How I Learned What Matters Most Markus J Borg Convictions (Hardback) - Common

by Marcus J. Borg

Marcus J. Borg, preeminent theologian and Bible scholar, refects on his life and how he developed his most bedrock convictions and why they matter. The result is a manifesto for all progressive Christians who seek the best path for following Jesus today. With each chapter embodying a distinct conviction, Borg writes provocatively and compellingly on the beliefs that can deeply ground us and guide God Is Real and a Mystery Salvation Is More About This Life Than an Afterlife The Bible Can Be True Without Being Literally True Jesus's Death on the Cross Matters—But Not Because He Paid for Our Sins God Is Passionate About Justice and the Poor To Love God Is to Love Like GodRich in wisdom and insight, Convictions is sure to become a classic of contemporary Christianity.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity, Spirituality, Faith

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Borg was born into a Lutheran family of Swedish and Norwegian descent, the youngest of four children. He grew up in the 1940s in North Dakota and attended Concordia College, Moorhead, a small liberal arts school in Moorhead, Minnesota. While at Moorhead he was a columnist for the school paper and held forth as a conservative. After a close reading of the Book of Amos and its overt message of social equality he immediately began writing with an increasingly liberal stance and was eventually invited to discontinue writing his articles due to his new-found liberalism. He did graduate work at Union Theological Seminary and obtained masters and DPhil degrees at Oxford under G. B. Caird. Anglican bishop N.T. Wright had studied under the same professor and many years later Borg and Wright were to share in co-authoring The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, an amicable study in contrast. Following a period of religious questioning in his mid-thirties, and numinous experiences similar to those described by Rudolf Otto, Borg became active in the Episcopal Church, in which his wife, the Reverend Canon Marianne Wells-Borg, serves as a priest and directs a spiritual development program at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, Oregon. On May 31, 2009, Borg was installed as the first canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

Marcus J. Borg is Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, OR. Internationally known in both academic and church circles as a biblical and Jesus scholar, he was Hundere Chair of Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University until his retirement in 2007.

Described by The New York Times as "a leading figure in his generation of Jesus scholars," he has appeared on NBC's "Today Show" and “Dateline,” PBS's "Newshour," ABC’s “Evening News” and “Prime Time” with Peter Jennings, NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, and several National Geographic programs. A Fellow of the Jesus Seminar, he has been national chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature and co-chair of its International New Testament Program Committee, and is past president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars. His work has been translated into eleven languages: German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Russian, and French. His doctor's degree is from Oxford University, and he has lectured widely overseas (England, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Israel and South Africa) and in North America, including the Chautauqua and Smithsonian Institutions.

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a final summary of a life's work from a prolific author who has established himself as a leading spokesperson for the cause of progressive Christianity. This book was published in 2014, and the author died in early 2015. Thus it's evident that Marcus Borg knew while writing this book that it was going to be his last. (Wikipedia lists twenty-eight books authored by Marcus Borg from 1971 to 2014.)

The book starts out as a traditional memoir quickly covering his early years. Borg then reviews the series of conversions experienced as he passed through various stages of spiritual maturity. Then he proceeds through an explanation and defense of his religious convictions that describes major changes in his orientations toward life, including how he understands what it means to be Christian. Along the way he describes himself as a panentheist, and one who receives assurance that God is real from mystical experiences of transcendence and the eminence of God in his life.

In the first chapter Borg reviews the state of American Christianity by describing the spectrum of categories within which its members fall as (1) Conservative, (2) Conventional, (3) Uncertain, (4) Former, and (5) Progressive. He of course endorses the final category, and most of the rest of the book is spent elaborating on what progressive Christians believe and don't believe.

In Chapter 2 Borg describes the conversions he has experienced beyond his initial Lutheran understanding of religion as first being intellectual and then later political. The first was an evolving understanding of the nature of God which changed over a number of years. The second was inspired by his reading of the call for justice found in the book of Amos.

The following are selected quotations from the book which provide a sampling of Borg's understanding of what he believes to be the true nature of Christianity (i.e. his convictions).

He provides the following definition of salvation:

“Salvation is about liberation, reconnection, seeing anew, acceptance, and the satisfaction of our deepest yearnings. Christianity at its best—like all of the enduring religions of the world at their best—is a path to transformation.” (p75)

He makes it clear that he's talking about transformation of 'this life,' not one 'hereafter.' Furthermore, he makes it clear that Christian faith is not complying with requirements to 'believe' things found in the Bible that can’t be true.

