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Marcus J. Borg

The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith Paperback – July 21, 2015

by Marcus J. Borg (Author)

406 ratings

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In The Heart of Christianity, world-renowned Jesus scholar and author of the bestseller Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time argues that the essential ingredients of a Christian life—faith, being born again, the kingdom of God, the gospel of love—are as vitally important today as they have always been, even during this time of conflict and change in the church.

Borg wants to show us, as today's thinking Christians, how to discover a life of faith by reconceptualizing familiar beliefs. Being born again, for example, has nothing to do with fundamentalism, but is a call to radical personal transformation. Talking about the kingdom of God does not mean that you are fighting against secularism, but that you have committed your life to the divine values of justice and love. And living the true Christian way is essentially about opening one's heart—to God, and to others. Above all else, Borg believes with passion and conviction that living the Christian life still makes sense.

Print length

234 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperOne
Publication date

July 21, 2015
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

8.02 x 5.38 x 0.6 inches
ISBN-10

9780060730680
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Marcus Borg brings expert knowledge, insight, and warmth to this revisiting of Christianity’s heart and soul. He makes absolute sense.” -- Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and The Soul's Religion

“Highly readable ... a valuable glimpse into the essence of Christianity... Borg writes with clarity and precision.” -- Publishers Weekly

“A winsome, accessible, pastoral offering ... Borg provides a way for an important, positive, and serious rethinking of the gospel.” -- Walter Brueggemann, Christian Century

“This ambitious, substantive, and boldly political resource establishes the terms for a conversation that will no doubt continue for years…. [A] watershed work.” -- Spirituality and Practice

From the Back Cover

Now in paperback, renowned and beloved author Marcus Borg presents a renewed way of being Christian for the twenty-first century.

Borg reveals that, when properly understood, the vital elements of Christian faith are more compelling than ever. Borg offers a practical guide to thinking about God, Jesus, the Bible, faith, and Christian practice. He shows how faith in God and Jesus has never really been about believing certain propositions but rather about a dynamic relationship. He shows that being “born again” is at the center of Christian life and that the “kingdom of God” is a matter of transforming society into real world values of justice and love. And that the Christian life is essentially about opening one’s heart—to God and to others.

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0060730684
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; Reprint edition (July 21, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 234 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780060730680
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.02 x 5.38 x 0.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #69,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #77 in Christian Historical Theology (Books)
- #308 in Christian Social Issues (Books)
- #326 in Christian Church History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
406 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		75%
4 star		16%
3 star		2%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jeanette

A great help in grappling with difficult and illogical Christian beliefs

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2015

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I am 69 years old and have been a Christian most of my life. I have had wonderful experiences of the reality of God, most significantly when God "spoke" to me on the day my late ex-husband told me he no longer loved me. To my distraught cry to an empty space of who will love me then if my own husband doesn't, I heard God say in my heart, unsolicited: "I will love you ... forever". Despite many wonderful experiences I have for the last number of years struggled with a growing discomfort with many questions about my faith - Jesus being the only way to God, Jesus' statements that conflict with loving your enemies, with his seeming presumptuousness of equality with God, with God's plan to allow a beloved son to be brutally killed on my behalf .... and many more. Marcus Borg's books have been a great enlightenment and comfort to me. I am not alone in my questioning! There are some reasonable explanations to my questions and this book in particular has been of enormous help to me to emerge out of my disorientation, confusion and guilt and to accept my journey with God as on-going regardless of my ever changing perspectives of the mystery of God and my faith.

48 people found this helpful

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Jason Bailey

Interesting Read

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2019

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In this book, Marcus Borg suggests that there is a developing paradigm of Christianity that deviates from the more orthodox view of Christianity that holds that Jesus is the only way to be saved from hell and, instead, acknowledges that Christianity is not only about an after-life but is more about experiancing the sacred. In this sense, he suggests that while the tradition of Christianity ought to be honored, the new paradigm is one that allows believers to join with peoples of other faiths who also, through their traditions, seek to experiance the sacred so that sacred can be experianced together. This paradigm is a new Christianity that, in addition ti seeking the sacred, is also founded in the principles of seeking justice and equality.

