Hoss writes:
"O did hear Borg preach on one occasion. The gospel message was evident."
Adrian responds:
"If I were Borg, I would ask myself why even bother to preach the gospel message that has no grounding in history, and may just very well be entirely the invention of humans. But I'm not, and apparently, Borg has found some OTHER reason for the faith he holds."
Adrian,
I'm puzzled by your rejoinder. When you say "gospel message" what are you assuming to be the "gospel message"? Are you referring to the gospel of Jesus or the gospel about Jesus? Or do you not make a distinction; and do you think Borg does?
I'm also astonished that you apparently think that Borg is arguing that what the gospels say about Jesus and his message has no grounding in history. It seems to me that he has constructed a portrait of Jesus' ministry and message that he has derived from a historical analysis of the gospels, much as many other historians have done. And, why do you think that the faith Borg holds "in Jesus" and his message (as distinguished from a faith "about Jesus") is not grounded in the gospels? Perhaps, an important element in any discussion here would be your own take of the canonical gospels: do you understand them to be straightforward historical reporting? or are they "kerygmata" (proclamations) that are at the heart theological interpretations of the historical Jesus in the light of the resurrection faith, the position held generally in NT scholarship?
Given that we are in Holy Week, let me add another wrinkle. As we were coming to the end of a careful reading and discussion of the Passion Narrative in Mark, our Bible Study leader Eddie Broadhead, a moderate Southern Baptist minister and NT scholar, said, "This is good preaching." Would you agree with that assessment of the Passion Narrative?
Finally, my former colleague at Berea College, Jim Holloway, a Barthian and NT professor (once Southern Baptist, now Antiochene Orthodox), use to tell his students, "The resurrection is not a fact." How would you take that?
Bob Schneider
rjschn39@bellsouth.net
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