Marcus Borg is the most important Christian theologian

I’m taking a class: Comparative Religion. It is mostly a survey class. We are currently studying Christianity. I recently received the study guide for the test, in which this list of terms is found:

Gospels
Epistles
Translation process
Incarnation, crucifixion, ressurection
Pentacost
Trinity
Atonement
Roman domination
Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots
Canonization of new Testament
Issues of authority of scripture
Ecumenical Councils: Nicea, Ephesus, Chalcedon
Roman, Eastern, Protestant
Eucharist
Baptism (believers versus infant)
Suffering Servant
Eschatology
Gender Issues in Christianity and Feminist theology
Jesus Seminar
Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity.

One of the first things that stood out to me in this list is that Marcus Borg is the only person referred to directly. Luther, Calvin, Aquinas, Anselm, and Augustine are all missing. And you can certainly forget about Zwingli, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Athanasius, Irenaeus, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, the Apostle Paul, C.S. Lewis, Karl Barth, Philip Melanchthon, B.B. Warfield, Charles Hodge, John Knox, Cornelius Van Til, R.C. Sproul, J.I. Packer, Tertullian, St. Francis, John the Baptist, Pelagius, the Apostle Peter, Laelius Socinus, Arius, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Alvin Plantinga. None of these made the cut… but Marcus Borg did.

It is John Calvin’s 500th birthday this year, and he happens to have been one of the theologians in an insignificant event know as the Protestant Reformation; he hasn’t been mentioned once in class. Yet we talked quite a bit about the Jesus Seminar. This is an imbalance at best! Unfortunately, it is no surprise that an extremely liberal “Christian” was the only one to make the list. Awful.

Class, People, Puritans, Theology | Brian | November 19, 2009 10:18 pm

6 Comments

By Chris Krycho, November 20, 2009 @ 7:49 am

That’s just silly.

Borg (and co.) are certainly important to understanding a lot of the current dialogue, but even they aren’t terribly original. German Higher Criticism made all the same claims a century and a half ago. Some historical awareness would be good…
By Benjamin, November 23, 2009 @ 3:22 pm

Borg and the Jesus Seminar are not integral to understanding anything about Christianity. The professor might believe they are important to grasping the eventual “distortions” of a historical personage they can only guess at. Nevertheless, I don’t imagine that the professor is spending much class time discussing the “historical Moses” vs. the distortions of Talmudic tradition or the “historical Buddha” vs. the classical Hinayanan birth narratives. Most of the time is probably spent on the religion and its central teachings.

Has there been any discussion yet of supposed “borrowings” and parallels with other ancient sources? I cannot imagine why you would want to waste your wonderful mind on this class…
By Brian, November 25, 2009 @ 10:26 am

We have not spent much time talking about Christianity’s central teachings, other than to make the orthodox position known (typically superficially), then to acknowledge that many “Christians” don’t accept that teaching. The tenor of the conversation always tends toward the orthodox position being simplistic, arrogant, and stupid and the unorthodox position being the more feasible and academic. Of course, this tends to happen largely because of three things: 1) The orthodox position is not given nearly a full or fair treatment and is expressed in over-simplistic terms. 2) When it comes to discussing Christians adhering to orthodoxy, most students readily use what C. S. Lewis labeled Bulverism. 3) I am the only one defending the orthodox position and I don’t have the time in class to make a case or address objections, usually because of the brevity of the class period or the redirecting of conversation by the professor.

We have not discussed the idea that the NT is a compilation of borrowings, such as what Dan Barker or Randall Helms is promoting. But when discussing Judaism, the professor didn’t fail to mention Sargon, Hammurabi, and Gilgamesh.

I am taking the class mainly for the credit and as an opportunity to share the gospel. Its rather easy to start conversations with people about the gospel after discussing it with them in class. Just after my SOCAPs presentation (which will be on the 6th @ 2:30, btw) I’ll give a presentation in that class on the atonement.
By Benjamin, November 27, 2009 @ 10:38 pm

Thank you for the explanation and especially for the information about your presentation. What can I say? I pray that Christ endows you much more fully for the challenges ahead, especially to peaceably love those who seem willing to strike you on both cheeks everyday. This does give you the opportunity to weigh more thoughtfully where the line must be drawn before crossing over into casting pearls or, of necessity, allowing your Peace to return to you.