4.1 Borg (2003)
Borg, Marcus (2003) The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.
Quick Look
Author Marcus Borg is Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. He was Hundere Chair of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University until his retirement in 2007. He was once the chair of the Historical Jesus section of the Society of Biblical Literature. He is the author of 19 books (including the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith [1994]). He's also one of the most popular speakers in the U.S., traveling across the country for many weeks of each year. His passion is for what he calls “adult Christian theological re-education.” I have also reviewed on this site Borg's Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power--and How They Can Be Restored (2011) (see 4.6). |
This Resource’s Key Interpretations and Insights Related to the Purposes of This Website
I consider this to be one of the best postmodern, center-left interpretations of the Christian faith for the general
public by one of its major populist spokespersons.
Partly in response to the far-right Moral Majority's influence in the 1980's, in the 1990's a number of center-left Christian scholars began to write books designed to inform the general public about a healthier--but much less widely known--form of Christianity. It turned out that the time was ripe for these books and they became instant bestsellers.
This book by Marcus Borg (one of the most popular of these writers) is the first one I'm reviewing in this section, because I've found it to be the single most useful resource in helping the general public grasp the main ideas and values of postmodern liberal understandings of Christianity, especially in contrast to modern conservative forms.
For our purposes, some of Borg's key points are: (under construction)
I consider this to be one of the best postmodern, center-left interpretations of the Christian faith for the general
public by one of its major populist spokespersons.
Partly in response to the far-right Moral Majority's influence in the 1980's, in the 1990's a number of center-left Christian scholars began to write books designed to inform the general public about a healthier--but much less widely known--form of Christianity. It turned out that the time was ripe for these books and they became instant bestsellers.
This book by Marcus Borg (one of the most popular of these writers) is the first one I'm reviewing in this section, because I've found it to be the single most useful resource in helping the general public grasp the main ideas and values of postmodern liberal understandings of Christianity, especially in contrast to modern conservative forms.
For our purposes, some of Borg's key points are: (under construction)
Quotes from Text
Endorsements
"What would we do without Marcus Borg. If he did not exist we would have to invent him, for we have no better guide to the recovery of an authentic faith for these difficult times than this articulate and prolific public theologian. In this book we are reminded that the heart of Christianity speaks directly to the human heart as a lived, living and loving faith: now more than ever we need this authentic affirmation." Peter J. Gomes, Harvard Divinity School. ~from the back cover of the paperback
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"Borg is a key force in the emerging 'new paradigm' of Christian faith. This book will be a great gift to those who have so much to unlearn in and about the church. It will, moreover, nourish new Christians who are moving beyond popular caricatures of faith, inviting them to the real stuff." Walter Brueggemann, Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary. ~from the back cover of the hardback
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for this resource. (Forthcoming) |
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