Rating: 
Summary: Eye-opening and Inspiring
Review: I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is serious about discovering what it means to be Christian and is not afraid of new information. As Spong has said, any god who is vulnerable to attack is clearly dead already - therefore, I would think that it is imperative to learn as much as we can. What do we have to fear? Borg writes honestly and compassionately, showing how the "historical" Jesus is extremely important and does not threaten spirituality (as so many people believe) but rather is at the center of it. I found Borg's book to be a turning point in my life. I especially like the chapter on his religious history -- many of my friends have read it, and they, like me, find that his story is quite a bit like our own. In short, this book is excellent, and I encourage you to read it. Peace.
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Summary: I gained much from reading this book!
Review: I am glad I read this book. I think it has helped to redirect my search for God and to help me rebuild my faith in Him, so that I move from a fearful relationship with an angry Supreme Master to one with a loving Supreme Parent.I first read the Bible cover-to-cover on my own as a youngster. This was probably not a good thing, as I mostly came away with an impression of an Angry God. And I certainly was in no position to understand at the tender age of 11 the cultural background of the world of the Hebrews or Jesus. The trouble is that in some ways reading about the life of Christ is a bit like reading a mystery. Sure you can read the book again, but you already know whodunit the next time you go back to it, and having that knowledge changes the way you see things from then on. "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time" has clarified for me the difference between pre-Easter and post-Easter Jesus. Before this when I reread the Gospels and looked over what Jesus said or did prior to his death and resurrection, I looked at it as though He was the post-Easter Godly Jesus the entire time, that He was always God right from the get-go. Now I am looking at Him more in the sense of His humanity as it was recorded in the first 3 gospels. When I stop to think about it, I expect He was a pretty normal kid, and I am not sure that He really saw Himself as God as that point waiting around to be worshipped. Rather I do think He was very much a man constantly in touch with His Father, so I am giving more consideration to the example He set where he showed me how to live and how to be in touch with the Father all the time. (Or at least try to be.) Also, as a woman who was raised in a Baptist church, I was always hurt and angry at the way women seemed to be second class citizens, and folks always seemed to back up the reason for this with Scripture. But Borg's book showed me that there was a possibility that God has a feminine side (His Wisdom or Sophia) and that this idea of femininity was dropped in translations made from the Greek texts. Perhaps that does not mean much to some, but to a girl who heard most of her life how everything was Eve's (and therefore women in general) fault, it meant a lot to me. I also appreciated Borg's information about purity codes and particularly about how Jesus confronted the Pharisees about their mile long lists of who was ok and who was not and how badly they treated those on the "not ok" list. I can see that this type of thinking is still present in many churches today, which is too bad. A relationship with God should not be about following rules, rules, and more rules but rather about his Grace. I wish I had known this years ago, so that I might have actually _felt_ God before now. So I would recommend this book to people who feel that they are just going through the motions at church (or have given up on church altogether) but could use some fresh insight to get their search for God jumpstarted again. It's also good for folks who are just starting out on the path of Biblical scholarship. However, people who believe the Bible is inerrant may be uncomfortable with some of the ideas presented in this book. It doesn't mean they should not pick it up, but they should be forewarned that they may find their beliefs tested.
Rating: 
Summary: Come home, Dr. Borg
Review: Marcus Borg is the most sensible and sympathetic of the Jesus Seminar scholars I have read. I found many worthwhile insights in this book: the way he links the Gospels and Paul's teaching on grace (though Jesus and Paul also call us to radical moral purity, and Borg sometimes makes meaning slave to etymology), his discussion of meta-narratives, parables, and aphorisms, and the contrast between "conventional wisdom" and "unconventional" wisdom, for example. But the criteria by which Borg judges whether or not a given teaching really is from Jesus are shaky. Does the "Gospel" of Thomas have anything of value to say about the life of Jesus? I doubt it. Why does Borg assume that only material from the Christian "tradition" before 60 A.D. can be trusted? If I were to write about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, at a chronological distance equivalent to 93 AD, I could easily find eyewitnesses. Why should it have been so much harder for the Gospel writers in 70 AD? Borg's chief weakness may be his habit of working alternatives into what look like false dichotomies, or trichotomies: holiness versus compassion, individual versus political virtue, "belief" versus "action" versus "becoming." (Why not all three? "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength!") Borg's method of exegesis is often to exagerrate one element in Jesus' teaching, then make that a principle by which to exclude other elements. Borg identifies JS pronouncements with the "scholarly consensus." But many first rank scholars (Wright, Hays, Johnson, Meier, Jenkins, and others) find the JS way of working quite flawed. Borg writes of "pre-critical" and "post-critical" naivitee; but he shows a great deal of what might be called "unidirectional" naivitee. He