Jesus: a new vision

by Marcus J. Borg

  For early Christian writings not included in the New Testament, see E. Hennecke and W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, two volumes (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963, 1965); and James Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library in English (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1977), a collection of early Christian literature discovered in upper Egypt shortly after World War II, including the important Gospel of Thomas.

  SELECTED RECENT WORKS ON JESUS

  Günther Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth (New York: Harper & Row, 1960). Representing the “German school” of Jesus research and existentialist interpretation, this book was the first and most important sustained study of Jesus emerging during the period of the “new quest” for the historical Jesus.

  Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978). The last third of this book on the prophetic tradition in Israel treats the ministry of Jesus.

  C. H. Dodd, The Founder of Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1970). Written by the foremost twentieth-century British New Testament scholar near the end of his distinguished career and life, this well-balanced book remains one of the best.

  Donald Goergen, The Mission and Ministry of Jesus (Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1986). Readable and well documented, the study emphasizes Jesus’ spirituality and compassion, his solidarity with God, and his solidarity with the people. Volume one of a projected five-volume “theology of Jesus” (volume two treats Jesus’ death and resurrection).

  A. E. Harvey, Jesus and the Constraints of History (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982). Based on lectures given at Oxford, the book concentrates on Jesus’ linkages to the circumstances of his own time.

  John Hayes, Son of God to Superstar (Nashville: Abingdon, 1976). A survey of twentieth-century portraits of Jesus, including some of the “eccentric” ones.

  Hans Küng, On Being a Christian (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984; originally published in German in 1974). About half of this engaging and provocative “introduction” to the Christian faith is a substantial and lively treatment of the historical Jesus.

  E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985). Perhaps the most technical of the works cited here, the book argues that Jesus sought the restoration of Israel within the framework of an imminent eschatological expectation.

  Edward Schillebeeckx, Jesus: An Experiment in Christology (New York: Crossroad, 1979; originally published in Dutch in 1974). Because of its lucid insights, comprehensive treatment of scholarship, and massive size (over 700 pages), this is the single most impressive volume presently available.

  Juan Luis Segundo, The Historical Jesus of the Synoptics (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1985; originally published in Spanish in 1982). Informed by the insights and perspectives of liberation theology, Segundo’s treatment of the historical Jesus is volume two of his five-volume Jesus of Nazareth Yesterday and Today.

  G. S. Sloyan, Jesus in Focus: A Life in Its Setting (Mystic, CN: Twenty-Third Publications, 1983). Informed by scholarship, generally readable, useful and accessible at the introductory level, this book speaks primarily of Jesus as a mystic and sage within the tradition of Judaism.

  W. Barnes Tatum, In Quest of Jesus: A Guidebook (Atlanta: John Knox, 1982). Though Tatum does not develop his own portrait of Jesus, his book is perhaps the best popular level introduction to the central questions of the quest for the historical Jesus: the nature of the gospels and their sources, the history of research, and selected themes, such as birth, resurrection, parables, miracles.

  Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew (New York: Macmillan, 1973). Not a comprehensive portrait of Jesus but a series of studies of the Jesus tradition within a Jewish background, this important book emphasizes Galilean holy men in the milieu out of which Jesus came, and the Jewish origin of the “titles” of Jesus.

  John Yoder, The Politics of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972). Emphasizes the social and political radicalism of Jesus, including pacifism.

  For a more extensive annotated bibliography, see James H. Charlesworth, “From Barren Mazes to Gentle Rappings: The Emergence of Jesus Research,” in Princeton Seminary Bulletin 7 (1986), pp. 225-230. Charlesworth’s own book on Jesus, Jesus within Judaism (Garden City, NY: Doubleday), is forthcoming.

