Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power--And How They Can Be Restored - Softcover

Marcus J. Borg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006197658X ISBN 13: 9780061976582

Publisher: HarperOne, 2012

Synopsis

Modern Christians are steeped in a language so distorted that it has become a stumbling block to the religion, says internationally renowned Bible scholar Marcus J. Borg. Borg argues that Christianity s important words, and the sacred texts and stories in which those words are embedded, have been narrowed by a modern framework for the faith that emphasizes sin, forgiveness, Jesus dying for our sins, and the afterlife. Here, Borg employs the historical-metaphorical method for understanding Christian language that can restore for us these words of power and transformation. For example, * Redemption: now narrowly understood as Jesus saving us from sins so we can go to heaven, but in the Bible it refers to being set free from slavery. * Savior: now refers to Jesus as the one who saves us from our sins, but in the Bible it has a rich and wonderful variety of meanings having nothing to do with the afterlife. * Sacrifice: now refers to Jesus s death on the cross as payment for our sins, but in the Bible it is never about substitutionary payment for sin. In Speaking Christian, Borg delivers a language for twenty-first-century Christians that grounds the faith in its deep and rich original roots and allows it once again to transform our lives.

About this title

Review:

This book could start a revolution. Borg cracks open the encrusted words of faith and pops them into fresh language that people can understand and trust. The last time this happened, we got the Reformation. --Anne Sutherland Howard, Executive Director of The Beatitudes Society

Speaking Christian correctly may seem like it s just a fuss over semantics, but it s ultimately about something bigger: defining Christianity... When Christians forget what their words mean, they forget what their faith means. --Cnn

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 006197658X
• ISBN 13: 9780061976582
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256