrines and creeds that the mind can't accept--this is just another 'requirement' or 'work'. Also, this God is not the best explanation for the world shown to us by physics and biology, world religions, biblical criticism, and theodicy. I found many of Borg's ideas compatible with process theology (Borg doesn't develop an in depth conception of God, although he says that God is not less than personal.
As someone who's in exile from the church--mostly because the traditional paradigm died for me in undergraduate school and failed to re-convince me in divinity school--I found myself, after reading Borg's book, unwilling give up on God. I had a desire to pray, to go to church, and to keep on wrestling with divine matters. If there is a God, I felt close to God as I read Prof. Borg's book; God seemed real again, and when I walked the streets of downtown Lincoln, the world looked different: I had a love for people and I knew what the compassion I felt was the way Jesus felt when he encountered people--and it wasn't belief in doctrines that brought about this transformation. There is another way of being Christian, a way centered in a radical trust in God, the one in whom we live and move and have our being. And it's about taking seriously what God takes seriously--that is, a life of compassion and justice. And when we live in the spirit, both in our private devotions and in the life of the church, God becomes real to us and empowers us to strive for the Kindom of God, where the way of God rules our world and not the Caesars or powers-that-be.
Thank you, Marcus. Amen and amen.
Rating: 4
Summary: Learn how YOU can live passionately as a Christian
Comment: Evangelicals beware --- this is the same Marcus Borg of the Jesus Seminar, the one who has categorically stated that he does not believe that Christianity is the only path of salvation, that the Bible is the Word of God, that Jesus experienced a bodily resurrection, or that Jesus is, in fact, the Son of God. So why review this book? Why give him any cyber ink at all?
There are any number of reasons why evangelicals need to be aware of what Borg believes and what he has written, not the least of which is his tremendous influence on non-evangelicals, particularly those who have left mainstream denominations but still long for a way to express what faith they have left. Borg offers them a way of returning to the church that does not require them to adhere to a rigid set of beliefs that they have long considered suspect. And he's very good at what he does and how he does it; his books always sell well, and he is constantly in demand as a speaker. He has a knack for welcoming people "home" --- to mainline churches --- in a warm and compassionate way.
In THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY, Borg lays down a welcome mat that has already proven attractive to those who have been disenchanted with what they perceive as an anti-intellectual faith. His welcome mat encourages people to give Christianity another chance because the times have changed, and from those changes a new, inclusive paradigm has emerged. Christianity, he holds, is no longer about a belief in a set of doctrines but about "loving God and loving what God loves."
That said, Borg never demeans those who do hold to a strong doctrinal stance and a literal interpretation of the Bible, much of which he considers to be metaphorical. But while many evangelicals dismiss him outright, Borg is obviously trying to build a bridge between the conservative and liberal factions in the church. It's hard for evangelicals to understand how someone who denies the deity of Jesus can be so passionate about Christianity, and yet this book shows Borg to be an evangelist for the faith. He loves Christianity, and he wants Christians to find the common ground that has eluded them for so long.
Even if you completely disagree with Borg's fundamental premise, THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY is worthwhile reading for anyone who is unafraid to examine a perspective on faith that seemingly differs dramatically from their own. You may be surprised at some of his thoughts, like his suggestion that liberals begin using the term "born again" to describe their transformation from an old way to a new way of being Christian, or his emphasis on the importance of having an intimate relationship with God.
There's no question that some who read this book will conclude that Borg has cut the heart right out of Christianity. But likewise, there's no question that many lapsed churchgoers will return to the faith as a result of Borg's enormous influence. For that reason alone, evangelicals would do well to familiarize themselves with the work of this highly gifted thinker and communicator.
--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford
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Title: Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time : The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith by Marcus J. Borg ISBN: 0060609176 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 03 March, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The God We Never Knew : Beyond Dogmatic Religion To A More Authenthic Contemporary Faith by Marcus J. Borg ISBN: 0060610352 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Credo by William Sloane Coffin, James Carroll ISBN: 0664227074 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally by Marcus J. Borg ISBN: 0060609184 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 19 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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