SBG, Part 5

The following is the continuation of my unprofessional review of a book called Stricken by God?, edited and compiled by Brad Jersak, who, by the way, describes all the essay contributors of this book (or discussion, as he puts it) as follows:

"all...have given significant thought to the meaning of the Cross of Christ"
"While (they) offer alternative readings of the atonement...they have gathered around this table with a number of shared convictions."
"While these authors bring a variety of approaches...three common themes serve as an umbrella under which we might all gather" (page 19, SBG)

Okay, so let's examine this next chapter to see the meaning of the Cross of Christ that Marcus Borg has contributed to this book which will unite us to gather under the same umbrella...

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SBG Part 5

Chapter 4

Executed By Rome, Vindicated By God
by Marcus Borg

Here we go again… right from the start I was seeing red flags. Like some vaguely familiar terms I remembered reading in the last chapter...or was it from another chapter? Or was it all just a bad dream? This book was beginning to be a blur of similar ideas and words from a very different perspective than the one taught in the Bible. For example, the terms Jesus’ “movement”, and Jesus’ confrontation with the “domination system” that killed him, or the reference to Jesus as a "Jewish mystic."

And no wonder, for Marcus Borg often refers throughout this chapter to the writings of N.T. Wright. Perhaps these contributors are all birds of a feather?

One of the first red flags was a reference near the beginning of this chapter to the recently discovered Gospel of Judas, which labels Judas as the good guy, although we are not told in this chapter whether it is a false gospel or not.

Next, regarding Jesus’ reference to the bread and wine the night before he was betrayed as his body and blood of the new covenant, Borg writes :

A historical judgment about whether this language goes back to Jesus or is the product of the post-Easter community’s ritualization of Jesus’s meal practice is very difficult. (pg. 151)

So...is he saying that Jesus did not actually say this? That the disciples just penciled it in?

Borg mentions that when those who came to arrest Jesus fell backwards, it was in ‘awe’ or ‘worship’ of the mention of the name I AM. However, in my humble opinion, I believe it had nothing to do with their thoughts or actions or worship, and everything to do with the power in His Name being spoken by the Son of God which knocked them off their feet. People who worship fall forwards on their faces.

If chapter 4 of SBG starts out being questionable, it soon gets progressively worse. On pages 152-3 Borg says of Jesus' trial:

“there is great historical uncertainty about this scene before the high priest’s council at night on the day of the most important Jewish festival of the year…
...if it did happen…
...The symmetry is almost too good to be factual” (pages 152-153, SBG)

Once again, reminiscent of previous chapters in SBG which cast doubt on whether or not the account actually happened as stated in the gospels (in other words, implying that God's Word is not inspired).

On page 154, regarding the darkness at noon which covered the whole land, lasting til Jesus’ death on the cross, Borg writes that he doesn’t think it could have been a coincidental phenomenon like an eclipse…

"Nor does it help to suggest that this was a special darkness created by God…
...Rather, the darkness is metaphor…
...the darkness from noon to three o’clock is best understood as symbolism.” (page 154, SBG)

So here is the logic…if it doesn’t make sense, it can’t possibly be literal. Here is where I interupt my review and recommend reading these:

Darkness at the crucifixion: metaphor or real history?
www.creationontheweb.com

Historical Evidence for Crucifixion Darkness
www.biblehistory.net

A few pages later in the chapter, regarding the atonement as Christians understand it, we read:

“the substitutionary atonement understanding is being set aside or revitalized by many in mainline denominations”…”it is important to realize that it is not the only Christian understanding. Indeed, it took over a thousand years for it to become dominant.” (page 156, SBG)

Now here is where it gets real fuzzy (page 157)...

Basically (I think) he is saying that the gospels don’t at all teach substitutionary sacrifice, and that other new testament authors simply use sacrificial ‘imagery’. Here Borg refers to NT Wright’s theory of the cross (i.e. the domination system’s “no” to Jesus).

Quote:

“…it is important to realize that the language of sacrifice does not intrinsically mean substitution.” (page 157, SBG)

So....according to Borg, Jesus' death was a sacrifice as was Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King Jr., but he didn’t die as a substitute for somebody else. (pg. 157)

Okay, from here on it gets worse. Much worse! I will provide a few quotes from the next few pages of incredibly blatant FALSE TEACHING…

Page 158...

