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Religion

Son of God? Yes, but not so literally

A Christian scholar brings decidedly untraditional views of Jesus and Easter to Eckerd College.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published February 9, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Today, Ash Wednesday, many Christians worldwide begin a Lenten journey that will culminate at Easter.

Whether they observe this liturgical season or not, most might be astonished by Marcus J. Borg's view of Jesus and the widely held belief of their savior's virgin birth and resurrection.

Borg, a noted scholar of the historical Jesus and a distinguished professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University, spoke recently at Eckerd College.

No, he says, Jesus is not literally the son of God. No, he was not born of a virgin. And no, he did not rise from the dead. The Episcopalian says one doesn't have to accept any of those traditional beliefs to be a good Christian.

Borg, 62, categorizes Christians like himself, those who view the Bible as a historical and metaphorical document, as part of an emerging paradigm. Those who take the Bible literally and believe it is a divine product fall into what he refers to as an earlier paradigm.

"I don't think God cares if we are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and so forth. What matters is a deepening relationship with God."

Borg, whose latest book is The Heart of Christianity, Rediscovering a Life of Faith, has an untraditional view of the Easter story.

"For me, the truth of Easter does not depend on whether the tomb was empty. For me, this truth of Easter is two-fold. Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord. When I say Jesus lives, I mean that his followers experience him after his death as a living reality of the present.

"Some Christians to this day continue to have experiences of Jesus. For me, that's the truth of Easter. Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but of the present. I don't see that what happened to his physical body is directly relevant to that."

Borg came to St. Petersburg this month as part of Eckerd College's Center for Spiritual Life's spring semester lectures. The theme this semester is "Finding a Credible Faith in a Post-Holocaust and Postmodern Age."

Borg is known worldwide for his membership in the Jesus Seminar, a group of Bible scholars. He is married to an Episcopal priest, the Rev. Marianne Wells Borg. She is a canon at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Ore., where she is director of the Center for Spiritual Development.

According to Borg, who noted that his daughter is black and his son is gay, Christianity's views of right and wrong are fluid.

"Christian understanding of right and wrong legitimately changes over time," he said. "A hundred and fifty years ago, Christians in this country were divided about whether or not the Bible teaches slavery. And the truth is, it does."

Besides slavery, most Christians also have set aside biblical admonishments against divorce, he said. Many no longer accept that women cannot be ordained. In another 50 years, Borg predicted, many mainline churches will come to accept gay marriage.

Was Jesus the son of God?

Yes, he answered. But "for me, son of God is not a biological category. It's an affirmation of Jesus' significance."

[Last modified February 9, 2005, 00:43:19]