Faith does not mean believing in the literal-factuality of the stories regardless of how improbable they seem. Rather, faith is about something far more important. It is about our relationship with God—about centering in God, being loyal (faithful) to God, and about trusting in God. Faith is the opposite of hubris and anxiety. (p130)

Borg points out that the idea that Jesus "had to die" in order to ransom sinners is a theory developed by Anselm in 1100 AD that leads to a misunderstanding of the significance of his execution.

So the cross of Jesus does matter. Properly understood, it is the heart of Christianity, and it is fitting that it is Christianity's central symbol. But not because it was the way by which Jesus died to pay for our sins. Indeed, that understanding, that misunderstanding, domesticates and obscures the meaning of the cross by speaking of Jesus's death as God's will as part of God's plan of salvation. No longer is it an image of personal and political transformation. But that's what it was in the beginning. (p146)

Since Christianity is concerned about "this life," if follows that a Christian's life will have political aspects to it.

In a democracy, politics in the broad sense does include how we vote. But it also includes more: what we support in our conversations our contributions, monetary and otherwise, our actions. Not every Christian is called to be an activist. But all are called to take seriously God's dream for a more just and nonviolent world. (p167)

Borg believes Americans could learn a lesson from the book of Amos.

“American individualism and American exceptionalism go together. Amos and much of the Bible challenge both. We need Amos.” (p187)

Borg acknowledges the merits of pacifism, though he's in favor of a pacifism that is politically assertive:

“I am realistic enough to accept that the ability to defend one’s country matters in our very imperfect world. But I have become convinced that Christians who oppose war are more often right than wrong. Nonviolent resistance to evil, including the evils of injustice, should be the primary Christian response. If Christians in this country and elsewhere were to do that consistently, what might this world be like?” (208)

He closes the book with this comment:

"What’s it all about? What’s the Christian life all about? It’s about loving God and loving what God loves. It’s about becoming passionate about God and participating in God’s passion for a different kind of world, here and now. And the future, including what is beyond our lives? We leave that up to God.” (p231)

[Trey Nowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggle to think of one writer that embodies my belief system any better than Marcus Borg. Often throughout life, I've found it difficult to find those that have the same responses, but Borg for me is a breath of fresh air. I usually agree with 95% of what he says and think he has the heart of the message Jesus had in mind with every word typed in his books. I feel his work is the perfect bridge between atheism and Christianity, where most of his views could be accepted by both sides of rational minded people. Borg speaks a lot in this book about how his life came to where it is 70 years later, discussing his early years in Christianity to his pre-college understanding of Christianity, to his decision to switch his major and become one of the greatest biblical scholars of the 20th and 21st centuries. He focuses on what the ministry of Jesus meant in the present as "The Kingdom Of God" on Earth, not just that of Heaven and an after-life. He makes mention of how Jesus meant more than a blood sacrifice with how people view Him today. He speaks a lot about how Jesus is the norm of what we are to be like, and if the Bible is in disagreement with Jesus, trust Jesus and not the Bible. He discusses how the Bible is not literally true always, where historical-metaphorical-parabolic interpretation is the way to view the Bible. Borg insists the message of Jesus and of many biblical books is focused on a political aspect, where God is passionate about His people helping the poor and bringing social justice to the Kingdom here on Earth. Christians are called to not pursue war and violence against others, challenging our country and thoughts of those living in the USA. His ultimate message is that God is a God of love, no matter how writers may depict God in any setting or justify any war. Recommended for everyone that has an interest in religion or making our planet a better place!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Marcus Borg is one of the popular theologians whose books have had the greatest impact on me. There’s something a touch plodding about this memoir cum manifesto, such that you can see the joins and the traces of the outline: ‘in this chapter I will’, ‘before I discuss X, I must tell you about Y’, etc. He died the year after this was published, so perhaps it was written in a hurry, or in the shadow of illness and while in pain. It also didn’t break much new ground for me because I’ve read widely around progressive/emergent Christianity. However, the final three chapters (about the poor, peace, and loving as God loves) are an excellent summary of the rationale for a politically and socially engaged faith, and Borg writes with clarity and passion.