  Subject Index

  Abba

  Anxiety

  Buddha

  Charismatic(s): defined; Jesus as; other Jewish charismatics in the time of Jesus

  Compassion: and discipleship; as ethos of the Jesus movement; politics of compassion; as quality of God; as “wombishness”

  Conventional wisdom: as the “broad way”; contemporary American; cross-cultural characteristics; and the death of Jesus; defined; first-century Jewish; Jesus’ subversion of

  Culture; Christian attitudes toward; transformation of. See also Conventional wisdom and social world

  Death: of Jesus; as the narrow way

  Disciples

  Discipleship

  Docetism

  Easter

  Elijah

  Eschatological prophet, Jesus as; erosion of this view. See also Kingdom of God

  Essenes

  Ethos: defined; of the Jesus movement; of Palestinian Judaism

  Exorcisms

  Ezekiel

  Faith

  Family

  Healings

  Heart

  High priest

  Historical knowledge of Jesus: not necessary; relevance

  Holiness. See also Politics of holiness

  Honor

  Images of Jesus: dominant scholarly; popular

  Images of reality: importance of; Jesus’

  Imitatio dei (imitation of God): as compassion; as ethos; as holiness

  Isaiah

  Jeremiah

  Jerusalem: entry into; importance of; Jesus’ final appeal to; threat of destruction

  John the Baptist

  John, portrait of Jesus in

  Josephus

  Kerygma

  Kingdom of God

  Mainstream biblical scholarship

  Mark, portrait of Jesus in

  Messiah

  Miracles: attitudes within church; historicity of; of Jesus; within Judaism; symbolic meaning of

  Outcasts

  Parables (as form of speech)

  Paul: as charismatic; and conventional wisdom; and discipleship; and the way of death; and women

  Peace

  Pharisees; Jesus’ criticism of; stereotype of

  Politics: of compassion; defined; of holiness

  Poor

  Prayer

  Primordial tradition

  Prophet: Jesus as; in Hebrew Bible; prophetic acts; stereotype of

  Proverbs (as form of speech)

  Purity

  Q

  Relevance to church

  Renewal movements in Palestine. See also Revitalization movement

  Repentance

  Resurrection. See Easter

  Revitalization movement: defined; founders; of Jesus. See also Renewal movements in Palestine

  Rome: and death of Jesus; effects of presence in Palestine; Jewish resistance to; taxation

  Sabbath

  Sadducees

  Sage: conventional; focal points of teaching; Jesus as; subversive. See also Conventional wisdom and subversive wisdom

  Sinners. See Outcasts

  Social world: defined; first-century Jewish; high priest and

  Son/Son of God

  Son of man

  Spirit: in biblical tradition; centering in; and the church; defined; and discipleship; and healings/exorcisms; importance for Jesus; Jesus’ experience of; and Jesus’ identity; and Jesus as movement founder; and Jesus’ presence/authority; and Jesus as prophet; and Jesus as sage; in Judaism; and modern worldview; and primordial tradition

  Subversive wisdom: in Israel; Jesus as teacher of

  Table fellowship

  Taxation

  Temple

  Thomas, gospel of

  Torah

  Torah sages

&nb
sp; Transfiguration of Jesus

  Two Ways, The

  Visions

  Wealth

  Women

  Worldview

  Modern Author Index

  Allen, Woody

  Aune, David E

  Baillie, John

  Bainton, Roland

  Balch, D. L.

  Bammel, E.

  Barbour, Ian

  Bartsch, H. W.

  Beardslee, William

  Bellah, Robert

  Berger, Peter

  Blenkinsopp, J. A.

  Bonhoeffer, Dietrich

  Borg, Marcus J.

  Bornkamm, Gunther

  Bowker, J.

  Bowman, John

  Brown, Raymond

  Brown, Robert McAfee

  Brueggemann, Walter

  Buber, M.

  Buchler, A.

  Bultmann, Rudolf

  Campbell, Joseph

  Capra, Fritjof

  Carlston, Charles E.

  Carmody, Denise

  Charlesworth, James H.

  Chilton, Bruce

  Cohn, H.

  Collins, John J.

  Conzelmann, Hans

  Crenshaw, James

  Crossan, J. D.

  Danby, H.

  Davies, W. D.

  Dodd, C. H.

  Douglas, Mary

  Dunn, J. G.

  Eliade, Mircea

  Elliott, John H.

  Farmer, W. R.

  Filson, F. V.

  Finkelstein, L.

  Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schussler

  Fishbane, Michael

  Fraser, R. S.

  Fuller, R. H.

