Rating: 
Summary: Yet another book by Borg purchased for school
Review: I must say that the reason I chose Borg for my study was that the Borg in Star Trek is interesting to me. I discovered that Borg and the Borg both want to asimilate you into their way of life. While "the Borg" is make believe, Borg lives in the real world and his beliefs should be in the Star Trek universe. I would not recommend this book to anyone. Yet another attempt to bring Jesus down to the level of other spiritual people. I guess if you don't like being held accountable for what you do then Borg's philosophy would be for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful Christianity
Review: I've enjoyed all of Borg's books. In this book, I felt the chapters dealing with reconciling the "two" Jesuses - pre- and post-Easter were helpful to me as a Christian. Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy the books, The Good Book by Peter Gomes and Narratives of a Vulnerable God by Charles Placher.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre
Review: In March of 1965 Eric Burton and the Animals reached number 15 on the popular music charts by singing, "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Perhaps, Professor Borg should have used those lyrics as the preface to his book. This work is, after all, easily misunderstood. In this text, Professor Borg fills a lot of space by simply repeating material that he published three years earlier in "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time." It's hard to understand why we should purchase and read the same material twice. In this text, Professor Borg minimizes, to the point of nearly denying, the divinity of the historical Jesus. It's hard to understand why self-proclaimed christians would wish to read this book. However, like the popular singers, who appear to have been his inspiration, Professor Borg's intentions are honorable. This book is not so much a great piece of theology, as it is an apologetic: an attempt to reach the millions who have given up on faith as a meaningful guide to direct their lives in this world. If Professor Borg frequently stumbles and falls as he seeks new paths for those who have strayed from the way, it is only because he is exploring new territory. Chapters 5 through 7 define the true strength of this book. When Professor Borg stops attempting to rewrite theology, and instead asks the question, "How should we live on this earth at this time?," he makes his most meaningful contribution.
Rating:
Summary: Encouragement For Those With Doubts About Christian Beliefs
Review: In THE GOD WE NEVER KNEW Borg invites the reader to enter into a relationship with God. The author draws heavily upon his own personal experiences as an inclusive Christian who does not hold a literal interpretation of the Bible. Borg's account of his search for a meaningful relationship with God will provide encouragement to anyone struggling with doubts about mainline Christian beliefs.
Rating: 
Summary: This book gives thinking people a vibrant alternative.
Review: Marcus Borg is one of the unusual scholars whose own personal faith journey is woven into his presentation of a vibrant alternative to liberal's loss of a sustaining vision. He shows that that there is a real, Biblically based, exciting, foundation for those of us who are equally turned off by the fundamentalist's retreat from the real world and by the liberal's pale and sterile intellectualism. I wish everyone could not just read Marcus Borg, but see and hear him, because it is easier then to experience just how much his considerable academic skills are put in the service of uncovering a viable source that will sustain us and him as we struggle along in our journey of faith.
Rating:
Summary: Educational, inspirational - a wonderful book
Review: Marcus Borg, a distinguished scholar who has devoted himself to studies of the "historical Jesus," has written from his own experiences as a Christian, informed by a lifetime of scholarship, about our need to develop a personal relationship to God. In clear, precise, down-to-earth language, he manages to explain difficult concepts while outlining a reasoned, convincing approach to Christian faith. Every page conveys a sense of deep respect for, and faith in, a continuing and vital relationship to God. His theology can liberate us from magical thinking and narrow-minded literalism, and points the way to a continuing, ever-deepening relationship to God. In a thoughtful, non-defensive manner, he describes a basis for deep religious faith fully consistent with our contemporary world view. I have never found a book on religious faith so helpful, so clear, and so inspiring for a modern reader. By liberating us from a "requirement-based" faith in a "monarchical" God, he has shown the way to a meaningful, day-to-day relationship to God as the foundation of our lives, the "ground of being" described by Paul Tillich. His book is a gift to us that I am glad to have found, and I will follow the advice of William Wink, who wrote about another book of Borg's that we should read everything he writes. I wish everyone could read and reflect on the message of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Educational, inspirational - a wonderful book
Review: Marcus Borg, a distinguished scholar who has devoted himself to studies of the "historical Jesus," has written from his own experiences as a Christian, informed by a lifetime of scholarship, about our need to develop a personal relationship to God. In clear, precise, down-to-earth language, he manages to explain difficult concepts while outlining a reasoned, convincing approach to Christian faith. Every page conveys a sense of deep respect for, and faith in, a continuing and vital relationship to God. His theology can liberate us from magical thinking and narrow-minded literalism, and points the way to a continuing, ever-deepening relationship to God. In a thoughtful, non-defensive manner, he describes a basis for deep religious faith fully consistent with our contemporary world view. I have never found a book on religious faith so helpful, so clear, and so inspiring for a modern reader. By liberating us from a "requirement-based" faith in a "monarchical" God, he has shown the way to a meaningful, day-to-day relationship to God as the foundation of our lives, the "ground of being" described by Paul Tillich. His book is a gift to us that I am glad to have found, and I will follow the advice of William Wink, who wrote about another book of Borg's that we should read everything he writes. I wish everyone could read and reflect on the message of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Be compassionate, as the Spirit is compassionate...
Review: Marcus Borg, as any of his readers know, is a religion professor at Oregon State who has been part of the "Jesus Seminar". What sets him apart from his compatriots, however, is that he knows how to synthesize scholarship with faith. In this book, a gem of a work, he unfolds his own heart for us to reveal his own deeply personal ideas about God, Jesus, life, the Bible, and many other relevant topics. He reveals to us the difference between "faith"--a relationship of trust, devotion, and submission in love to God/the Spirit/the Sacred--and "Theology"--a manmade system to try and understand how God works and what God is like. He offers his insights in compassion, not wishing to be judgmental or to shatter old illusions--indeed, his own story reveals that he's gone through those very things. This is not the story of God the omnipotent Father figure, the King and Judge who is our un-needed superego. This is the story of the Spirit; the still, small voice, the primordial pulse of the universe, the all-encompassing transcendent/immanent force of love which holds us all in the palm of its proverbial hand. This book revealed just as much about my own human reactions to faith as much as God's nature--the journey of faith is one of self-discovery as well as discovery of God. Borg is a scholar who can see through the attempts of smaller minds to cloud Truth, but he's also an awestruck believer who feels a hint of the mystical reality that is God, and he eagerly wants to know God more. Do not read his book, however, hoping to prove or disprove your own assumptions. Certainly don't read it hoping to find material to indict Borg as a heretic. Read it hoping to discover how little you really know, and how much you really feel. Take it as a precious gift, offered in love, and let your heart be opened.
Rating:
Summary: The God We Never Knew
Review: Men and women of all faiths would enjoy and learn from reading this book. Borg tells us why we think and image God the way we do, and how we live with God. It is very thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: repetitious, illogical, ambiguous and silly
Review: Read N.T. Writght, John Meier, E.P, Sanders, James Charlesworth and Alan Watts. Borg states he hasn't experienced death so cannot say whether there is an afterlife or not and yet apparently he has experienced God with a political/socio-economic agenda for a possible finite world. A waste of time.
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