explains how, as a young man, he discovered Biblical criticism and lost his faith. He later recovered a faith, which, like John Blofeld's faith in the bodhissatva Guan Yin, seemed to have "nothing to do with belief." The problem is, while he learned to treat the Gospels critically, his seminary professors did not seem to teach him to treat their own ideas the same way. Thus, he makes little mention of another kind of Christian that might be called the "post-critical believer" -- the Christian who has read Borg, Crossan, Pagels, Mack, and more radical critics, and come to the conclusion that their methods and conclusions are badly mistaken -- not on theological, but on historical grounds. We post-critical believers can only feel marginalized and a bit ghostly, not finding ourselves among Borg's typology of believers. Borg also attempts to tie the radical compassion of Jesus to his alleged identity as a "spirit person" who experienced mystical unity with God: "There is an intrinsic connection between the boundary-shattering experience of Spirit and the boundary-shattering ethics of compassion." As a student of world religions, I think not. "All we shamans know that the spirits are happiest when we kill people," one Yamonamo Indian is quoted as saying; and certainly the most active spiritism can coexist with the most brutal denigration of women. East Indian advedic gurus and tantric Buddhists often rigidly oppress their followers, and a rich heritage of mystical science did not prevent India fromo sinking into a sinkhole of caste and gender oppression. In fact, the true source of reform and breaking down of social boundaries has far more often come from a strict monotheism -- among the Jewish prophets, Chinese sages like Confucius, the anti-slave movements in the Middle Ages and the Modern West, and even in India and Japan. In the end, as Dr. Borg shares his own story, he seems rather lost to me, following a "Jesus" who is a worthy enough sage, but incapable of inspiring the joyous songs he recalls with tears from his childhood. I feel for him. I think he is quite mistaken about the Gospels. The more I study world religions, the more I am persuaded that Jesus is the Lord of life, who died for the sins of the world, and rose from the dead. I think an honest assessment of the evidence leaves that as the most realistic assessment. I am tempted to echo Dr. Borg's own words, and say, "Dr. Borg, come home, and meet Jesus again, for the first time." author, Jesus and the Religions of Man / christthetao@msn.com
Rating:
Summary: Meeting The Living Lord
Review: MEETING JESUS AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME is a book that is loaded with original thinking and deserves to be read more than once.Borg believes that Jesus did not think of Himself as the Son of God who came to die for the sins of the world and His message was not about believing in Him. According to Borg, Jesus was a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet and movement founder. He invited His followers into a transformational relationship with the same Spirit that He Himself knew. Jesus encouraged people to join Him in a community whose core value was compassion. He wanted to move people from living in a world of conventional wisdom to a world centered in God. Furthermore, Borg does not regard Jesus as uniquely and exclusively the true revelation of God - but only as a unique revelation of God. What sets Borg apart from most other Jesus Seminar scholars is his emphasis on the Christian life as a journey towards a deepening and transforming relationship with God. Believing in Jesus does not mean believing things about Jesus. It is not about believing what the Gospels and the church say about Jesus. It means instead to give one's heart at its deepest level to the Post-Easter Jesus who is the Living Lord and also the Spirit.
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Summary: For those of us who question but can't let go . . .
Review: When Marcus Borg discussed his own questioning of his faith, I felt that it captured the essence of my own struggles (and perhaps for a lot of Christians who practice their faith but seem to want more). As a result, I was able to read this scholarly but readable book and make it my own. At times, I agreed with Dr. Borg and at times I did not but most importantly, it reached the heart of my own questiosn about faith and move me closer to a relationship with Jesus. Whether, you believe or not, this book will be immensely interesting because of its excellent research and writing about the historical Jesus (Pre-Easter Jesus) and the message he brought to his contemporaries and for us. My only concern was in regard to the lack of any significant attention to the resurrection. So, I believe that I may turn to another of Dr. Borg's books (Jesus: A New Vision)for as more in depth discussion about that topic
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Summary: one of the best of it's kind!
Review: Finally a book that helps bridge the gap between the two worlds: Faith and history / science. Very impressive work!
Rating: 
Summary: Missed wide left....
Review: I picked up this book anticipating a inspiring treatise on Christian faith. After finishing it, I am left with two indelible images. First, Mr. Borg was a member of the "Jesus Seminar", and he describes the process where the members voted on the authenticity of Jesus' sayings using color codes. I cannot think of a more arrogant exercise. Second, in an otherwise interesting section on compassion, Mr. Borg states that public policy should be more compassionate, specifically more socialistic. I think Mr. Borg fails to consider that when compassion is delegated to government, citizens feel less of a need to be compassionate themselves, and recipients start a cycle of dependency. We don't need government to legislate compassion (where it would be tainted by the political process anyway). We all have the ability to distribute our treasures to the poor and needy. Socialism is a cop out by essentially forcing compassion on others.
