Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time : The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith

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Summary: I gave up my faith after reading this one.
Review: When the author gets finished with Jesus there is little left. If he were really honest, he would just give up the faith entirely and be an atheist. I no longer believe and my guess is that if this sort of stuff were to be widely dissemninated, very few other people would believe either. My final impression was that christianity is nothing but a cult that got out of hand. People like the author want to salvage something to sustain themselves. If he had more backbone and courage, he would just give up his effort to save his religion from the bright and unmerciful light of the intellect. Christianity is in BIG trouble if it is going to end up as a religion that only appeals to uneducated fundamentalists or atheists who can't stand the heat and decide to reconstruct chirstianity in their own image. Good luck, church people. I am afraid that you will have to work on this one without me - I am moving on!

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Summary: Rethinking the Jesus of Lutheranism
Review: This book was highly recommended to me by a person with the same background as the author, a graduate of a Lutheran seminary who teaches religion in a secular school, and who is active in his faith. As I read this book I had in my mind the question whether this book would be useful to the average person. The average person today has not even read the Gospels, and they have even less understanding of the rest of the Bible. Here and in corporate worship may be the best place to encounter Jesus the first time. But for those who have been there and done that and still find Jesus a mystery, this is the book. There are many of us who belong to churches where we find forgiveness for our sins (even when we are not really bothered by our sins), and where we find our guilt washed away (even when guilt is not a significant factor in our lives.) We believe we have salvation and are loved by God; but this does not change the way we act the rest of the week. For us there is a need to go back and meet Jesus again. There are two Jesus's we will meet. The first one is the historical Jesus who is truly one of us, but with a difference, he is possessed by a spiritual vision of the boundless compassion of God. This Jesus is a teacher of unconventional wisdom who does healing. We are invited to be moved by this vision and to become compassionate people who share in a relationship with God. The second Jesus is that of John and Paul, the Jesus of theology. One weakness of Borg in this book, from an orthodox point of view, is that he ignores the Resurrection, which was what ignited the souls of both early converts and Christians today. Borg also undermines the uniqueness of the historical Jesus when he makes him one of many spirit persons. I am sure that Borg would judge all other such persons by the standard of Jesus, but making this priority clear is contrary to the spirit of this age. Borg would have us see ourselves as being in bondage in Egypt or in exile in Babylon. This would require us to reject our culture and begin a journey to that place where we are truly at home. Personally I enjoy much about our culture, and being asked to reject parts of it in order to be in a passionate relationship with a compassionate God is a hard thing. But this is where Jesus takes us. Bill Ritter

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Summary: A good start but not the end of the quest for Jesus
Review: I very much enjoyed Borg's autobiographical material and the personalized material. Borg's scholarship, however, is suspect in places and doesn't hold up to serious scrutiny. Curious is his almost completely uncritical reliance on the Gospel of St. Thomas. Particularly weak is his comparison of the prologue of John's Gospel with Jewish wisdom literature to come to the conclusion John meant Jesus was the wisdom of God rather than God. His anaysis begs the question could not the same passages from the wisdom texts be used in support of orthodox Christology and Trinitarian theology. A good read but serious students of the historical Jesus must go elsewhere.

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Summary: What a cheap scholarship!
Review: One thing I realize after finishishing this book is that I wasted $12. Marcus Borg simply break apart the image of Jesus and crates his own image. And his scholarship is very odd. From P9-11, he frequently uses the word, "I learned." Ok, he may have learned, but has he crictically thought about it? He has such a hilarious learning habit; he learns , and he simply accepts the teaching. I can't find any struggle or effort to find the truth. He sounds like he's been waiting for that kind of answers. After all, his main point is that Jesus is wisdom not a divine being. Well, don't you think it takes more than wisdom to "love" your enemy?

