Jesus: A New Vision

One of the more interesting chapters in this book attempts to describe the social world of Jesus. Borg theorizes that Jesus was deeply involved with the sociopolitical life of His own people as the founder of a revitalization movement. The Jesus movement is depicted as seeking to transform Jewish society by creating an alternative community based on inclusiveness, acceptance, love and peace. The Jewish social world in contrast is dominated by the politics of holiness which emphasizes separation as typified by clean and unclean, purity and defilement, sacred and profane, Jew and Gentile, righteous and sinner. Further complicating the situation is the Roman annexation of Palestine in 63 B.C. which creates an onerous system of double taxation with disastrous consequences for the agrarian society into which Jesus is born. The Jesus movement has competition from other Jewish renewal movements in Palestine such as the Essenes, Pharisees and Zealots. Borg manages to explain this complicated web using a very readable style. Overall I recommend the book highly as long as you do not insist on the inerrancy of the Bible. Otherwise you will definitely find it unsettling.

To put these comments in perspective, "Jesus, A New Vision" (published originally in 1987), is the third book by Dr. Borg that I have read; thus, I'm clearly a fan.The first Borg book I read was "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time," originally published in 1994 -- a book that covers almost the identical terrain as "Jesus, A New Vision." It's important to realize, if you haven't read Borg before, that his books are based on mainstream biblical scholarship that is taught in seminaries of mainstream churches. He is not a radical, far-out religious liberal trying to undermine contemporary and/or traditional Christian theology.To provide some idea of Borg's scholarship. This book's "Introduction - Clearing the Ground: Two Images of Jesus" extends a little over sixteen pages, the "Introduction's" Annotated End Notes (Footnotes) covers five pages, and should be carefully studied by those who may be particularly upset by some of the author's ideas.The book is divided into two parts. Part One, Chapters 2-4, discuss Jesus and the Spirit, or Jesus and God. Part Two, Chapters 5-10, discussing Jesus and Culture; with the focus on the culture of the first century. Chapter 10, the author's conclusion is entitled, "The New Vision of Jesus: His Significance for Our Time." Borg's observations and conclusions are thoroughly documented. It seems difficult to imagine anyone quarreling with his conclusions.I'm somewhat shocked that until learning about Borg in a newspaper article (last fall) announcing a local speaking engagement by Dr. Borg, which I attended, I had never heard of him. Again please note; this book was published in 1987, fourteen years ago. His writings and views have not been featured in either the mainstream press I've been reading and/or by clergy in the Protestant churches I've attended. Also, I'm equally mystified as to why the electronic media have not done features on Borg and his views. With so much "air-time" to fill, why haven't they covered Borg? Fear? Fear of what? This and other Borg titles are extremely easy to read, even for readers with a minimum of background in either the Hebrew Old Testament, or the Christian New Testament.Borg's views are the most plausible, rationale approach to the historical Jesus of fact, faith and experience I've ever encountered. I consider this book to be a blessing and I urge every thinking Christian to read it and other writings by Dr. Borg.

Marcus Borg is a name that will no doubt intrigue some and alienate others. As a member of the so-called "Jesus Seminar", he is one of many "historical Jesus" scholars involved in the revived "Quest for the historical Jesus". People have recognized for ages that there is a more intriguing and complex figure behind the dogma than just the august avatar of God, sent to earth to die for humanity's sins as per John 3:16. By the same token, some modern scholars have taken a ridiculously inaccurate view of the Nazarene, casting him as a whimsical Cynic who acted like the Jay Leno of Judea.Borg agrees with neither. Rather, he takes an integrated approach which seeks to place Jesus in the Judaism of his time, as well as trying to integrate many extra-Scriptural and intra-Scriptural sources. The picture he presents is a complex one, but a rich and vibrant one which is completely in tune with the needs of Christians today--provided one can get past some wooden-headed biblical literalism: if you are a fundamentalist or evangelical conservative, you won't like this book. He presents four broad labels to categorize Jesus, all of which integrate tradition--a wisdom sage who taught in parables, a prophet who called for social change, an ecstatic Jewish mystic who performed healings and exorcisms (one of the forerunners of the Chasidim), and a "revitalization movement founder" who started a movement to change Israel from the inside out. He elaborates on all of these, and does a good job of theorizing what Jesus meant for people then, and what he can mean for Christians today. One of the most refreshing things about Borg is his relatively easy reading level. I tried to read John Dominic Crossan's tome "The Historical Jesus" and to a large degree felt like I was doing research for a master's thesis! Borg, thankfully, doesn't assume that the average reader is a seminary student, so he explains himself in something resembling plain English. He presents all of these things in the subdivisions "Spirit, Culture, and Discipleship". SPIRIT is his way of talking about the aspect of life Jesus took seriously--the life of the Holy Spirit of God; the still small voice; what Quakers call "The Inner Light. CULTURE is exactly that--human society, and what Jesus' relationship to society was, as a prophet and social critic. Finally, DISCIPLESHIP is his definition of what it means to be a follower of Jesus--it means, Borg says, taking seriously that which Jesus took seriously. It means seeing life, culture, humanity, and God through the eyes of Jesus, and making a lifelong commitment to live in such a way. A truly intriguing book for the mature Christian, and a healthy supplement to one's spiritual life.

Great, readable, accessible book. Highly recommended for anyone with any curiosity about what is know historically about the life of Jesus. Borg writes about Jesus AND about Christ, carefully pointing out that actually believing or not believing in (for example) the bodily resurrection need not define one's Christianity. Reading Borg's interpretation of Jesus' teachings (which I find highly credible), it becomes quite clear why there is such a rift between "liberal" and "conservative" Christians (call them what you will). What if Jesus didn't declare himself THE Son of God, but more A Son of God, meaning that through "imitating" Christ we too can becomes Sons of God? Borg discusses the context in which the gospels were written, gives possible explanations for their inconsistencies, and even discusses other texts (e.g. the Gospel of Thomas), which were as legitamate as M, M, L, or J, but didn't make it into the New Testament because their message didn't fit perfectly the Word the early Christian Church was attemtping to put forth. A heck of a lot of information packed into 200 pages. Will likely make you thirst for further reading on the subject. Almost a "Jesus Primer" if you will.Borg's Jesus is not one who is no longer relevant today, but instead one who is ESPECIALLY relevant today, if we decide to wade through the dogma and find out for ourselves how he lived, what he taught, and why he is still alive in so many to this day.

This delightful little book is both stimulating and nourishing. Jesus may not have been the "Good Little Jewish Boy" we have heard of. His ministry was revolutionary both in his day and in the present. The book is easy reading and quite compact. It however is filled with many new healthy insights into the Jesus we revere. This makes Jesus even more relevant to us today. A good book for a Bible study group.