The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith [Hardcover]

Marcus J. Borg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2003

World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith.

For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.

Borg reclaims terms and ideas once thought to be the sole province of evangelicals and fundamentalists: he shows that terms such as "born again" have real meaning for all Christians; that the "Kingdom of God" is not a bulwark against secularism but is a means of transforming society into a world that values justice and love; and that the Christian life is essentially about opening one's heart to God and to others.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Borg follows up two of his previous releases about the Bible and Jesus with a volume that could easily have played on those titles, because this highly readable book is essentially about looking at Christianity again for the first time. In that respect, it provides a valuable glimpse into the essence of Christianity for those who have left the faith because they no longer believe its doctrines and those who are trying to remain in the faith while questioning its doctrines. With those people in mind, Borg emphasizes the transformational aspect of Christianity by examining the "emerging paradigm" that is gradually replacing the belief-centered paradigm of the last several hundred years. The new paradigm, Borg writes, is about loving God and loving what God loves, rather than rigidly adhering to a specific set of beliefs. In exploring this new way of "being Christian," Borg offers a middle ground for conservative and liberal Christians, though it's unlikely conservatives will conclude, as he does, that Jesus was not really the Son of God, nor are liberals likely to begin using the term "born again," as he advocates. Still, there's much here that both sides can agree on, possibly helping to bring them a step closer to the unity that has eluded them for centuries. As always, Borg writes with clarity and precision, which should also help the ongoing conversation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Christianity appears to be at a crossroads, and religious historian Borg draws a distinction between what he calls an emerging paradigm and an earlier paradigm. The distinction is important because Christianity, he says, still makes sense and is the most viable religious option for millions. He contends the earlier paradigm, based upon a punitive God and believing in Christianity now for the sake of salvation later, simply doesn't work for many people. It also doesn't take into account the sacramental nature of religious belief; that is, religion as a vessel wherein the sacred comes to the faithful. Borg's emerging paradigm is based upon the belief that one must be transformed in one's own lifetime, that salvation means one is healed and made whole with God. He feels the new paradigm allows more people to be and become Christians. In his compelling proposal Borg consistently aligns the emerging paradigm with God, Jesus, the Bible, tradition, and religious practice, which constitute the heart of Christianity. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1st, First Edition edition (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060526769
• ISBN-13: 978-0060526764
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marcus J. Borg is professor emeritus in the philosophy department at Oregon State University, where he held the Hundere Chair in Religion and Culture, and author of the New York Times bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, The Heart of Christianity, The Last Week, and Jesus. He was an active member of the Jesus Seminar when it focused on the historical Jesus and he has been chair of the historical Jesus section of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

188 of 194 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heart of Christianity, July 27, 2004

By 

Stephen L. Smith (Greensboro, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith (Hardcover)

I've read all of Marcus Borg's books and have recently read "The Heart of Christianity". From a conservative evangelical background, I have always strugged with his approach, yet I keep coming back for more. He has helped me grow in my faith, and be open to see things from other angles. Despite his orthodox/unorthodox theology, there is a spirituality in this book, that cuts to my heart. He is all about actually experienceing Christianity in this life, and I find his writing to have a spiritual quality that, for some reason, comes home to me. I may not ever agree with all he writes, but he lifts the faith beyond the factual to the experiential and to its root. I heartily recommend this book to everyone wishing to grow and struggle in faith.

131 of 134 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag, October 1, 2006

By 

J Lee Harshbarger (Ypsilanti, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith (Paperback)

Our church, an evangelical congregation (Vineyard), had a Lenten book study with an Episcopal church in town this past spring. We studied three books: this one, "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard, and "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. Our pastor introduced the books to our congregation in this way: "'The Divine Conspiracy' goes right to the heart of our beliefs at this Vineyard church; 'The Heart Of Christianity' is something that our friends at the Episcopal church would feel at home with, and 'A Generous Orthodoxy' is somewhere inbetween the two."

This is the second book that I can remember reading by a liberal Christian. The first book, which I also read this year and read before this one, was "A New Christianity For A New World" by Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong. I found that book to be heretical, turning Christianity into something completely unrecognizable in light of the Bible. I feared that "The Heart Of Christianity" would get me worked up, too, especially coming from an author of The Jesus Seminar. I was surprised that I found some things in this book that I really liked, and overall, I got more out of this book than McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy," even though I was most excited about reading that book.

You know how some CDs you buy have some really great songs and some songs that you find either boring or you can't stand them, so you always skip them? Yet, overall the CD is worth buying because the good songs are so good. Well, that's how I feel about this book. Some chapters I was mesmerized by the incredibly enlightening message; other chapters I found to be way off the mark.