Like many of us, Borg only gradually moved away from fundamentalism. He grew up in a strict Lutheran family of Scandinavian extraction in the Midwest. The Bible was understood literally, and it went without saying that everyone would vote Republican. In his college years he started to doubt the literal truth of Christian doctrine, and reading the book of Amos convinced him that the Bible’s message is about working towards social justice more than it is about obtaining personal salvation. In his thirties he also had some mystical experiences that showed him the wonder and connectedness of the world, encouraging him to continue looking towards the ‘something more’ that is beyond the physical.

Ideas and quotes that stood out for me:
• “when there is conflict between the Bible and Jesus, Jesus is the norm, the standard, by which the rest of the Bible is to be understood”
• “Letting go of biblical inerrancy eliminates the problems created by biblical inerrancy.”
• “The Bible from beginning to end is a sustained protest against the domination systems of the ancient world.”
• “Not every Christian is called to be an activist. But all are called to take seriously God’s dream for a more just and nonviolent world.”
• “Lives deeply centered in God are marked by freedom and courage.”
• “What’s the Christian life all about? It’s about loving God and loving what God loves. It’s about becoming passionate about God and participating in God’s passion for a different kind of world, here and now. And the future, including what is beyond our lives? We leave that up to God.”

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Borg died last January (2015) at the age of 73. Convictions is his last book, and it serves as a summary of his life's work: explaining Christianity, faith, the Bible, and God in such a way that it all makes sense. No one has influenced my own thinking about faith as has Marcus Borg. He has shaped the architecture of my thinking with regard to how one can read the Bible and understand it in such a way that faith and reason are not in conflict. He taught me to understand how things can be true even if they didn't actually happen. He opened my eyes to the wonders of mysticism. He was a great teacher, a thoughtful writer, and one of a kind with regard to his understanding of the mysterium tremendum. I will miss him. Intellectually, he has meant a great deal to me.

RIP, Dr. Borg. You will be missed.

[Jt O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book I would normally pick up to read. I was raised in a rigid and dark Catholic home. I stopped going to church the year I moved out of my parents' house and never planned to come back to it. Later in my life, I came to see that the harsh hand of Catholicism as it was practiced in my home served mostly to push me away from all things spiritual/religious. I decided I wanted to cautiously revisit some of that stuff from childhood. A friend recommended Borg's book and I found it to be a curious and readable guide.

Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most is both memoir and informative text. Borg uses his own story to reveal his path to progressive Christianity as well as to illuminate some of the history and shifts in direction that Christianity has undergone over the years. In the opening chapter he delightfully focuses on gratitude saying, "At seventy, I primarily feel gratitude. Each extra day feels like ...the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the hot fudge on top of the ice cream. I enjoy my days more than I ever have. At seventy, life is too short to spend even an hour feeling preoccupied or grumpy or out of sorts." Touché. Love it. I could stop reading right there and know that the book had already had meaning for me.

Borg is an engaging and unpretentious author. His language is down to earth and his examples and illustrations make sense. Early in the book, he includes an interesting discussion of divisions among organized religions (in particular the evolution of Christianity). Additionally, he describes five categories of Christianity and, to some extent, how they interact. Over the course of the book, he shows how his conservative childhood faith evolved into a more complete, more tolerant, more affirming faith. I very much appreciate his acknowledgment that Christianity does not have a monopoly on God or religion. Progressive Christians believe that "the way" that Jesus revealed is also present in other enduring religious traditions.

Borg devotes attention to a discussion of Biblical truth and dispels some of the literal notions held by more conservative Christians. He lost me a bit with his discussion about why Jesus's death on the cross matters. I still don't get it but, in the grand scheme of things, I don't have to get it. Borg also focuses a bit on the politics of religion. He gives a big nod to the role of Christians in social justice issues and in the need for peace and nonviolence movements.

