A Portrait of Jesus
Lenses through which Borg sees Jesus
Religions originate in experience, especially experience of the sacred, and they are nourished by ongoing experience.
-Marcus Borg
Graduate scholarship lens
Focuses on gospels as a developing tradition:
- A layered tradition
- Contains earlier and later material
- Has two voices: Jesus and the community
The titles
of Jesus (son of God, messiah, light of the world, etc.) are
not found in the earliest layer of tradition and are not part of
self proclamation of Jesus. This does not make them wrong. Rather,
they are the voice of the community, statements
about what people around Jesus thought of him.
Interdisciplinary lens
Uses models and insights from:
- Literary and historical studies
- Social history
- Anthropology
- Study of political systems
- History of religions
- Studies of honor and shame in societies
- Studies of peasant societies
- Studies of economic systems
- Medical anthropology
Interdisciplinary
studies enable us to understand the dynamics of the social world of
the Jewish homeland in the first century, the context of Jesus.
We can see new meanings in his words and deeds when we understand his context.
Cross-cultural lens
Sees Jesus within the framework of the world's religions and derives a cross-cultural typology of religious personality.
Studies of religious experiences
Experiences of the sacred is a distinctive lens used by Borg among Jesus scholars; he gives great weight to experiences of the sacred.
General theory of religion lens
Contemporary
scholars commonly define religions as "cultural-linguistic traditions" meaning
each religious tradition takes on the categories and colorings of the
culture in which it originates; it uses the language, images, and rituals
of that culture.
Religions originate in experience, especially experience of the sacred, and they are nourished by ongoing experience.
The role of religions is to:
- Mediate experience
- Be mediators of the sacred
- Serve as sacraments of the sacred
Question
to ponder...
What lenses do you use to see Jesus?
The
Nature of the Gospels
Understanding the gospels as a developing tradition
Introduction
A Portrait of Jesus Introduction
Research and Scholarship Perspective
Lenses through which Borg sees Jesus
The Pre- and Post-Easter Jesus
Compare Pre- and Post-Easter Jesus
Summaries of the Pre-Easter Jesus
Spirit Dimension
Context: Spirit Persons in Many Cultures
Wisdom Dimension
Context: Wisdom Teachers in Many Cultures
Political Dimension
Context: Social and Cultural World of Jesus
The Post-Easter Jesus
What Difference Does it Make?
Resources for Further Study
Books and Articles by Marcus Borg
FaithFutures Foundation: integrating faith and scholarship
Living the Questions, a progressive 12-week DVD and web curriculum to help participants discover the relevance of Christianity in the 21st Century and what a meaningful faith can look like in today's world. Features Marcus Borg and 14 other scholars and pastors.
New Testament Gateway, created by Dr. Mark Goodacre, University of Birmingham, UK
The Jesus Seminar, created by Dr. Mahlon Smith, Jesus Seminar Fellow and faculty at Rutgers University
Virtual Religion Index, created by Dr. Mahlon Smith, Rutgers University
Westar Institute, official Jesus Seminar site; includes churches open to the scholarship of the Jesus Seminar