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Summary: A personal review from a theological moderate
Review: My friends and I like to read and discuss theological books for kicks. During our bargain hunting for "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time," one friend was verbally accosted by the uncompassionate owner of a local store when inquiring about Borg's book. "We don't carry writers here who are going to burn in hell!" was the message given to my friend. Ugggghhh?? Okay. Thanks. (Not surprisingly, the store was officially boycotted in our group.) Borg's book is insightful. I can't say for sure whether my friends share similar sentiments, but we all agree that the book provides for great discussion. People who aren't afraid to think for themselves theologically would do well to read this book, especially within the company of insightful friends. The popular image of Jesus is of great significance to me and remains so even after reading this book. Like Borg, I underwent a faith crisis when studying religion through an academic lens that led me to places I thought I would never go--unbelief and doubt. But as someone who considers himself a theological fence-straddler between conservative and liberal camps, I think Borg provides interpretations that both Jesus of History and Christ of Faith followers can enjoy. For example, Borg's take on Jesus as a compassionate man who was greatly concerned about those ostracized by the purity system in first century Palestine, calls for a reexamination of his teachings about serving social outcasts and how those reflections relate to today's situation. Borg points out that many who believe in the popular image of Jesus are too concentrated on belief systems and fail to grasp his alternative wisdom and life example of compassion. If you don't believe Borg's point is relevant, just look at Christian leaders who have sold out to materialism and affluence and who never hesitate to chastise those who choose different Christian ideologies (see opening paragraph). Unfortunately, they're not too difficult to locate. Also, Borg's analysis of the over-reliance and literal interpretation of certain gospel metaphors could be helpful to those who seek to gain a different, yet valuable, image of Jesus. Yet Borg is disappointing in many places as well. Readers educated in the practices of biblical criticism might find his exegesis weak in several areas. I also found Borg's tone frustrating, especially in the early chapters because he speaks as though his methodology alone is accurate. Not once do I remember him mentioning conservative views on synoptic dating. Also, his failure to include differing perspectives on such highly debateable topics (e.g. dates of the synoptics) appears dogmatic and self-absorbed. And for those who are new to theological terminology, please know that Q is a theory. The theory may be a good one to help solve the synoptic problem and many scholars believe this theory and teach it to students. However, it remains a theory and no, it was not "previously known only by scholars" as Borg's bookjacket on Q advocates. I know a marketing line when I see one Marcus!
Rating:
Summary: A Catchy Title for a Pretty Good Book
Review: When the book MEETING JESUS AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME was published in 1994, it caused quite a stir. The book was the product of Biblical scholar Marcus Borg, a member of "The Jesus Seminar." This group of scholars retranslated the Gospels of Jesus Christ, including the Gospel of Thomas, generally considered to be a Gnostic text and therefore not included in the canon of scripture. The major controversy surrounding the group centers around the sayings of Jesus Christ that the group considers actual words of Jesus Christ and those which the scholars believe are additions by the evangelists or some of Jesus' other disciples. The seminar's intention is good enough. It wants to strip from Jesus Christ some of the layers of tradition that these scholars believe obscure the true message of Jesus Christ. The major difficulty is that the members of the Jesus Seminar discount the role of tradition in understanding Jesus Christ, which turns out to take away some of Jesus' most critical teachings. Borg, more than any other member of the group, tries to make his research applicable to believers today. This book is one of his efforts. While readers will more than likely find Borg's ideas interesting, and will know that they are reading the book of a scholar who has done a great deal of research, readers may also find that the book seems to be lacking something. The Jesus of this book is comforting, but not very challenging. If the Jesus of this book lived today, he would probably live in a nice community, be active in somewhat progressive and liberal organizations, vote Democrat, and attend a mainline Protestant denomination or liberal Catholic Church. This Jesus would have a social consciousness but would not be as strong in social justice issues as a reader of the catholic Worker or Sojourners would be. Jesus Christ would be somewhat upper middle class and followers such as Mary Magdalene would be soccer moms. While some of this review might sound a bit tongue in cheek, or even a bit sarcastic, I do believe the book is important. Even if people do not agree with all of Borg's findings, he does challenge us to rethink what we know and believe about Jesus Christ. Such a rethinking keeps Christian communities alive. I also know people who have read the book who have been alienated from Christianity due to the harsh way in which the faith was taught, differences with mainline Churches regarding sexuality, or people who are simply uncomfortable with formal religion yet want to belong to a religious group. This book has helped these readers that everyone can find a home in Christianity. If people disagree with this finding, I do not recommend rereading Borg's book, but the gospels on which the book is based to see that Borg's inviting words are in keeping with the teachings of Jesus.
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Summary: The most readable introduction of recent Jesus research
Review: Marcus Borg has been a moving force behind the "Jesus Seminar." He is in great demand as a speaker because he does such a wonderful job of writing and speaking clearly and in a way that is both informative and holds your atention easily. This book comes from a set of lectures given at the Annual meeting of the NO. CA/NV Conference of the UCC. The title was given to him, but the more he lived into it, the more it appealed to him.
He has a wonderfully engaging way of speaking and writing and is unique in combining a lively spirtuality and scholarly acumen. This field has been the major focus of my own work and I am convinced that Marcus'book is the best place to start for anyone wanting to find out about the work of recent Jesus research. In the book, he describes his own personal struggles that led him to the place he is now. This lends a marvelous credibility to the book and helps the reader to identify with what Marcus is saying. I have recommended it to others over and over and the response has always been anywhere from positive to ecstatic.
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