If I were to put the "earlier paradigm" and the "emerging paradigm" on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being extremely conservative/fundamentalist and 10 being what Borg believes, I would probably be right around a 6. Maybe a 5...or a 7. Depends on the day. :) Borg covers so many things in this book that I'm not going to comment on all of them. However, here are a few thoughts I'd like to share (with anyone still reading :):
*My favorite chapter of this book is Faith. I really appreciate Borg's assertion that faith means a lot more than "intellectually believe," that it has a lot to do with giving our allegiance
*The chapter on the Bible-- I agree with some aspects of this. I agree that a person doesn't have to believe in a literal-factual interpretation of the Bible in order to be a Christian or to appreciate the Bible. Was Jonah really inside of the belly of a whale for three days? I don't know. It doesn't seem that important to me to know whether that is literally true or metaphorically true. However, to believe in God at all, I have to believe that he could certainly suspend natural laws in order to do whatever he wants. Thus, "fantastical" elements of the Bible are not UNbelievable, simply because they seem implausible. On the other hand, I don't see their literal occurrence as vital to my belief system. As far as the Bible being more a product of human tradition as opposed to Divine inspiration, I'm not so sure. I'd like to hear other people's thoughts.
*Two concepts of God-- I don't actually see these two concepts of God as an either/or proposition. I see God as both a personlike being who is up in heaven AND as the One in whom I live and move and have my being. Borg talks about how seeing God as One who could intervene makes the question of his non-intervention problematic. I have to agree with that. I really don't know why God doesn't intervene in a lot of situations. Borg's answer to this is what he calls panentheism [EDIT: I had originally & mistakenly written "pantheism], with no concept of divine intervention. To me, that doesn't answer the problem. Right now, I'm reading Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? (Yancey), and it addresses this topic too. Still no answers, but some interesting thoughts......
*Jesus-- I disagreed the most with this chapter. My understanding is that Borg basically comes to the conclusion that Jesus was not divine (in any peculiarly special way) but that Jesus was a man who embodied what it means to be Christian. I'm more with Frederick Buechner on this topic (emphases mine):
As everybody knows by now, Gospel means Good News. Ironically, it is some of the Gospel's most ardent fans who try to turn it into Bad News. For instance:
*"It all boils down to the Golden Rule. Just love thy neighbor, and that's all you have to worry about." What makes this bad news is that loving our neighbor is exactly what none of us is very good at. Most of the time, we have a hard time even loving out family and friends very effectively.
*"Jesus was a great teacher and the best example we have of how we ought to live." As a teacher, Jesus is at least matched by, for instance, Siddhartha Gautama. As an example, we can only look at Jesus and despair.
*"The Resurrection is a a poetic way of saying that the spirit of Jesus lives on as a constant inspiration to us all." If all the Resurrection means is that Jesus' spirit lives on like Abraham Lincoln's or Adolph Hitler's but that otherwise he is just as dead as anybody else who cashed in two thousand years ago, then as Saint Paul puts it, "our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). If the enemies of Jesus succeeded for all practical purposes in killing him permanently around A.D. 30, then like Socrates, Thomas More, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., and so on, he is simply another saintly victim of the wickedness and folly of humankind, and the cross is a symbol of ultimate defeat.
What is both Good and New about the Good News is the wild claim that Jesus did not simply tell us that God loves us even in our wickedness and folly and wants us to love each other in the same way and to love him too, but that if we will let him, God will actually bring about this unprecedented transformation of our hearts himself.
What is both Good and New about the Good News is the mad insistence that Jesus lives on among us not just as another haunting memory but as the outlandish, holy, and invisible power of God working not just through the sacraments (q.v.) but in countless hidden ways to make even slobs like us loving and whole beyond anything we could conceivably pull off ourselves.