6 people found this helpful

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Sarah B.

Borg does an excellent job of presenting a credible

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2016

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I'd only been exposed to one "version" of Christian belief - a somewhat conservative one. Borg does an excellent job of presenting a credible, cohesive alternative. His explanation of progressive theology is accessible, comprehensive, and coherent. This book seems to be a summary or compilation of some of his other works. Where he has entire books on Jesus or the Bible, this one provides an overview of a progressive view of each of those concepts. This was a great place to start my exploration of progressive theology.

19 people found this helpful

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LCartwright

Challenging and profound

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2016

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My Christian faith of several decades has undergone not a little deconstruction and reconstruction these past few years. This book has challenged as well as helped me as I continue to sort out what does and doesn't (1.) resonate with my own life experience and (2.) hold up under the light of history and vigorous scholarship.
Chapter 2 on faith is among the most profound I've ever read on the topic. Chapter 8 on Thin Spaces is also full of enlightenment. I found some chapters slower than others, but Borg's depth both as a scholar and a devout Christian are beyond question, even if you don't agree with all of his conclusions.
As a Christian who is not afraid to rethink and even change his mind on long held tenets, I welcome the challenge to rethink my convictions, assumptions, and associations. As I continue to wrestle, I find Borg articulate and helpful in relating his own faith journey. May we never fear the facts, or the exposing of blind spots. The truth does indeed set us free.
I'm late to the party of Borg readers, and am saddened by his passing, but I look forward to going over my (considerable) notes and highlights from this book and taking in more of his work. I am very glad to have read this book.

14 people found this helpful

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Amateur Pianist

Admirable

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2014

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Many things about Borg's approach are admirable. He espouses a nonliteral approach to the Bible, but he is perfectly comfortable with the more literal interpretations common among conservative Christians. If that works for them, that's wonderful. He is not trying to attack anyone. But he IS trying to help those who would like to renew their faith without being required to adhere to some party line. So I very much appreciate his spiritual and metaphorical readings of some miracles (like the marriage at Cana) and his multilayered discussion of what "I believe" means. For seekers like the one who told me he couldn't any longer come to church because he found it impossible to recite the Apostle's Creed, Borg is (so to speak) a "god-send." My only reservations are around his simplifications, which mostly help him set up his argument and don't go to its heart. Still it's sometimes annoying that there are "two ways" of understanding this or that belief or claim. I understand he's writing for a nonspecialist audience and that such simplifications are needed to bring your audience along with you. On balance, this is a fine book and I know people whom this has helped. If I could, I would give it 4.5 stars.

10 people found this helpful

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Paul Alvarez

Great contribution!

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2014

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Marcus J. Borg, once again, has written a clear, succinct, and "updated" understanding of Christianity and the emerging church. This book responds to the demands of our times and culture from the culture and language of Christianity with respect to other faiths as well as intelligence. I highly recommended it as a book that helps update the meaning of Christianity and Scripture and is bound to resurrect faith among persons who struggle with rigid and limited understandings of the Way. Additionally, this book could easily find a place in Christian initiation education and Christian reading clubs seeking readings to deepen understanding of faith. My plan is to readily gift this book to young adults that are uncertain about returning to the church. Lastly, the book is written in plain language at a high school reading level and is organized in such way that it allows for short periods of reading without loosing track of the general theme. Paul A. Alvarez, Ed.D, LMFT, LEP, LPsy.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Blankety Blank

Fascinating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2015

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Very fascinating.

One person found this helpful

MURF

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2015

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GOOD READ THUS FAR

Mrs. Mary Jones

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2015

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great book

J E Smith

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2015

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Excellent, clear and thought provoking.

Don Smith

Christianity at its best...

Reviewed in Canada on October 8, 2003

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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.