  Funk, Robert

  Gager, John

  Gaston, Lloyd

  Geertz, Clifford

  Gilkey, Langdon

  Goergen, Donald

  Grant, F. C.

  Hanson, J. S.

  Harvey, A. E.

  Harvey, Van

  Hauerwas, Stanley

  Hayes, John

  Heickelbaum, F. M.

  Hengel, Martin

  Hennecke, E.

  Heschel, Abraham

  Hiers, R. H.

  Hoehner, H. W.

  Holland, D. L.

  Hollenbach, Paul

  Horsley, R. A.

  James, William

  Jeremias, Joachim

  Jones, Alan

  Keck, Leander

  Kee, H. C.

  Kissinger, W. S.

  Klassen, William

  Klausner, Joseph

  Knox, John

  Kummel, Werner

  Kung, Hans

  Kysar, Robert

  Larsen, Stephen

  Lessa, W. A.

  Lewis, I. M.

  Lohfink, Gerhard

  Mack, Burton

  Malina, Bruce

  Marcus, R.

  Marshall, Jane

  Meeks, Wayne

  Michaels, J. R.

  Millar, F.

  Mol, Hans

  Murphy, R.

  Niebuhr, H. Richard

  Niebuhr, Reinhold

  Neihardt, John

  Neusner, J.

  Neyrey, Jerome

  Otto, Rudolf

  Peck, M. Scott

  Pelikan, Jaroslav

  Perdue, Leo

  Perrin, Norman

  Phipps, William

  Pilgrim, Walter

  Reicke, B.

  Reimarus, Hermann Samuel

  Rhoads, David

  Richter, Philip

  Ringe, Sharon

  Rivkin, Ellis

  Robinson, James

  Safrai, S.

  Sagan, Carl

  Sanders, E. P.

  Schillebeeckx, E.

  Scholem, Gershom

  Schottroff, Luise

  Schneemelcher, W.

  Schurer, E.

  Schurer-Vermes

  Schweitzer, Albert

  Scott, Bernard Brandon

  Scott, E. F.

  Scroggs, Robin

  Segundo, Juan

  Sider, Ronald

  Sloyan, G. S.

  Smallwood, E. Mary

  Smith, Huston

  Smith, Morton

  Smith, Wilfred Cantwell

  Stace, W. T.

  Stambaugh, J. E.

  Stegemann, Wolfgang

  Stern, M.

  Strauss, David Friedrich

  Swidler, Leonard

  Talbert, C. H.

  Tannehill, Robert

  Tatum, W. Barnes

  Taylor, Richard

  Thackeray, H. St. J.

  Theissen, Gerd

  Throckmorton, B. H.

  Tiede, D. L.

  Trible, Phyllis

  Urbach, E. E.

  van Buren, Paul

  Vermes, Geza

  Vogt, E. Z.

  Von Rad, G.

  Wallace, A. F. C.

  Weiss, Johannes

  Wikgrin, A.

  Willimon, William

  Wilson, R. R.

  Wilson, W. R.

  Wink, W.

  Woolf, B. L.

  Yoder, John

  Scripture Index

  Only texts that are either quoted or commented upon are indexed; texts that appear only as cross-references in footnotes are not. Books are listed in biblical order, beginning with the Hebrew Bible.

  Genesis 1:1; 28:17

  Exodus 32:7-14; 34:29-35

  Leviticus 19:2; 19:18; 19:34; 25:8-55; 27:16-25

  Deuteronomy 6:4-5; 30:15-20; 34:10

  2 Samuel 12:1-6

  Job 38:8, 11; 42:5; 42:7-17

  Psalms 22; 51:17; 89:9; 95:5; 107:25-29

  Ecclesiastes 1:15; 7:15; 12:9-14

  Isaiah 5:1-7; 6:1-7; 7:3, 14; 8:1-4; 20; 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 56:7; 61:1; 64:1

  Jeremiah 6:14; 7:4; 7:11; 12:7; 13; 16:1-4; 17:5-10; 19; 20; 27-28; 31:31-34; 32:1-16; 37-38