Thus the Gospel is not only Good and New but, if you take it seriously, a Holy Terror. Jesus never claimed that the process of being changed from a slob to a human being was going to be a Sunday School picnic. On the contrary. Childbirth may occasionally be painless, but rebirth never. Part of what it means to be a slob is to hang on for dear live to our slobbery.
--Frederich Buechner from Wishful Thinking, A Seeker's ABC...or better yet, Beyond Words (which includes Wishful Thinking and a couple other books)
*Social justice-- Somehow, I think that Christian America has largely missed this point, and in my opinion, it's kind of a big aspect of the Christian life. Another great book I'm reading deals with this topic (on a world level): The Hole in Our Gospel (Stearns).
*Thin places-- I love this description for Christian sacraments and disciplines. It's a perfect visual image. Someone should do a painting with that title & concept. :)
*Pluralism/Exclusivity-- I can best sum up my beliefs on this topic with a quotation from the last book in the Narnia series (The Last Battle):
"Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honour) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him. But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, 'Son, thou art welcome.' But I said, 'Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash.' He answered, 'Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me.' Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, 'Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one?' The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, 'It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites -- I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore, if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child?' I said, 'Lord, thou knowest how much I understand.' But I said also (for truth constrained me), 'Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days.' 'Beloved,' said the Glorious One, 'unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.'" -C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle
"For all find what they truly seek." I believe that. :)
5 comments:
What an interesting discussion! I just love discussions like this. :) I sure appreciate that your writings are obviously not cursory, but have been well-thought out & researched. I’m going to run with your statement, “I’d like to hear other people’s thoughts” & be one of those ‘other’ people. :) I have not read the book, but I will respond to some topics you brought up.
First, I *so* agree with your comment on “Faith!” So many people say they “believe” in Jesus, yet they live their lives so contrary to Jesus and so it’s obvious their belief stops at a basic intellectual level. Through James, the Holy Spirit said, “You believe that God is one. [or, ‘that there is one God.’] You do well; the demons also believe, and tremble.” (James 2:19) He is making the point that saying the words “I believe” or knowing in your head that Jesus is the Son of God isn’t enough. Doesn’t Satan know that much? It’s all in what you do with that knowledge. The apostle John says “But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12) Just intellectually believing in Jesus doesn’t make you a child of God. That is extremely significant to our eternity! The world wants to sell us that simply knowing a fact is enough for salvation - but that is contrary to the biblical definition of belief. Jesus says, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Lk 6:46) It’s sad for me when I see people being sold on something that is so contrary to the words of Christ. But yet, don’t get me wrong - faith *is* crucial! In fact, without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6) As the Spirit told the church in Galatia, “For you are all sons of God through faith is Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ... And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” (Gal 3:26-27,29) When belief is joined with obedience to Christ’s words (i.e. Mark 16:16), then we are “doers of the Word, and not merely hearers of the Word who delude themselves.” (James 1:22)
(to be continued...)
The mis/understanding of the definition/role of “belief” is a stumbling block to more people’s salvation than most anything else I can think of. Satan doesn’t have to convince us that there is no God in order for us to lose (or not have) salvation. He simply has to convince us that any ol’ thing we do or believe in the name of religion or spirituality is sufficient and pleasing to God. One of the most humbling parts of scripture for me is found in Matthew chapter 7: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” This is similar to Mark chapter 7, when Jesus is talking to the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus says, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” These people were worshipping Jesus, but since it was with man’s rules and not God’s, they were lost! Since we will be judged in the end based on the words Christ spoke (John 12:48), it’s imperative that (a) I know, trust, and follow what Christ said; and (b) that I can tell the difference between Christ’s teachings and man’s teachings. My eternity depends on it.
Thanks again for the great discussion topics. :) There’s so many things in your post that got my mind running, but this is what I’ll stick with for now. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Not many people dare to talk about things that someone might disagree with. Kudos for writing it! May God bless you.
Thanks for reading & replying, Karyn! As far as Mt. 7, I would say that the situation is more of a heart issue, as opposed to a doctrinal issue. That is, people can intellectually assent to the correct doctrine and act in God's name, and yet still totally miss God's heart.
