The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions [Hardcover]

Marcus J. Borg (Author), N. T. Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0060608757 | ISBN-13: 978-0060608750 | Publication Date: December 30, 1998 | Edition: 1

Jesus is reported to have asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" The question of who Jesus really was has been reignited in our own time, as scholars, clergy, and laypeople debate the truth about Jesus. The answer determines what true Christian faith and authentic Christian living are today. Now, two leading scholars, representing the primary alternative views, freshly capture the historical Jesus debate in one spirited volume. Marcus Borg, the most popular liberal voice on Jesus, a member of the Jesus Seminar, and author of the bestselling "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time", and N. T. Wright, the most prominent standard-bearer for the traditional stance, outspoken critic of the Jesus Seminar, and author of "Jesus and the Victory of God", collaborate for the first time in a civilized but forthright debate about all the essential issues. In alternating chapters, Borg and Wright present their significantly different visions of who Jesus was, what he taught, and what he did. Although both authors share a conviction that Christian faith should be grounded in the best historical scholarship and they agree that Jesus is the Christian messiah and preached the Kingdom of God, they express sharp, well-argued disagreement over many crucial issues. Did Jesus know that he was the messiah? Did Jesus intentionally die to redeem humankind? Was Jesus bodily resurrected from the dead? Was Jesus God? Was Jesus born of a virgin? The authors show how we can come to know Jesus historically and how our faith is vitally shaped by that understanding. Marcus Borg, a practicing Episcopalian, and N. T. Wright, a prominent Anglican clergyman-both of whom obtained their doctorates in New Testament at Oxford University, working with the same principal professor-express their views with remarkable clarity and personal conviction. And their lively, substantial, yet respectful dialogue provides a wonderful foundation and model for how the historical Jesus debate needs to be conducted. Through their engaging exchange Borg and Wright begin to answer the essential question of "how different visions of Jesus relate to visions of the Christian life", and they spell out what it means to each of them to be a Christian at the end of the twentieth century. The Historical Jesus Debate in one volume For the first time, leading figures in the field collaborate to debate the essential issues in the historical Jesus controversy. "The Meaning of Jesus" offers the major alternate visions of Jesus and explores the differences the understanding of Jesus makes in shaping faith today. The authors show how what one thinks of Jesus determines what it means to be a Christian. They debate all the crucial issues, including: The Divinity of Jesus The Virgin Birth The Meaning of the Crucifixion The Truth of the Resurrection The Second Coming

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions is a theological remix of the old Cole Porter song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." In alternating chapters, the (mostly) liberal Marcus J. Borg and the (mostly) conservative N.T. Wright consider the major questions of the historical-Jesus debate that has dominated biblical studies in the 1990s. Borg and Wright agree that Jesus was the Christian messiah and preached the Kingdom of God, but they disagree about the Virgin birth, the purpose of Jesus' death, the issue of his bodily resurrection, and the question of his divinity. The Ping-Pong structure of this book and the fastidious politeness with which the authors treat one another sometimes give The Meaning of Jesus a tomato/tomahto, potato/potahto bounciness, but the project is nevertheless worthy: this is a simple, clear orientation to some of the most important biblical questions of our time, and a record of a lively and loving friendship between two of the best Christian scholars alive. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

In this valuable book, historical Jesus scholars Bog (Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time) and Wright (Jesus and the Victory of God) engage in a lively debate on the significance of historical Jesus research for the Christian faith. Each of the seven sections of the book contains alternating chapters by the two authors. For example, in a section called "How Do We Know About Jesus?" Borg argues that the ways people "see" Jesus are determined by the critical lenses and methods they use to look at the sources, while Wright claims that we "know" Jesus as a result of a dialogue between faith and history. In similar fashion, Borg and Wright exchange remarks on topics ranging from the Virgin Birth and "Was Jesus God?" to the crucifixion, the resurrection and the Second Coming. Borg's conclusions about the historical Jesus arise out of his conviction that the Gospels are not historical reports that can be factually verified but documents in which history is "metaphorized" to reveal symbolic meanings about Jesus' life. Wright, on the other hand, argues that a historical reading of the Gospels supports a Christian's "faith-knowledge" of Jesus. This is a splendid introduction to contemporary conversations about the historical Jesus as well as an excellent primer on New Testament Christology for general readers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (December 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060608757
• ISBN-13: 978-0060608750
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,762 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