The first chapter that impressed me was chapter 2, "Faith: The Way Of The Heart." The author highlighted four kinds of faith, using Latin terms to help differentiate (kind of like the way we use the four different terms to more carefully define love). The first is assensus, close to the English word assent: "a propositional understanding of faith." The second is fiducia, which he translated in English as trust. The third is fidelitas, like the English word fidelity. He emphasized that it's not fidelity to propositional statements, but to the person of God. The fourth is visio, like vision, "a way of seeing." As Borg described each of these facets of faith, I was driven to a deeper understanding of what faith in God means.

Another chapter I especially liked was chapter 7, "The Kingdom of God: The Heart of Justice." While this interpretation of the Kingdom of God takes a stance commonly associated with liberal churches, I think he supported his views very well, convincing me that the liberals have something here about God's heart that conservatives tend to miss.

One more chapter was especially meaningful to me, chapter 8's "Thin Places: Opening the Heart." In this chapter, "thin places" refers to those places, times, or situations where you sense God right there with you, not as he typically seems to us in daily life, where getting to him requires some clearing out of the daily hustle and bustle, like clearing away weeds and forest to make a path. This chapter was an invitation to open your heart to God.

Some other chapters had some interesting thoughts, but were not as compelling as the three stellar chapters noted above. Then there were some chapters that I found to contain views that I could not adopt. One was his view of religious pluralism (like many liberal Christians, he has real trouble with the idea that Jesus is the only way to salvation), and another was his view of the Bible. It was good for me to read this to get a better understanding of how a liberal Christian might view the Bible, and gave me a respect for their viewpoint, but still it's not something I can agree with. For example, the author appears to not believe the miracles in the Bible really happened, such as Jesus turning the water into wine. He instead reads a metaphorical meaning into it (as do other liberals who cannot accept Biblical miracles as literal). Borg claims that when we read the Bible as a literal document, we miss the metaphorical meaning (the meaning for life). The metaphorical interpretation he gave for the water into wine story was rich in meaning, and I think he has a valid point that we may miss such rich meanings by only reading them as a literal reporting of events, but I don't think it has to be either/or; we can believe the miracles happened as stated, and learn to read the metaphorical meanings from them also.

So, as a theologically conservative Christian (or am I middle of the road?), I cannot agree with some things in this book; nevertheless, I found it to be worthwhile reading. Some things in the book provided great enlightenment and some spiritual growth for me. Other parts helped me gain a better understanding of how a liberal Christian approaches the Bible, Christianity, and faith in God; understanding others who are different from you and disagree with you is always a plus.

215 of 226 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christianity at its best..., October 8, 2003

By 

Don Smith (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith (Hardcover)

I just finished reading Marcus Borg's new book "The Heart of Christianity" and it's the best book on contemporary Christianity that I've read in a long while.

Borg talks about the "earlier paradigm" of Christianity and an "emerging paradigm". He discusses the history of the "earlier paradigm" and provides useful insights such as the rather recent notions of Biblical infallibility (post-Enlightenment) and Papal infallibility (1870) which many may assume have ALWAYS been a big part of the Christian tradition.

Borg makes quite clear early on in the book that the "earlier paradigm" can and does WORK, insofar as bringing people into fuller communion with God and can certainly produce lives which work for compassion and justice. However, for various reasons (institutional, scientific, and cultural - for example), many in the modern Western world find the "earlier paradigm" to be uncompelling and "unbelievable".

Borg attempts to show throughout the book how much more deep and wonderful the Christian tradition is than merely "believing" certain doctrines or defending the literalness of certain events (creation, the flood, the Exodus, walking on water etc...) in order to "prove" the strength of our faith. Did the Exodus really happen? Maybe not. Is it a true story of the human need for liberation from bondage - certainly. Confusing "did it really happen - could I have videotaped it?" with "Is that story true?" is a big issue.

Borg argues that we diminish our faith stories by making them merely literal. He pushes for the "more-than-literal" meanings in the Christian scripture. It is a modern Western mindset which equates "facts and proof" with "truth".

Borg is a deeply spiritual person who has experienced God personally, who claims that Jesus is Lord, and that "the Other"/"the Spirit"/"God" is real. He even more or less agrees with the value of intercessionary prayer (as opposed to Spong) along the same lines as Catholic doctrine.

The Christianity which Borg portrays in the "emerging paradigm" is very compelling for me. It is deeply spiritual, rooted in historical Christian traditions, non-exclusivist, and transformative on the personal and community level. A brilliant easily readable book. Highly recommended.