The reality of God

"Most of us know at least one person who has been 'born again' in a remarkably unattractive way," writes Marcus Borg, explaining why mainline Christians may avoid evangelical Christians. As for evangelicals, don't they also avoid mainline Christians who say they believe but who don't take the Bible literally?

Borg, an author and one of the most well-known theologians in Protestantism today, comes to Salt Lake City next weekend. Among other things, he'll speak about building bridges between the two different visions of Christianity. He'll give workshops on Friday and Saturday and preach on Sunday at Christ United Methodist Church.

Borg teaches at Oregon State University, is past president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars and past national chairman of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Bible Literature. His 1994 book "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time" is the best-selling book by a contemporary Jesus scholar.

Borg is probably most well-known among mainline Protestants for talking about "emerging" Christianity.

Some of the "emerging" trends seem quite modern: Women are ordained. Sexually active gays and lesbians are welcomed into worship (although their ordination is still debated). Notions of truth give way. (Borg cites a 2002 poll where 78 percent of all Christians said theirs was not the only true religion.)

But other aspects of "emerging" Christianity are a return to the early faith. For early believers, Christianity was a "way," a path. Today, non-Christians think being on a spiritual path means being Buddhist, Borg notes. Yet modern Christians find themselves living less by a list of beliefs and more by the heart. Borg insists the "way" of Christianity is deeper than conscious thought.

When he talks about "whoo whoo" experiences, Borg laughs. But he also says he's had them. And although he hasn't written much about them, he is willing to talk about the times he himself has sensed God.

In a telephone interview last week, Borg explained what he means when he says the Bible is "historical, metaphorical and sacramental," but not "true" in the sense evangelical Christians might mean when they say "true."

Because of the scientific revolution of the past several hundred years, truth and factuality have come to mean the same thing in Western civilization, he says. "I help people get past that by suggesting they think of the parables of Jesus. I don't think anybody worries about whether there really was a good Samaritan. We all realize parables can be meaningful and truth-filled even though they are not factual."