In much the same way that the opening chapter got to me with Borg's delight in his days , his final chapter got me with his warm review of what it means to love God. Ha! That's why I came to the book. I am trying to figure out a) who is this God thing and b) why would I love it? and c) if I were going to love it, then what does that even look like? The whole idea feels so foreign and incomprehensible to me. The last chapter considers what it means to love God. From his description, it appears that Marcus Borg and I had the same introduction to God: we were to fear God. Fearing God, from a child's perspective, is preparing yourself for punishment. It was as if God said to us, "I love you - and I expect good behavior from you, and if you don't meet my requirements, I will punish you." Yup. But Borg writes a very different description of God and love in that final chapter.God is warm, tender, attractive, beloved. Okay, that doesn't mean I can fully buy this idea of God but it is hella more likely that I would gravitate to this notion of God than to the punitive and scary God of my childhood.

More reading, more conversation, more experimenting required but thank you to Marcus Borg for his thoughtful and clear introduction to his God. Borg died about a year after this book was published. Somehow that adds some poignancy to everything he wrote. Now he knows the truth.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borg's book is about his evolution into a progressive Christian and what that means to him. Borg described his childhood as being raised in a more fundamentalist tradition and that over time he let certain tenets go. In his book he focuses on how some Biblical stories should be taken metaphorically rather than literally, how salvation is more about the transformation in this life, and the importance of helping the poor and promoting nonviolence in our chaotic world. He also makes the argument that early Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church is more in line with this thinking. I actually had the privilege to hear Borg speak almost 10 years ago when I was in college. He was a well written theologian whose work is understandable to a general audience.

[Ericka Clou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part memoir and part the author’s beliefs. I largely agree with what he wrote but I think his book “Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary” is much better (5 stars) because it is thoroughly explained with relevant history. In addition to the memoir aspects this is mainly the conclusions from ”Jesus” without the arguments for the conclusions. Still a lovely book, just not as helpful to anyone with differing opinions.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I deeply appreciate Marcus Borg's efforts to put progressive Christianity into a theological context that is accessible to the lay reader. He really cares about the average mainline church goer and giving them language and rationale for their beliefs. There is a lot that lay people cannot articulate about what they believe and why they believe the way they do. Marcus Borg lays it all out so it's understandable and organized. At least he lays HIS perspective out in such a way. In this book, you'll get solid grounding for why we need to take the Bible seriously, but not literally, among other things. You'll learn new ways to think about resurrection. You'll think differently, perhaps, about the focus on the afterlife. All in all, a wonderful guide to those who are perplexed about mainline Christianity. Fills in the gaps that sunday school left open.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My parents gave this to me after reading it with a study group at their church. It's my third Marcus Borg book. I read his book dissecting whether anything in the Bible was actually said by Jesus in a class on "The Historical Jesus" in college, as well as "The Heart of Christianity," also a gift from my parents. This one resonated far more with me. After a long lifetime of scholarship, Borg finally gets very personal and very to the point. It's refreshing to see him take a stand.

Whatever your own personal beliefs, this book is a touching look at one man's life in Christianity and academia and his struggle to define what he believes. It's also a very clear and succinct description of the profound differences between conservative/fundamentalist and progressive christianity. A short and engrossing read.

[Lisa Kentgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would not be a book that I would typically gravitate toward. I came to it because I am doing research on community building and much is written on the topic in progressive Christian communities. His views are familiar to me, having grown up in the peace and justice movement as a child. The book is laid out in a way that is part memoir (his own journey of faith) and part argument for interpretations of the Bible that are Jesus-centered (and more in line with science and empirical reflection). It's great to see that Marcus Borg is attracting an appreciative audience today because we certainly need advocates from all compassionate and contemplative traditions.

If you are Christian and seeking an inspiring book, or someone who enjoys reading varied contemplative traditions, you could value reading this book.

[Truman Bullard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, written by a lifelong biblical scholar, teacher, and theologian, means
a great deal to me, and I use the present tense because I will read in it more in
time to come. Written in a very plain and forgiveably simplistic style, Marcus Borg
offers progressive Christians like himself a wonderful way to move away from the
deadly "terms of belief" discussion to a life-enhancing way of living in the Christian
community and in a more honest personal relationship with Christ. Evangelicals,
Literalists, and Fundamentalists have other books to enlighten them. Great! This one
is for folks like me, and just maybe - you.