The Passover lamb was "not a substitution, but food for the journey" (meaning the Eucharist).

At the risk of being offensive, Borg says, he sees...

“the notion of substitutionary atonement as bad theology and bad history…
...bad theology because it elevates one understanding of Jesus’s death above all others…
...limits God by saying God can forgive sins only if adequate payment is made. Is God limited in any way?” (pg. 158, SBG)

By the way, on the same page (158) he agrees with Dallas Willard and says,

“the substitutionary atonement leads to what Dallas Willard…calls “vampire Christians” – Christians interested in Jesus for his blood but little else.”

More Borg quotes:

“following Jesus, is not about believing a correct atonement theology” …but a “commitment to the path of confrontation with dominations systems”

“The way of the cross is about discipleship, not believing in the blood of Jesus as a substitute for our own. I think it’s bad history because it presumes that Jesus’s death was part of the plan of God.” (p. 158, SBG)

Borg then asks how we might see Jesus’ death, in the light of Joseph (Gen. 45) and the way God used evil for good…

"Was it the will of God? No." And, “this does not mean that it had to happen.” (p. 159, SBG)

Page 161 is the last straw, where we read the following things:

“Jesus and his movement”

“Jesus’s passion got him killed”

“Did Good Friday have to happen? As divine necessity? No.”

“What killed Jesus was nothing unusual. There is no reason to think that the temple authorities were particularly wicked people. We might have enjoyed their company."

“According to the gospel, Jesus did not die for the sins of the world.”

“…he was killed because of the sins of the world.”

“The domination system killed him.”

In his summary, Borg doesn’t deny that Jesus died and was raised, but he gives it all a new meaning...that Jesus was vindicated by God and that the disciples continued to experience him after his death as a divine reality (him always with a small "h", by the way).

“Easter is God’s “yes” to Jesus and God’s “no” to the powers that killed him.” (pg. 163)

In conclusion, this chapter is non other than blatant, in your face, HERESY, written by an arch heretic (as I heard New Age researcher Ray Yungen fondly refer to Borg as he browsed through my copy of SBG...actually, I believe he said THE #1 Arch Heretic). I am sure that every regenerated believer who has been born again into the body of Christ will agree.

Mind you, this comes as no surprise, since Marcus Borg (of the Living Spiritual Teacher’s Project), does NOT believe in the Jesus of the Bible anyways, as can be seen in another essay of his called Jesus and Buddhism: A Christian View (which can be read HERE). I will just include an excerpt to give you an idea of what it's about:

As a Christian, I do not think Jesus is the only way. He is neither indispensable for salvation, nor unique (except in the sense that every person is unique). 8 The exalted terms with which he is spoken of in the New Testament (as messiah, son of God, Lord, Word of God, Wisdom of God, light of the world, bread of life, and so forth) are not literal doctrinal truths but are all metaphors pointing to what Jesus became in the experience and tradition of the early Christian movement.

Footnote #8: I do think Jesus was an extraordinary human being. Indeed, I regularly speak of Jesus and the Buddha as the two most remarkable figures of religious history.

How, or why, the editor and contributor of Stricken by God? (who is a pastor and leads Listening Prayer seminars (www.listeningprayer.ca), and is heavily promoted by It's a New Day), can say that this essay by Marcus Borg will benefit anyone is beyond me!!! Yet he wrote that he has put ALL these essays together in Stricken by God? to unite us in Christ...

"With significant breadth and depth of perspective, our authors unite now in inviting the reader to follow Christ into that same victory" (of the resurrection)
-Jersak, page 53, SBG

But let’s not be too hard on Mr. Jersak. I suppose he is right on one point…that there is significant depth in Chapter 4 of this book…in fact, if I’m not mistaken, it appears to be from the deepest pit of that place no one likes to talk about anymore.

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Note: For additional reading on Marcus Borg, see here:

A Brief Rebuttal to Borg and The Jesus Seminar
by Robert P Wise
intotruth.org/apostasy/J-Seminar.htm