Rating: 
Summary: Reading the Bible Again For the First Time
Review: As a pastor from a conservative, evangelical background, I have increasingly become uneasy with traditional ways of understanding the scriptures that I love. Marcus Borg has opened, for me, a whole new way of understanding and reading the scriptures. His "metaphorical" approach blesses something in me that has been jelling for a long time and is helping me find the scriptures more exciting, meaningful, and spiritual than ever before. The idea that everything does not have to be understood literally to have powerful metaphorical and spiritual meaning is something I find quite liberating. I can't say I agree with everything Dr. Borg writes, but I like a lot of it, and am still reflecting on much of the rest of it. Plus, he has freed me to reflect more meaningfully on the meaning of scripture and to preach more creatively in sermons, without feeling like a heretic for doing so. His approach to the scriptures has freed me to hear the scriptures spiritually in a way I never had before. If you're a Christian and not afraid to think new thoughts about the Bible, and you're hungry for some new angles on the faith, this book is fascinating. It is written with warmth and humility. Dr. Borg seems, himself, to be very spiritually minded, even though his approach to scripture and Christian faith may be quite new to many. This is a good book and I recommend it to those open to grow and reflect in new ways.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Bag
Review: Borg is one of the Jesus Seminar boys who held a vote on the Deity of Jesus. Jesus lost.
That being said, let's review: Borg is a non-literalist and seems to be ready to accept atheist's criticisms of the Bible rather than believe anything from the Falwell/Robertson crowd. His Old Testament review comes from a socialistic activist viewpoint when Borg was a 60's Peacenik. He saw the unique government of Israel as providing for the poor and downtrodden and preventing a ruling class from arising over the masses. Riiiiight. The Old Testament review was an interesting read, but to follow that viewpoint into the New Testament and justify it, falls flat. Borg's view on the Gospels and Paul's letters fail to uphold his viewpoint. The review of Revelation was a waste of time to read. Revelation destroys Borg's model, that's probably why he only took a half-hearted swipe at it. The book of Revelation is all about the establishment of a Theocratic Monarchy, not exactly the desire of a socialist. I've taken a label maker and changed the title of my book to "Reading this...again for the LAST time". Well... I'm sure Bishop Spong isn't losing sleep over Borg's shaky beliefs.
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Summary: A worthy successor to Meeting Jesus Again .........
Review: Despite his penchant for catchy titles, Borg is arguably amongst the most accessible Christian theologians writing today. He has the disquieting ability to read the poorly framed questions in my mind, state them crisply, and then provide clear, studied, and believable answers. And he is a careful researcher: in some chapters, the length of the notes section almost matches the length of the text itself. Occasionally I was left with the sense that Borg rushed his writing in this book; some chapters ended before I was ready to leave the topic. And he made only passing reference to the NT epistles that were not written by Paul. Nevertheless, his discussion and interpretation of Revelation alone was worth the price of the book. If you are new to Borg's work, I would suggest starting with Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. It will give you an excellent grounding in the central tenets of the faith. And you may find some surprises there. Reading the Bible...... then expands the beachhead to cover the core text of the faith.
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Summary: Most important book written about the Bible...
Review: For years I've searched for a book or books written for laymen that intelligently expains the historicity and meaning of scriptures. Well, as you guessed by the title of this review, I found such a book -- Reading the Bible Again For the First Time, by Marcus J. Borg. The book totals just 321 pages, including three indexes: Subject, Modern Author and Scripture Indexes. Divided into tree parts, beginning with three chapters specifying Reading Lenses; Seeing the Bible Again; The Bible and God; and a critical chapter for lay-Christians, History and Metaphor. In Part Two, four chapters are devoted to a fresh modern interpretation of the Old Testament, explaining the Creation stories, the Pentateuch, the Prophets and Israel's Wisdom--each essay an insight into the scriptures as seen through Borg's Reading Lenses. Part Three focuses on the New Testament, with three chapters looking at the Gospels, writings of Paul and Revelation. Raised in the Protestant faith and having attended numerous churches and denominations I've never encounter a more refreshing viewpoint, an outlook, a vision that relieves the painful doubts that have haunted me most of my adult life. Borg's personalized analysis captivates the reader, allowing those of us fortunate to read and study Borg, to read the Bible again for the first time, understanding the true essence of our Christian faith, our Christian life for the first time. Highly recommended. The book deserves 10, 50 a hundred stars.
