The Meaning of Jesus - Book Review

The Meaning of Jesus, The Leading Liberal and Conservative Jesus Scholars Present the Heart of the Historical Jesus Debate.

When we reflect on the meaning of Jesus, some may consider the birth of a baby to a virgin, due to the vastly celebrated Christmas story; some may think of the crucifixion and possibly the resurrection; whilst others may reflect on the 'fictional' character in a storybook entitled 'The Holy Bible'. Borg and Wright's 1999 book takes a look at the historical meaning of Jesus. The authors believe that they have three categories of interested readers. First, they believe their book is for the non-Christians, and they want it to generate interest for them. Non-Christians might pick up the book and view it as a way of finally discovering what the meaning of Jesus actually is. However, Borg and Wright's title may put off those who do not follow Jesus, as they may not want to pick up any book with the name "Jesus" in the title. Second, Borg and Wright aim to settle debates that may occur when different denominations debate over the meaning of Jesus. Borg and Wright want to focus on some of the dialogue that is often missed when debating the meaning of Jesus. Third, Borg and Wright want to illustrate how different meanings of Jesus can relate to different visions of Christian life. The book itself looks at thirteen different events, and the authors have inserted their viewpoints into two chapters on each topic. An example of a topic is "the death of Jesus", and Borg and Wrights discusses "is it a real event or was it a metaphor?" At the end of the chapters they put their conclusion on the topic. When we look at the two writers, Borg gives a more liberally sceptical interpretation of the history of the gospels; whilst Wright has a more conservative viewpoint.

As many know, Marcus Borg is known for being highly influential in the Progressive Christian circle, as he likes to challenge Christian and Church tradition. "Together with the stories of his death and resurrection, the stories of Jesus' birth have been most instrumental in shaping Christian and cultural images of Jesus." Borg states that he does not see the birth as historical fact. He also does not believe that the wise men and the shepherds were actually in the stable. He argues, "I do not see these stories as historical reports but as literary creations". Borg studies the birth story in both the biblical gospels according to Matthew and Luke. He looks very closely at where Jesus was born, who visited him at the birthplace, and if Jesus was truly born of a virgin. However, Borg discovered that the gospels according to Mark and John do not mention the birth of Jesus. He argues that the reason behind this is simply because Mark and John did not see the virgin birth as significant event. The earliest writer Paul does not mention the virgin birth either. Borg goes on to say that he does not view the birth of Jesus as history remembered; in contrary, he views the birth as history metaphorized. Borg continues to argue at the end of the chapter that the virgin birth and those that visited the birthplace is not of importance. What matters is illustrated in the following questions from Borg and Wright (1999): "Is Jesus the light of the world? Is he the true Lord? Is what happened to him 'of God'?" Answering these questions affirmatively lay claims to our whole lives." Many would agree with Borg's argument. However, his claims that the birth of Christ and the people who visited the birthplace are metaphorical are opposed by many; one being N. T. Wright.

Wright indicates his opinion of Borg's claims in the book, "Jesus and the Victory of God" (1996). Wright argues that "Borg does not think of Jesus the man as the 'divine Son of God'; he does not suppose that he deliberately died for the sins of the world; nor did he focus his message on himself." Wright's viewpoint is 'all-or-nothing' when it comes to the birth of Jesus Christ. He wants to make it clear that if one does not believe in miracles then it is not possible for one to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. The reformers had very thorough answers to questions surrounding Jesus' death. However, they found it extremely difficult to answer questions surrounding the meaning of his life. Thus, in order to look at the meaning of Jesus we need to study his birth, life, death and resurrection. Orthodoxy, as represented by a large amount of popular preaching and writing, has had no clear explanation of the purpose of Jesus' ministry. For many conservative theologians it would have been sufficient if Jesus had been born of a virgin (at any time in human history, and perhaps from any race), lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, and risen again three days later. In some instances the main significance of this would be the conclusion: the Bible is completely true. However, it is too easy to claim this without looking to the bible, thus we must look at Jesus' life and what He has done. "If we are to talk meaningfully about Jesus, there is no question where we must start. We must study him within the Jewish world of Palestine in the first century." Wright believes that "Jesus was a first-century Jewish prophet announcing God's Kingdom." He believes that this is the central point of Jesus' mission and message. Wright argues that Jesus did not just live on earth to announce that there was going to be a kingdom of God. He says that Jesus believed that he was on earth to break into Israel's history. He would do so by carrying out miracles and preaching and telling parables. Wright continues to say about how Jesus told the story of the Kingdom so that people would take up the invitation to become followers of Jesus and eventually end up in the Kingdom with God. On the contrary Borg argues that Jesus came to the earth for more than the death and resurrection; whereas Wright believes that this was the sole purpose of Jesus' existence on the earth. Borg believes that Jesus existed in order to carry out the duties of "healer, wisdom teacher, social prophet and movement initiator." When Borg talks about Jesus being a healer he does not believe that he healed through miracles, he believes that they were 'paranormal healings'. Borg argues that the healing miracles were simply inexplicable and remarkable things, involving processes that we cannot understand. "Jesus seems to be uncommonly good at them." Borg believed that healing was the only way he was able to receive attention from the people. His wisdom was so attractive that even the higher class people wanted to listen to him and such a social position made the common people feel they had to listen to