[Mark Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 4th Marcus Borg book that I've read, and probably the best and most helpful. Borg describes his movement from conventional (with a dose of conservative) Christianity to progressive Christianity. He explains that the stories of the Bible can be true even if they aren't to be taken literally, and that Jesus' death is of importance even if the meaning wasn't substitutionary atonement. He ends the book by challenging the reader to love God by loving what God loves. An excellent read.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Borg explains his spiritual journey toward "progressive" Christianity, and along the way provides a fabulous primer of what many progressive Christians believe and why.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really changed what I believed Christianity to be. I highly recommended this for anyone who either identifies as a Christian, or simply wants to learn more about the religion and its history.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read other books by Borg that were thorough, systematic, and scholarly. This is more like you met him at a party and asked "What's a progressive Christian?" It's informal and a bit rambling. Still interesting food for thought and perhaps a good short introduction to the topic.

[Eugenea Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as a Sunday School text, this book turned out to be very accessible and a pleasure to discuss with others. It is part autobiography and part progressive Christian theology. Well done.

[Victoria Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall I really liked this book. It's given me lots to think about and many questions, but has also settled some things in my soul. I need to re-read it and take notes!

[Lori Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and inspiring. This one will play in my head for a while.

[David Spalding-Aguirre]

read this for class

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! I found the first chapter to be brilliant. Borg describes five different types of Christians, ranging from Conservative Christians to Progressive Christians and clearly explains why those two are incompatible. Very helpful!

[Neil Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have heard the author speak to Christian church groups, in several You Tube videos. I find his speaking style to be very appealing - logical, well-organized, accessible, and rich with insight and meaning. In short, he has something worth saying, and he says it very well. At the center of his message is a mixture of elements: years of scholarly preparation, a life of reflective thought, and habits of simple decency. So I was interested in his book, which grew from a talk he gave on the occasion of his 70th birthday, several years ago.

In this book, Borg starts with memories of his family life and younger years in the upper midwest, and the ideas he had then of what the Gospel was about. He goes on to describe the changes in his thinking in early adulthood - mainly a loss of faith - and how subsequently he underwent a conversion, triggered in part by unexpected mystical experiences, which he interpreted as signs of "something more" than the world as we normally perceive it. He goes on, in a third section, to speak of his convictions - deeply founded ideas about the nature of God and what God desires passionately for us to be and to do.

Along the way, Borg takes some time to offer observations on the current state of American Christianity, which he divides in conservative and progressive camps, with a third camp of folks in between, who seem to lean progressive but aren't quite sure. Borg himself is a progressive, and he talks about the powerful eye-opening effect of reading the Book of Amos in college, in which God makes it clear that he is not in favor of dominance systems in which the powerful rich exploit the powerless poor, grinding them into the dirt. A key reference to make the point clear, from Ch 8 (King James version):

4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

He has a lot to say about Jesus, too. Jesus didn't die for your sins. God didn't demand the death of his sons in exchange for our salvation. Eternal life, in Heaven or Hell, was not really the point. None of that is why Jesus came into the world, according to Borg. His (Jesus's) central message was that the kingdom of God, "on Earth as it is in Heaven", was at hand - that God desired transformation of the this world and of us, here and now. How would we be transformed? We would become much more merciful and compassionate towards one another - not merely those in our families or our immediate social circle, and not merely those who could return the favor of our kindness and generosity, but also our enemies and the poor. This is how God is, and how we must be, a message found throughout the Old and New Testament, as here in Luke Ch 6 (ESV):

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

I would like to have had a chance to speak with Borg. I would like to have asked him to help me reconcile my impression of him as intelligent, thoughtful, and committed to ethical Christianity, with what appears to me to be a fundamental dishonesty. On one hand, he says in this book that when some of his students tell him they do not believe in God, he asks them to describe the God in whom they do not believe.

His point is that we need not believe in God as a great father in the sky, or even as an anthropomorphic being at all. We should understand God as someone or even something more transcendent and ineffable - beyond our ability to describe in words. Kind of like the Force, if you remember Luke Skywalker. Then how does one assert that God passionately desires that we love one another, or that God wants us to transform our political and economic systems away from domination and exploitation (and environmental / climate ruination)? This seems to me to be a very admirable idea of who / what God is, but also very specific and intentional for something so ineffable and transcendent.

