Jesus: A New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship [Paperback]

Marcus J. Borg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 1991

Presents a synthesis of modern Jesus scholarship. The author shows that not only is Jesus a witness to the reality of spirit as an element of experience, but his passionate involvement in the culture of his own time connects two realities which Christians have often separated.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Borg pours a lifetime of scholarship into this provocative overview of Jesus’s life." -- Detriot Free Press

"Jesus: A New Vision not only helps us recover how Jesus appeared to his contemporariesas a God-intoxicated manbut also helps us gain a fresh perspective on understanding Jesus' significance for our times." -- Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University, author of Against the Nations

"A scholar who is alive in wonder and belief, Borg accomplishes the hardest task of all: he looks at the obvious and helps us to see it as if for the first time. " -- Eugene H. Peterson, author of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Working the Angles, and Reversed Thunder

"Borg's new book distills a wealth of scholarship into a readily accessible form, and demonstrates that the study of the historical Jesus is still highly relevant to the contemporary church and world. He makes the bold attempt to integrate serious study of the historical Jesus with the study of religion in general. The result is an exciting treatment that continually jolts the reader into seeing well-known themes in fresh, sometimes startling light. Borg has issued an important challenge both to mainline scholarship and popular piety." -- N. Thomas Wright, Worcester College, Oxford University

"Is it possible in our secular age to restore Jesus to the decisive place that Christians for 2,000 years have accorded him? In Jesus: A New Vision, Marcus Borg does it. Without bypassing New Testament scholarship at any point, this breakthrough book restores to Jesus the Spiritin the full-blooded, ontological sense of that wordthat scholarship has so largely drained him of. Point by point Borg shows how Jesus' empowering relation with God issued in a social program that is as relevant to today's world as to the one in which he lived. This is the book about Jesus I have been waiting for my entire career." -- Huston Smith, Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion Emeritus, Syracuse University, author of The Religions of Man and Forgotten Truth

About the Author

Marcus J. Borg is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and author of many books, including Jesus: A New Vision and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.

N. T. Wright is Canon of Westminster Cathedral, London, and visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School. His many works include The Original Jesus and Jesus and the Victory of God.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (May 10, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060608145
• ISBN-13: 978-0060608149
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,447 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

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Human Jesus Would Still Have a Lot To Say Today, May 7, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Lewiston, ID) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jesus: A New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship (Paperback)

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.

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary apostle..., December 24, 2001

By 

Charles W. Adams "Charles W. Adams" (Adel, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jesus: A New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship (Paperback)

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.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Social World of Jesus, February 16, 2002

By 

Peter Kenney (Birmingham, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jesus: A New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship (Paperback)

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.