Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith
Written by Marcus J. Borg
Narrated by Adam Verner
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Drawing on his own journey from a naïve, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life-one not rooted in creed or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community.
In straightforward, accessible prose, Borg looks at the major findings of modern Jesus scholarship from the perspective of faith, bringing alive the many levels of Jesus's character: spirit person, teacher of alternative wisdom, social prophet, and movement founder. He also reexamines the major stories of the Old Testament vital to an authentic understanding of Jesus, showing how an enriched understanding of these stories can uncover new truths and new pathways to faith.
Marcus J. Borg
Marcus J. Borg (1942–2015) was a pioneering author and teacher whom the New York Times described as "a leading figure in his generation of Jesus scholars." He was the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, and he appeared on NBC's The Today Show and Dateline, ABC's World News, and NPR's Fresh Air. His books have sold over a million copies, including the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Jesus, The Heart of Christianity, Evolution of the Word, Speaking Christian, and Convictions.
More audiobooks from Marcus J. Borg
The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Days of Awe and Wonder: How to Be a Christian in the Twenty-first Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power—And How They Can Be Restored Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reading the Bible Again for the First Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus: The Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
Related audiobooks
Reading the Bible Again for the First Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus: The Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power—And How They Can Be Restored Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus for the Non-Religious Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn't Say about Human Origins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus: A Pilgrimage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies We Believe About God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great Themes of Paul: Life as Participation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Walk: Five Essential Practices of the Christian Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels' Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gospels of Jesus: A Map of Transformation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Insurrection: To Believe is Human To Doubt, Divine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grounded: Finding God in the World-A Spiritual Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Christianity For You
Little Book of Letting Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Return of the Gods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crazy Love, Revised and Updated: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More Than a Carpenter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Divorce Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Garden Within: Where the War with Your Emotions Ends and Your Most Powerful Life Begins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weight of Glory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
177 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The best I can say about this book is don’t waste your money. My men’s bible study group started reading this book based on the suggestion of one of the members. We did not research it much ahead of time but will be doing that going forward with any materials.The Jesus Seminar was, in short, an attempt to destroy Christianity, pure and simple. Thankfully their group has essentially disbanded.Claiming that the JS was a group of “biblical scholars” was a lie to begin with. Only a few of its many group members could lay claim to that description. Most of them were simply secular individuals with no in-depth knowledge of the bible.The basis of their claims is that nothing supernatural was possible. Therefore, Jesus never rose from the dead, nor did He appear before others after his death. This in itself denies the entire basis for the Christian faith. No matter how the author tries to spin that basic assumption on the JS part, he is unsuccessful. His commentary in the book conflicts with itself in many places – his scholarship ability is poor overall.After trying to get through the first chapter, many in the group had a sense to just trash it. Instead, we decided that with all of us being very strong in our faith and the chances that this book would shake any of us in our faith was slim, we kept reading. However, one person said they would not go further, one stopped reading after a couple chapters, and I stopped before the end. As a result, our weekly discussion sessions in essence were comprised of one or two comments, with the remainder of our time spent on other Christian topics.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I read this little book several years back, and wanted to make sure it isn’t forgotten. Marcus Borg is one of my favorite writers, and this is what I’ve always considered his “coming out” book. The one that lays bare Borg’s understanding of the historical Jesus, and Borg’s journey from blind belief into a more complete, contemporary appreciation for Jesus and what his message means for mankind today. In this book is a Christianity for the 21st century and a Jesus who can be embraced by everyone.One quote sums up the book well: Borg describes Jesus as a “spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion.” I’m uncertain if Borg would use precisely the same words today, sixteen years later, because the wheels of Jesus scholarship continue to turn, but I’ll bet he wouldn’t change much … he has found the core Jesus. Meeting Jesus again for the first time, we are invited to appreciate Jesus’ beauty against a backdrop of dominating religion, and share in Jesus’ struggle to help compassion overcome purity. It was this very purity system of the Jews which led to social injustice, and which Jesus found most constricting.This is one of those books everyone should read before giving up on Christianity.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Powerful book. Insightful and realistic look at who Jesus was and who Jesus has become. Promotes the value and liberation of considering a metaphorical understanding of the story of Jesus
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Marcus Borg is one of the most influential Jesus scholars we have today. His characterization of Jesus is a "spirit person," one who's especially in touch with the divine and connects the power of God to his earthly ministry. He's written at length about it in other books, but here it serves as a backdrop for a different issue: how can we, either as historians or Christians, grasp a relationship with a Jesus who is still living and relevant?Borg argues that Jesus' understanding of God was not the vast and transcendent deity that we sometimes picture, "a supernatural being 'out there' who created the world a long time ago...from time to time supernaturally intervenes in this world." That leads to a rather bland experience of "belief," that we affirm that something/someone exists that's greater than us and what else are we supposed to do with that information? Jesus instead brings a God who is an "experiential reality," found not only in his supernatural connections but also the extremely mundane (yet extraordinary) ideals of compassion and connection and love.A relationship with Jesus develops beyond the passive Christian story of sin and salvation (not that it's not meaningful, but it's been done and we play little part in it). Thus God is acted in order to be "believed in," and believers are challenged to work out who God is and effect God's presence in the world.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Clear writer & thinker. I disagree with his assumptions about what could and could not have happened historically and about who Jesus was and is.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love this book. Borg lays out the difference between the conventional wisdom of the Roman Empire-dominated Mediterranean world in which Jesus lived, and the subversive wisdom of the teachings of Jesus. A book for both those who think the know Jesus and for those who truly do want to meet him "again for the first time."