For some people, Marcus Borg has meant the difference between faith and non-belief. His work as a member of the Jesus Seminar and his numerous books—including the best-selling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, The Heart of Christianity, and The God We Never Knew—have offered a new lens through which seekers and traditionalists alike have seen Christianity as they have never understood it before. Borg is a highly regarded Jesus scholar, thoroughly steeped in the life of the historical Jesus, and, at the same time, a deeply spiritual Christian devoted to teaching and preaching about the Kingdom of God.
Through his scholarship, his faith and his own life experience (he was a "closet atheist" during his young adulthood, even as he studied and researched Jesus' life), Borg presents a vision of Christianity that emphasizes transformation, compassion and a responsibility to working for justice and peace. Though his conclusions are controversial for some, Borg calls us to think, to question and to learn. He also calls us to trust in a God whose love is beyond any that we can ever imagine.
BASIC BORG
In this, our most-recent interview with Dr. Borg, explorefaith asked that he reflect on a few key areas that we know are important to many in the explorefaith audience, namely, prayer, biblical inerrancy, concepts as to the nature of Jesus, and what it means to be a Christian today.
FAITH: A JOURNEY OF TRUST
Using the story of Abraham as a starting place, Dr Marcus
Borg explores the Christian life as a transformational journey and how that
concept leads to a radical trust and faithfulness toward God.
JESUS AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
The
Christian life means a life increasingly centered in the spirit of God, a life
lived by the alternative wisdom of Jesus and a life marked by compassion and
justice.
LISTENING FOR THE VOICE OF GOD
The still, small voice of God can be heard in many places, in countless ways. Its message calls us to metanoia, to go beyond our own mind to the mind of Christ.
MOVING BEYOND SELF-JUDGMENT
When we truly repent and become “pure of heart,” we move from a self that is
marred by division to one that is wholly committed to accepting ourselves as
beloved children of a good and gracious God. A sermon by Dr. Marcus Borg.
TAKING JESUS SERIOUSLY
Following Jesus
means a radical centering in God in which our own well-being resides,
re-connecting to a center of meaning and purpose and energy in our lives. It
means a passion for compassion and justice in the world of the every day. A sermon by Dr. Marcus Borg.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD
Our sense of God’s
character, our perception of what God is like, is carried or conveyed by our
images of God or metaphors for God, and those deeply affect the Christian life.
A sermon by Dr. Marcus Borg.
THE INTERSECTION OF OUR POLITICAL AND SPIRITUAL LIVES
Many Christians speak of the importance of accepting Jesus as your personal lord and savior. And I agree, that’s critically important. I would say, however, it’s equally important to accept Jesus as your political lord and savior.
