I think the best quote is:
"Borg has a way of "sifting and winnowing the material from the Bible
and writing about it for other people to make it extremely
comprehensible," says David Hoeppner, a professor of mechanical
engineering at the University of Utah who helped bring Borg here."
I guess it is good that they admit ignoring portions of the Bible....one
wonders how they make the decision which to ignore? Maybe it's a daily
thing, like "today I just don't feel like not committing adultery, so I
will just cut that portion out" or that whole hell thing, that part
clearly needs to be winnowed. I know, let's get out our word editors
and make up a new Bible! I would like one that fit my needs please.
He denies the Bible:
"Two kinds of U.S. Christians: The most vocal group argues that being
Christian is about believing a set of historical claims. For believers
in that group, the Bible is without error: Genesis is a literal account
of the creation, Jesus was born of a virgin and after he died, his tomb
was empty. It's also about practicing what the book teaches.
"In this view, Christianity is the only way to salvation," Borg said
in a phone interview from Corvallis, Ore.
Thousands of other Christians look instead at the ancient texts in
their ancient context, asking what these teachings and commandments
meant to the people who wrote them."
I guess if you're ignoring portions of the Bible you can ignore the part
where Jesus said He was the only way to salvation.
Or how about later on in the story:
"Or consider the story of Jesus' resurrection.
"If I had to bet my life on whether or not the tomb was really
empty, I would bet that it wasn't," he says, "yet I would say the Easter
stories are profoundly true."
To Borg, the Bible accounts suggest that many followers either saw
Jesus in a vision after he died or felt his presence. Thus Jesus became
a living reality, not just a figure from the past.
In that experience, Jesus became "Lord" to his followers, a term
which had been reserved for the Roman rulers.
"Easter means God said 'yes' to Jesus and 'no' to the powers that
executed him," Borg says. "Being Christian means affirming Jesus is Lord
and the rulers of this world past and present are not.""
Isn't that the point of being a Christ follower, if the tomb isn't empty
then what's the point? It becomes just spiritual bunk like new age or
relativism. The fact that the tomb was empty was the point. I find it
amazing that someone could say that 500 people saw Jesus at the same
time in the same place and it was only a vision. On the other hand if
they only felt His presence it must have been a very strong presence for
all of them to go out and die to spread His word.
Why is this important? This is because he is calling himself a
Christian. People will follow his teachings. It's one thing to be
professing another faith like atheism or Islam and reject the message of
Christianity, this is expected. However to call yourself a Christian
and reject the core of the faith...this is insanity, logic has no place
in his life.
Sadly this is someone who is teaching in North America
"Decades later, Borg is a renowned professor of religion and culture at
Oregon State University who has written more than a dozen books about
Christianity, the Bible and Jesus, and he lectures widely. He is
president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars and a
columnist for Beliefnet, an online magazine about religion."
Arghh!
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