I think this is also exemplified in Jesus's conversation with the woman at the well in Jn. 4:
"19-20"Oh, so you're a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
21-23"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
23-24"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
Also, I thought you might appreciate this summary of what Borg describes as additional aspects of faith:
http://forums.jesusradicals.com/showthread.php?3928-Marcus-Borg-on-the-Meaning-of-Faith
"In Marcus Borg’s book The Heart of Christianity, he describes four meanings of the word faith from Christian history, three of which are heart-focused and one of which is head-focused (sort of). In highly summarized form, Borg describes the four meanings as follows:
* Faith as Assensus (this Latin word is closest to the English word “assent”) which is faith as belief – giving one’s mental assent to a proposition. However, it should be noted that, prior to the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment, faith as assensus was quite different than today. Before mankind developed such substantial knowledge about so many things, it was more or less effortless to believe in things like the Bible, as there was nothing else to consider as possible alternative truth.
* Faith as Fiducia (this Latin word is closest to the English word “trust”) refers to radical trust in God (not trust in a set of statements about God, but trust in God himself). The opposite of fiducia would be anxiety or worry. Faith, when viewed as radical trust, has great transforming power.
* Faith as Fidelitas (this Latin word is closest to the English word “fidelity”) refers to faithfulness to our relationship with God. That is, loyalty, allegiance, the commitment of the self at its deepest level, the commitment of the heart – a radical centering in God. How do you do this? By paying attention to the relationship and by loving what God loves (e.g. compassion and justice).
* Faith as Visio (this Latin word is closest to the English word “vision”) refers to faith as a way of seeing. That is, the way we see “the whole”…the way we see “what is”. We can see “the whole” as hostile and threatening (i.e. death will get us) which results in a defensive response to life. Or we could see “what is” in an indifferent manner (i.e. the universe is indifferent to mankind – this is the most common modern secular viewpoint). This view usually results in a concern primarily for ourselves and those who are most important to us. The third way to see “the whole” is to view it as life-giving and nourishing. “What is” is filled with wonder and beauty, even if sometimes a terrible beauty. This way of seeing the whole leads to radical trust, and generates a willingness to spend and be spent for the sake of a vision that goes beyond ourselves (i.e. the kind of life we see illustrated in Jesus’ life).
Martin Luther is likely as responsible as anyone for “faith” being central to the Christian vocabulary. But what form of “faith” was Luther’s? Not primarily assensus. “After entering a monastery after being struck by lightning, he went through a decade of agonized terror and ascetic self-denial, seeking to be righteous enough for God. During these years, he had assensus aplenty – and it terrified him. Perhaps because he believed “all of it”, he was filled with fear and anxiety. His transformation occurred through an experience of radical grace that transformed how he saw (visio), led him to see that faith was about trusting God (fiducia), and led him to a life of faithfulness (fidelitas) to God. For Luther, saving faith was not assensus. It was about visio, fiducia and fidelitas.”
http://prospectinggod.blogspot.com/2...h-matters.html
Karyn, I thought you might also like this summary of what Borg describes as additional meanings of the word faith:
http://forums.jesusradicals.com/showthread.php?3928-Marcus-Borg-on-the-Meaning-of-Faith
1. Faith as Assensus (this Latin word is closest to the English word “assent”) which is faith as belief – giving one’s mental assent to a proposition.
* Faith as Fiducia (this Latin word is closest to the English word “trust”) refers to radical trust in God (not trust in a set of statements about God, but trust in God himself).
* Faith as Fidelitas (this Latin word is closest to the English word “fidelity”) refers to faithfulness to our relationship with God. That is, loyalty, allegiance, the commitment of the self at its deepest level, the commitment of the heart – a radical centering in God.
* Faith as Visio (this Latin word is closest to the English word “vision”) refers to faith as a way of seeing.
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