Rating: 
Summary: It Pains Me Deeply To Pan This Book
Review: I like everything this book says. I like Mr. Borg's heart. But, by the end of the Hebrew Scriptures section I had to admit that Borg had been pretty intellectually dishonest. Borg does a great job covering the anti-empire voice of scripture in the books of Moses and in the Prophets, but he all but ignores the rather pro-empire historical books like the Samuels, Kings and Chronicles. There is a dynamic tension in scripture between the voice that Borg chooses to hilite in this book, and its spirited opposition, also found throughout scripture. Borg would have significantly strengthened his case if he addressed the books less compatible with his thesis and put them within a context of dynamic tension with the books he chooses to focus on. I find this particularly unfortunate because we live in a time when a voice like Borg is most needed. The unfortunate truth is that too many conspicuous silences lead me to believe that Borg is not being completely honest.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to the metaphorical bible study
Review: I personally found this book amazingly rich and engrossing. It opens a new approach to the bible study for those - like me - who became used to a logical and scientific view of the world and who are repelled by fundamentalism and literalism in the Christian church. Borg discuses his main point of metaphorical interpretation of the bible readable albeit scientifically based even for people who are not familiar with the bible. After an introduction to his approach he discusses sequentially several books of the old and new testament. Borg takes the bible seriously, he takes the readers seriously and the problems of people with the bible and offers the readers a sound and sometimes wonderful interpretation leaving the stage open for discussion. And it is very well written. It is an excellent start for further discussion. I recommend this text for people who find that literalism keeps them away from the bible. I am convinced that many people would take the bible more seriously after reading this book.
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Summary: Social and Political Protest in the Ancient World
Review: In many ways this book has the feel of a history of social and political protest in the ancient world. Borg's emphasis on what he refers to as 'opposition to systems of domination' is repeated often and he points out in his chapter on Paul that Christianity is the only major religion whose most influential personalities were put to death by established authority. The clear implication then is that the messages of Jesus and Paul may be very threatening to systems of domination. Borg believes that stories can be true without being literally and factually true. He also stresses that being Christian is not about believing in Christianity or the Bible. It is instead about having a deepening relationship with the God to whom the Bible points while living within the Christian tradition as a "sacrament of the sacred."
Rating: 
Summary: Are you kidding me?
Review: Look at the excerpt inside this book. Alignment is to the right, sentences are incomplete, words are incomplete..........whatever.
I'm out of toilet paper. Can y'all send me a few copies of this book?
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Summary: Christianity is about the resurrection
Review: Some great reviews have been posted about this book. I would summarize all of the dialogue in this way: Based on Paul's logic in 1 Corinthians 15, if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then we won't be raised from the dead either. Therefore, our religion is worthless and we Christians are a bunch of idiots. So, either: 1.Christ has actually been raised from the dead, validated the historic faith and giving meaning to our lives, or 2) Christ is still dead, Borg is right, and, necessarily, life is absolutely meaningless. You decide. Spare me all the metaphysical and metaphorical hogwash. Christianity without a literally resurrected Jesus is not Christianity; it is heresy.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Good One From Borg
Review: This book really opened my eyes, and answered many questions I had regarding the Bible. Borg makes many good points in this book, starting with the creation story. He affirms that, yes, you can believe in both God and the existence of dinosaurs; 7 days does not mean 7 24-hour periods, but rather 7 phases of creation. He goes on to describe the Tower of Babel, the Exodus story, and many others in the same logical way. Another idea greatly stressed by this book, though not entirely new, is that the Bible was compiled by many different authors in many different time periods, with many different beliefs - a very helpful idea to keep in mind when reading the Bible.
If you really do want to start 'taking the Bible seriously but not literally', this book is a great place to start.
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