What’s On My Bookshelf: Jesus-Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary
PHOTO CREDIT: 396.ssldomain.com
There is a select (and growing) group of authors that I have placed inside the “READ WHATEVER THEY WRITE” category. I have purposed to buy every book that they have written and pay homage to it by marking it up with highlighter and questions/statements written right on the pages. In the theological arena, some of these authors include Howard Thurman, Henri Nouwen, Walter Bruggemann, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Shane Claiborne and others who show promise, but are still at this time coming off the bench like Dan Kimball and Reggie McNeal. (It just occurred to me that with the exception of Thurman, none of these authors “look like” me so for those who take issue with that check out my list of 45 that feature more prominently those who have been kissed by the sun.)
One of the highest and newest names, however, on this burgeoning list is Marcus Borg. Borg is a retired professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University. He is considered a very liberal theologian and for some in the religious realm that means borderline heretical. However, I’ve never been afraid to engage the minds of those who are deemed unacceptable by mainstream standards. In fact, many of the Ancestors and elders that I lift up as examples for living are those who were deemed unsatisfactory, unacceptable, or off limits by the rulers.
This in part drew me to Borg. What was all the fuss about? I picked up his book entitled Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary and was utterly blown away. Borg encourages Believers to engage the Bible seriously, but not literally – opting for the deeper meanings of the holy writ that are often buried snugly far below the script on the surface. The allegorical and metaphorical currency of scripture is often soundly ignored by those who are ignorant to it or appropriately discarded by those who’ve been to seminary only to find that contextual meaning is of little interest to a people who are simply looking for a good Sunday shout back home. (And let me tell you – that pull to please is powerful) Interestingly enough, Borg provides in a most helpful way a matrix that can be used to aid in deciphering metaphor from communal/oral memory. (pages 69-76)
With all that Borg reveals in this book, I must say that I most enjoyed his energy directed toward contextualizing Jesus in such a way that did not strip him of his humanity. Those with a high christology often minimize the value of a Jesus who is “down to earth” – often clothing him in such “other-wordly” character that he is of no earthly good. This practice defangs the profound if not blasphemous declaration by the writer of the gospel attributed to “John” that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. (1:14) That for me is the heartbeat of the good news – that God dwells among us and chooses reconciliation with over separation from.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book especially for those who are burdened with the blessing of regular sermon preparation. It is a book that gave birth to a bountiful harvest of new concepts in my mind which by extension served as the catalyst to a bevy of sermonic presentations. Even if you can’t agree with everything he writes, you will appreciate his sensitivity and insight on the subject matter and will be pushed to reexamine where you stand in light of the life, teachings, and relevance of the religious revolutionary from Palestine.
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