I have tried to reconcile these very different concepts and it keeps leading me back to the suspicion that Borg is not being completely honest with us. In this, he reminds me of many other believers, who believe God is all-loving and good, that God has desires and intentions, that God's intentions and desires are revealed in sacred scripture, and that God acts in this world to advance his intentions and desires in a powerful and transformative way (as, for example, through the ministry of Jesus and other prophets), and yet object to the secular critique of these and other more vulnerable religious beliefs by hiding behind the ineffability defense, as if they believed in a completely transcendent God about whom it was not possible to offer any testable descriptions or affirmations, a concept beyond our science or rationality or even our imagination. Yet somehow we know such a God wishes we would love one another?

In the same way, Borg relies quite heavily on his reading of Scripture, although he is critical of those who hold to the inerrancy doctrine, or to those who cling to the text in one part of Scripture even when it is in conflict with the words and example of Jesus elsewhere in the text. But when Borg reads the Book of Amos, it changes his world view for the rest of his life. In the text, he finds the key to understanding God's nature and most passionate desire. God wants justice for the poor. How does one know when Scripture is correct? Compare the text with Jesus, the norm, and if it fits, it is correct. Amos and Jesus are aligned, so Amos is good Scripture.

I get it, and yet I cannot help pointing out that the Jesus he knows is also a product of Scripture. By this I mean that those who tell us of Jesus in the New Testament were also readers of Scripture - how confident are we that our account of his teaching and of his arrest and execution, let alone the Easter claims, are sufficiently accurate? If these descriptions were themselves influenced in substantial ways by other sacred texts, can our understanding of Jesus from the Gospels be a useful test of the reliability of those texts? In fairness to Borg, I think this idea that Jesus is the "norm of the Bible" is critically important to avoid really miserable misunderstandings of Scripture. But as in the argument he makes for believing in God, his argument for believing in Scripture is also not clearly or well supported.

Perhaps I should allow for the possibility that Borg is writing for an audience of believers for whom the existence of God and the essential truth (if not factual veracity) of sacred Scripture as a whole is an accepted premise. Still, if he were alive today and had any interest in such a conversation, I would ask him to defend these premises.

Here is what I think after reading his book and having listened to him speak. On one hand, Borg was conditioned by his upbringing to respect religion. Even after losing his faith, he retained a deep-seated sense of the goodness of reverence and humility, and an openness to a spiritual experience and a spiritual awareness of the world. This resonates with my own experience; perhaps it fits Borg. In any case, he has a mystical experience that opens his mind to the possibility that there is more to this world than we normally experience in our daily mundane experience. LSD experimentation produces a similar insight in some people, but in Borg's case, sitting in his car, alone, on a drive through the country, he suddenly notices the whole world glowing all around him. Luminous and numinous, the experience (and possibly one or two others) shook his unbelief and provoked a conversion. God is out there, after all. All around him, and profoundly beautiful and good.

Perhaps it is not unreasonable to experience such beauty and to impute goodness to it, and if such a bounteous goodness surrounds us and infuses us, it must be in our nature to be good. This "something more" as Borg understands it, is the spirit of God. This "something more" soaks and envelops and illumines all of existence, womblike, nurturing, and wishing for our transformation - our alignment with its own nature. God's own nature. Be merciful as God is merciful. Love God and love what God loves. And God loves all of Creation. These are among Borg's core convictions - fundamental approaches to the world more than mere beliefs. They are not completely irrational, but they are, I think, primarily the product of experience and inspiration. They have such apparent personal truth for Borg, and seem to me eminently admirable insights. There is an amiable wisdom in Borg.

As a non-believer, living in an overtly and somewhat belligerently Christian America, I sometimes wonder if progressive Christians like Borg (and Barack Obama, for another example) pretend to believe in order to have credibility and influence within the Christian community. Borg can write about Jesus for Christian readers, and explain Jesus to them, in such a way that they can see that exploitation and domination is wrong, that we not only must do charity personally, but also collectively, and be merciful as God is merciful, but also that we must transform society and our governance and economic structures to reflect a commitment to God's passionate love for all of Creation. We must make our society and our world reflect God's all-nurturing desire for boundless compassion and justice. It is a lot easier to make this case from within the Christian community, and to root that case in Scripture. So I cannot help but wonder, sometimes.