95 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The way Jesus studies should be done, January 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (Hardcover)

This book brought a lump to my throat. What rare respect. I have read many "Jesus books" and I am tired of all the biting criticism of opposing vews. Here we have a book that presents two very different views without rancor. It is so handy to have these views presented in a single volume. I am surprised and extremely pleased to see that two Christians with such different views of Jesus are good friends and respect the other's views. Borg and Wright have had many personal discussions with one another, so each is very familiar with the other's arguments. Bravo to both of them. I especially liked the following two quotations: By Wright: "And the way to solve all such questions, whether to do with Jesus or to do with the sources, is once more the scientific method of hypothesis and verification." By Borg: "My point is not to deny an afterlife. But it wasn't central to Jesus' teaching. The vision of the Christian life that flows out of taking him seriously is about a relationship with the Spirit of God that transforms our lives in the present, not about a reward that only comes later." THIS IS THE IDEAL WAY TO DEBATE SUCH ISSUES. Why can't other scholars show similar respect for opposing views?

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent discussion., March 6, 2002

By 

Kerry Sullivan (Taylor, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (Paperback)

I enjoyed the book tremendously. I am a Christian who also wants to be intellectually honest in my beliefs. To me, it was refreshing to see two devoted Christians with significantly different views of the historical Jesus engaged in respectful dialogue in which neither acuses the other of heresy.

This book presents competing views of the historical Jesus by two writers the editors label as "the leading liberal and sonservative Jesus scholars." That might be a bit overbilled, since other scholars such as Meier, Sanders and Crossan come at least as readily to mind. But Wright and Borg are excellent.

The "Liberal" and "Conservative" labels are also a bit overdone. Both scholars accept the discipline of rigorous critical scholarship and, again, both are committed Christians-- so they are not so far apart as these labels might imply. It's not as if a Fundamentalist and an Agnostic are going at each other. But these complaints are with the billing for the book and not for the book itself, which I found excellent.

Wright, the conservative, sees Jesus as a prophet inaugurating the Kingdom of God who indicated at least in a cryptic way that he was the Messiah of God. He sees the bodily ressurection and the empty tomb as historical events that are foundational for the Christian faith.

Borg, the liberal, views Jesus as a social prophet and a healer, a man who called people to a new way of seeing and a new way of living. For him, whether the tomb was empty or not is irrelevent. He believes the Messianic claims contained in the New Testament come from the early Church rather than the historical Jesus. Nevertheless, he sees Jesus as the image of the invisible God.

I recommend this book for anyone sympathetic to Christianity who is sincerely interested in the Historical Jesus debate.

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful, New Approach to Presenting Jesus Scholarship, September 18, 2000

By 

Tron Honto - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (Hardcover)

Let's face it, there are loads of Jesus books out there. For one who wants to begin with taking a look at real scholarship and not metaphysical fairy tales about Jesus, it's hard to find a good place to start. Before this book was published, the best introduction was The Jesus Quest by Ben Witherington III, which looked @ the many modern scholars of Jesus scholarship. Its weakness was that it summarized views in Witherington's words which were often harshly critical because of his evangelical bias. Borg is the 'liberal' and is a powerful representative for the camp. Wright is the most exciting scholar right now who powerfully supports and challenges orthodoxy simultaneously. Wright is the superior scholar here in my opinion, but the great thing about the book is that you can decide for yourselves looking at the authors' own writings.