Borg's Spiritual Journey--Notes from Chapter 1
In Chapter 1, Marcus Borg outlines his own spiritual journey; which
assists the reader in understanding the process he went through in
developing his understanding of Jesus, the pre-Easter Jesus and the
post-Easter Jesus. These stages of development may be common to others and
certainly help understand Borg's view of Jesus as "the heart of
contemporary faith."
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Precritical Naiveté
(Childhood) |
Belief based on whatever “the
significant authority figures in our lives tell us to be true.”
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Clash with Modern World View
(College) |
Modern World view evolved during Age
of Enlightenment, included “loss of faith in traditional religious
sources of authority,” movement toward human rights, science, rational
thought, replacement of theocracies and autocracies with democracies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enlightenment).
According to Borg; “world of matter and energy” and “a closed system of
cause and effect…the stage of critical thinking….” |
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Closet Agnostic
(Seminary) |
From Borg: “the image of Jesus from
childhood…was not historically true.” Findings regarding the Gospels:
- Neither divine documents nor
straightforward historical records.
- Not eye witness accounts
written by people who accompanied Jesus.
- Represent “the developing
tradition of the early Christian movement.”
- Include “accumulated
traditions of early church” put in present form by 2nd & 3rd
generation authors.
- Through comparative study we
can “see these authors at work modifying and adding to the traditions
they received.”
- “Traditions about Jesus were
adapted and applied to the changing circumstances of the Early
Christian movement.”
- “Movement’s beliefs about
Jesus grew during those decades.”
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Nature Mysticism
(Young Adulthood) |
“God does not refer to a
supernatural being ‘out there’….Rather…God refers to the sacred center
of existence, the holy mystery that is all around us and within us.”
Both immanent and transcendent. |
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Transformational Christianity
(Now) |
“In addition to being deeply
involved in the social world of the everyday, he (Jesus) was also
involved in the world of the Spirit.” Evolved for Borg’s from a view of
the Pre-Easter Jesus (Jesus of History) and the Post-Easter Jesus
(Jesus of Christian tradition and experience) as opposed to Historical
Jesus vs. Christ of Faith. John’s Gospel is powerful testimony of
Post-Easter Jesus. No longer see Christianity as “about believing” but
rather “being in relationship” with God. |
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