This is one of my longest reviews, so it goes without saying that I found Borg's writing to be thought-provoking (word-provoking, at the very least). If there is any hope of saving America from its belligerent racism, gross inequality, and runaway capitalism, that hope must reside in progressive Christianity, or in some future evolution of society once the dominant and toxic "white" demographic recedes into the minority. I don't think there is much reason to be hopeful before then, to be completely honest. But I am grateful for people like Borg, and for books like this one, for reminding Christians that it doesn't have to be like this.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

God commands indiscriminate violence, rape, slavery and the annihilation of mankind
throughout the Bible.

Is the death of Jesus more important than his life and his message?
None of the gospels teaches us that Jesus' death was a payment for sin.

The kingdom of heaven is here on earth.

[Stephen Mortland · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly honest and thought provoking book. While I don’t agree with all the Borg writes, I am grateful for his ability to challenge the presuppositions I bring to faith.

[Lyn Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

open mind required

As a person who desires to follow Christ, I have become disillusioned with evangelicals and their political choke hold on our country and the definition of what it means to be Christian. I dissent. This book affirms me.
I gave it four stars because some of it was difficult to grasp. But I recommend it to those who question the conservative box of American evangelicals.

[Bob Buice · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Spiritual Leader” is a title I would definitely award to Marcus Borg. In describing how he emerged from a moderately conservative Lutheran upbringing into his present and somewhat unique theology, Dr. Borg preaches a stimulating sermon on “salvation”. He uses biblical citations to deny the idea of an afterlife and describe how the Kingdom of God should be right here on earth. I can well relate to his feeling that, “… my intense intellectual interest has been combined with a passion for communicating what my study - what I have learned- might mean for Christians in our time and place.” Dr. Borg suggests that the true meaning of the gospels relates to social and economic equality, freedom and justice, non-violence, etc., items he refers to collectively as “salvation”. Salvation is for people here and now, not in an afterlife, in which Dr. Borg refuses to believe. God is here and lives in each of us (panentheism).

Of course, one must tolerate a few historical glitches. e.g. Dr. Borg says that Western Christians during the Fourth Crusade attacked the Eastern Christians of Constantinople because Eastern Christians “were seen as infidels and thus ‘enemies of God’ “. Actually many accounts indicate that the Western crusaders cut a deal with the Venetians who had problems with Constantinople.

I also relate to his discussion of “gratitude”. Dr. Borg says, “None of us created ourselves." “... even our ability to work hard is also a gift. For those who have prospered in this life, gratitude is the awareness that we did not do it by ourselves”.

Dr. Borg closes with, “What’s it all about? What’s the Christian life all about? It’s about loving God and loving what God loves. It’s about becoming passionate about God and participating in God’s passion for a different kind of world, here and now.”

His explanation of what it means to love God is particularly stimulating.

[Robert Buschkemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Marcus Borg did not disappoint. Written in a very personal tone, this little book explains (and justifies) why, when and how Marcus Borg became the progressive, unencumbered authority and Jesus scholar he is. True to his usual approach, Dr. Borg does not aim to proselytize the reader to his way of thinking, rather explains why he cannot accept the more traditional understandings offered by many other scholars in favor of his own reading and understanding. He makes clear that his understandings are dynamic not set n the stone of their inception and that reading and understanding the Biblical underpinnings of Christian theology demands the seeker to embrace the context of the time of the writer. Only with a grasp of that context can the text becaome alive in the culture we live in today,.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this as part of a book group at Old South, especially in light of Marcus Borg's death last week. I'm so glad that I did! As an introduction to his work, this is easy reading -- although not a memoir, there are lots of stories about his life that make this part narrative, part theological text.

Having only ever heard of Borg, never reading his work, I didn't know entirely what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that his ideas are not new to me, and so I am grateful to all those who have influenced me with them (although I didn't know it).

I look forward to discussing this book!

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Borg with wisdom and insight tells us that Christianity is about loving God and loving what God loves. It's not about "what's in it for me." This is a book for progressive Christians who are seeking the best path to practice their faith. What a different world we would live in if Christianity was practiced the way it was intended. We will miss Marcus Borg and his open and inclusive way of explaining Christian concepts. RIP Marcus.

[Bill Mcfadden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by Borg after his 70th birthday to convey how over his lifetime he came to learn what matters most. A must read for anyone who wants to understand progressive thinking.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear personal account of how the author reconciles his faith with modern science. It can be of help to other Christians with progressive beliefs.