I keep going back and going back to this book and I'm using a great deal of what Marcus Borg says in relation to how be can do something in a sacramental way. ( )

Marcus Borg articulates so well what I suspect is felt by most participative Christians who don't identify themselves with the fundamentalist religious right. I see why this book was given to each of the new member participants at St. Andrew. Borg thoughtfully conveys the "emerging" paradigm for Christianity (and supports that definition by comparing it, diplomatically, against the "earlier" paradigm). A lot of his concepts resonated with me. ( )

This is the best of the books we have read and discussed in our small group. What Borg says makes sense. It's thought-provoking and well written. ( )

www.marcusborg.com

In April 2007, I attended a weekend lecture series by Marcus Borg, PhD - Christian author, historical Jesus scholar, and professor - called "Intentional Christianity: Sharing God's Dream.” On Friday night he spoke on “A Tale of Two Christianities,” which included information from his book "The Heart of Christianity." He provided notes as handouts and encouraged us to spread them about freely, so I will include them here as an introduction to his book.

The two Christianities referenced in the title are what he calls the earlier Christian paradigm, or belief-centered Christianity, and the emerging Christian paradigm, or transformation-centered Christianity.

The earlier paradigm has been prevalent in the past 300-400 years and is most embodied today in the conservative and evangelical faith. The emerging paradigm has been in existence at least 200 years, taught in mainline seminaries for the last 100 years, and the grassroots movement is much more recent. Borg doesn’t say one paradigm is right and one is wrong but offers a comparison of the two as follows:

Earlier Paradigm – Being Christian is about believing; faith as believing.
Emerging Paradigm – Being Christian is about a way, a path; faith as centering in God.

Earlier Paradigm – Afterlife centered
Emerging Paradigm – "This life" centered

Earlier Paradigm – Requirements and rewards
Emerging Paradigm – Relationship and transformation

Earlier Paradigm – Christianity is the only way
Emerging Paradigm – Affirms religious pluralism

Earlier Paradigm – Literalist or semi-literalist understanding of biblical and Christian language
Emerging Paradigm – Beyond literalism: much of Christian/biblical language understood metaphorically

Earlier Paradigm – In conflict with Enlightenment, for example, creation vs. evolution
Emerging Paradigm – Integration of Enlightenment, no conflict, and some mutuality

Earlier Paradigm – Tends to be apolitical or politically conservative
Emerging Paradigm – Tends to be apolitical or moderate/progressive/radical

Earlier Paradigm – Centered in one’s own well-being, in this world or the next
Emerging Paradigm – Centered in God

Followers of the two paradigms differ sharply in ways of seeing the origin, authority, and interpretation of the Bible.

Earlier Paradigm – Origin: a divine product. Comes from God as no other text does.
Emerging Paradigm – Origin: A human product. The product of two ancient communities.

Earlier Paradigm – Authority: grounded in origin
Emerging Paradigm – Authority: grounded in canonization

Earlier Paradigm – Interpretation: literal, factual, absolute (selectively)
Emerging Paradigm – Interpretation: historical (text in ancient context) and metaphorical (the more-than-literal meaning)

Regarding the emerging paradigm interpretation of the Bible, Borg quoted someone as saying, “The Bible is true, and some of it even happened.” Borg says that literal interpretation of the Bible may be the greatest factor in people leaving the church.

Concluding comments:

1. The Spirit of God can and does work through the earlier paradigm, and has for millions of people. But there’s a lot of static in it. For millions, it has become an obstacle, a stumbling block.

2. The emerging paradigm is not primarily an accommodation to modern thought, not a reduction or abandonment of the Christian tradition. Rather, it is “neo-traditional.” Neo: it is new – we haven’t seen exactly this form of Christianity before. It is traditional: it is a recovery, a retrieval, of what was most central to Christianity–God, Jesus, the Bible, “the way”–before the distortions created by the collision with modernity.

We’ve looked at the differences between the earlier and emerging paradigms. So what do they have in common? Borg outlined three areas of shared thinking.

1. At the heart of Christianity is God/The SacredGod: Christianity without a robust affirmation of God makes no important sense. Christianity shares this in common with the world's enduring religions.

2. At the heart of Chrisitianity are the Bible and Jesus. They are the two primary sources of revelation for Christians. This is what distinguished Christianity from the world's other religions.
The Bible is the Word of God expressed in human words.
Jesus is the Word of God embodied in a human person.
For Christians, Jesus is the decisive revelation of God, of what can be seen of God in a human life. When Jesus and the Bible conflict, Jesus is decisive.

3. At the heart of Christianity is following Jesus: The Way. Christiantiy is a way, a path of transformation. The Christian life is about a relationship with God as known decisively in Jesus that transforms us “into the likeness of Christ.”
The way, the transformation, is both personal ("born again" through "dying and rising with Christ") and political ("the kingdom of God" and "Jesus is Lord").
The way is lived within Christian community and tradition.

So if we’re in conversation with someone who subscribes to the opposite paradigm from our own, Borg suggests one way to make an overture to a productive dialog is to ask, “Would you agree with me that at the center of the Christian life is a relationship with God as known in Jesus?” And if the answer is yes, “This might provide a starting point for talking about our differences, if you wish.” ( )