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Summary: Great Gospel Study Companion
Review: In addition to its insightful and new views of the historical versus Biblical Jesus, Marcus Borg's book serves as an excellent companion to beginning Bible study. What I found most helpful was Borg's explanation of "how" Jesus taught, especially the in-depth study of the aphorism and parable formats. Sermons across the globe have connected Jesus' teachings to life as we know it, but rarely do they explain how Jesus taught. Also, Borg helps us to understand the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), and how and why they are different from John. The understanding of the larger picture, that is, the relationship of the four Gospels and the tools Jesus used to teach, necessarily preceed one's understanding of "what" Jesus taught, and continues to teach. At least one United Methodist Bible study group here in Denver, Colorado, is actually studying Mr. Borg's book in addition to the Gospels. Thanks to Mr. Borg for an outstanding book!

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Summary: Marcus Borg, meet Jesus. Jesus, meet Marcus Borg.
Review: Marcus Borg has struck gold again. Few writers are able to handle such emotive subjects with such a clear and dispassionate eye. His arguements seem balanced and do not ask us to accept his 'authority' on matters that he hasn't lucidly laid out. I find that Borg is one of the few writers , when dealing with the subject of Jesus, that doesn't patronise his audience. I recently read one other author who is perhaps even better than this and that is Richard G. Patton. Patton, in his inspiring "The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing Years", also presents us with a Jesus that is BELIEVABLE, whatever your outlook of faith. The more Pattons and Borgs there are out there, the more likely people are to seek truth for themselves, rather than have it morally foisted on them. Borg has touched the pulse of revelation and has laid it bare for all to read - AND it's a good read!

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Summary: An excellent introduction to recent scholarship for lay rdrs
Review: Borg's book develops a powerful intellectual claim about the nature of the historical Jesus. His arguments reveal a Jesus who speaks not of a promised hereafter but who instead develops a powerful, radical critique of his own culture. Borg recovers a Jesus whose message was not about himself ("I am the way and the light") and the end of the world but about the renewal of the world through faith in our common humanity. The book seems to me to offer modern agnostics, fed up with the religious right and its claims for a God who damns sinners and rewards the conservative faithful, a new vision free of the superstitions of 2000 years. Borg's vision allows for the complexities that the right rejects. No need to check your intellect at the door: Borg, a New Testament scholar at Oregon State and a member of the Jesus Seminar, challenges the reader to read-and to believe--with reason and passion. It's an excellent book aimed at a general readership. Borg's _Jesus: A New Vision_ incorporates many of the same arguments made here, and I hope that he plans an in-depth, scholarly treatment of these materials. I begin to wonder if every member of the Jesus Seminar was writing a book in the course of the discussions, given the torrent of recent tomes: Borg's is the clearest and most convincing voice to emerge yet.

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Summary: Worth its weight in gold
Review: A book of incredible value for the person who has grown up realizing that most of the material about Jesus that was taught to them in Sunday School is not longer credible. The book will lead you to a more mature belief about Jesus.

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Summary: Modern theology 101
Review: This book has the power to change your life. Marcus Bord presents a evocative yet touching synopsis of the present thoughts on Jesus in the theological world. He portrays, in eloquent yet readable English, the Jesus that was, and is today. I recommend that anyone with an interest in Jesus, whether educational, philosophical, or religious, read this book. For further commentary on the subject in a more scholarly approach, I suggest Jesus: A New Vision by the same author. But beware, these books will open the minds of many people to a new way of seeing Jesus that may not agree with what you were told in Sunday school. Strangely, it's the Jesus many priests and ministers were taught about in school but so many are afraid to reveal

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Summary: Correction to review
Review: One small correction to CRennick's review below: Marcus Borg is NOT a member of the United Church of Christ. He is an Episcopalian and is married to an Episcopal priest. He is a former Lutheran seminarian, and was reared a Lutheran in North Dakota before his "falling away" in early adulthood (this book is semi-autobiographical and goes into that). In truth, his approach to theology really is very Anglican. Enjoy -- this is a terrific and moving book