I say excitedly because in so many ways his story parallels mine. We grew up in mainstream Protestant families and churches. We started questioning and journeyed into a quest for truth. We had mystical, luminous experiences that cannot be contained in words. We studied history, context, and meanngs. And for the most part we reached the same or similar conclusions.
One of the conclusions is the Bible is a sacred document that is mostly parable, metaphor and myth that carries way more profound meanings than the literalists can even imagine. In fact the literalists are a rather new group, and they turn off millons who have left and are leaving Christianity. Literalism defies logic, common sense, science and the teachings of spiritual lights of the ages. It offends our intellect.
I hope you will read this book. I'm going to share a bit about what Borg says about Easter and how it was understood in the beginning. It was not about a violent God requiring Jesus' death in some way as a substitute for us and our mistakes.
The earliest story of Easter, the empty tomb, means:
- You won't find Jesus in the land of the dead. "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"
- Imperial execution and burial in a rich man's tomb couldn't hold him.
- God has said "yes" to Jesus and "no" to the powers that killed him.
- It's not over -- what he was about has not come to an end.
- Jesus is still loose in the world, still recruiting for the kingdom of God...
- The risen Christ journeys with us, is with us, whether we know it or not.
- Sometimes there are moments when we do recognize this.
On Good Friday let us consider the understanding in the beginning. Peel back layers and go to the first century and find The Way.
- One of the ways the risen Christ comes to us is the blessing, breaking and sharing of bread.
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