I have encountered a few people on my life journey who, though their insights and ability to transmit them to others, have had a profound influence on how I view the world and try to live. Marcus Borg was one of these.
I should explain from the outset that I have no theological qualification. Like many others who were raised with a conventional understanding of the meaning of Christianity, I struggled for an extended period with the beliefs that this version of Christianity required of me. For a start, I couldn’t identify ways that I had been so sinful (despite my transgressions aplenty) that Jesus deserved to die so that I might be forgiven. Even more difficult for me to accept was the notion that, somehow, such sins as I had accumulated could somehow be transmitted back in time and be a part of the reason for Jesus’ death 2,000 years ago. How God the Father could condemn his own beloved Son to death was also mystifying.
It was therefore with some amazement, and relief, that I first encountered the writings of the pioneers of what has come to be called Progressive Christianity. The period of “deconstruction” which followed was quite confusing as I cast around for new images of God and to grasp the implications of Jesus’ Gospel call to establish God’s Kingdom.
It was at this point that I first encountered Marcus Borg’s books – first of all Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, then successively as they appeared The God We Never Knew, followed by Reading the Bible Again For The First Time, and The Heart of Christianity. These all helped to clear the fog of confusion and allowed me to form a comprehensible vision of Jesus’ life and mission to the world. When I finally met Marcus in the flesh, heard him speak and was able to discuss his “convictions” with him these things came into even sharper clarity.
Marcus regarded himself as an exegete devoted to adult Christian re-education and he excelled at it. His gift of being able to address a complex matter and explain it in such a lucid way that it could be understood immediately was inspired. He also had a way of relating his own personal faith journey from his childhood in a Lutheran community through his early and mid-adult years and into maturity that directly engaged his readers and audiences who had wrestled with the same questions he had grappled with and found answers for.
He was a prolific writer and he authored or shared authorship on twenty one books which, it is said, have sold over a million copies. This is quite a remarkable publishing success for someone who specialises in writing on religious subjects and it indicates how highly his readers valued his material. My special favourites are The Heart of Christianity and Convictions, which was his final book.
You might like to reflect on what is it about Marcus’s “convictions” that makes his books and lectures so persuasive and appealing to so many of his followers?
The Marcus J Borg Foundation is dedicated to promoting his progressive Christian thought, education and discipleship. It is worthy substantial support and I urge you to donate to it generously.
Richard Carter, Melbourne. June 2016
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