  Ezekiel 1:1; 4; 5; 8:3; 11:5

  Hosea 1:4-9; 4:1; 6:6; 7:11; 11:1

  Amos 4:1-3; 5:6, 14-15; 7:10-17

  Jonah 3:6-9

  Micah 3:9-12

  Zechariah 9:9-10

  Matthew 1-2; 2:15; 3:9; 4:1-11, 5:3, 6; 5:8; 5:9; 5:13; 5:14; 5:15; 5:20-22; 5:41; 5:42; 5:43-44; 5:45; 5:48; 6:1-6; 6:12; 6:19-21; 6:22-23; 6:24; 6:25-33; 7:3-5; 7:13-14; 7:16-20; 7:24-27; 8:5-13; 8:11-12; 9:13; 10:5-6; 10:37; 10:38; 11:3; 11:4-6; 11:18-19; 11:20-24; 11:28-30; 12:24-32; 12:27; 12:28; 12:41-42; 15:14; 15:24; 16:6, 11-12; 17:24-27; 18:4; 18:23-35; 19:30; 20:1-15; 20:16; 21:4-5, 7; 21:28-32; 21:31; 22:1-10; 22:34-40; 23:12; 23:13; 23:23; 23:25-26; 23:27; 23:29-31; 23:35-36; 23:37-39; 24:45-51; 25:14-30; 25:31-46; 26:52; 27:19, 24, 25

  Mark 1:10-11; 1:13; 1:15; 1:16-20; 1:22; 1:23-27; 1:35; 1:40-42; 2:15; 2:18-19a; 2:19b-20; 3:5; 3:14-15; 3:21; 3:22-30; 3:31-35; 4:35-41; 5:2-9; 5:30; 5:38-39; 6:4; 6:7; 6:17-29; 6:30-44; 6:45-52; 6:46; 7; 7:6; 7:14-15; 7:19b; 7:32-35; 8:1-10; 8:15; 8:27-30; 8:31; 8:34; 8:38; 9:2-4; 9:14-29; 9:17-22; 9:31; 9:43-48; 10:1-12; 10:21; 10:23; 10:28; 10:31; 10:32; 10:33-34; 10:38; 10:42-43; 11:1-10; 11:12-14, 20-25; 11:15-17; 11:18; 11:27-33; 12:1-9; 12:9; 12:13-17; 12:28-34; 12:38-40; 12:41-44; 13:1-2; 13:11; 14:3; 14:22-25; 14:36; 14:53-64; 14:56-58; 14:61-62; 15:2, 5; 15:22-37; 15:38; 16:1-8; 16:18

  Luke 1-2; 3:8; 4:1-13; 4:14; 4:18-21; 6:20-21; 6:24-25; 6:27; 6:30; 6:34-35; 6:36; 6:39; 6:41-42; 6:43-45; 7:1-10; 7:19; 7:22; 7:33-34; 7:36; 7:36-50; 8:1-3; 9:23; 9:51; 9:59-60; 10:12-15; 10:17-18; 10:19; 10:25-28; 10:29-37; 10:37; 10:38-42; 11:4; 11:14-23; 11:20; 11:31-32; 11:33; 11:34-36; 11:37-41; 11:42; 11:44; 11:47-48; 11:50; 11:52; 12:1; 12:8-9; 12:22-31; 12:33-34; 12:39-40; 12:42-46; 12:54-13:9; 13:1-5; 13:6-9; 13:16; 13:28-29; 13:30; 13:32; 13:33; 13:34-35; 14:11; 14:15-24; 14:26; 14:27; 15:1-32; 15:2; 15:11-32; 15:20; 16:13; 17:11-19; 17:23-24; 17:26-30; 17:31-36; 17:33; 18:9-14; 18:14b; 19:7; 19:9; 19:11-27; 19:42-44; 21:20, 23b-24; 21:21; 22:25-26; 23:2; 23:28-31

  John 1:29-51; 2:19-22; 3:16; 4:7-30; 4:20-24; 6:1-59; 10:30; 10:38; 11:47-53; 12:12-19; 12:24; 14:9; 17:14-18

  Acts 1:8; 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 9:1-8; 9:2; 17:28; 22:6-11; 26:12-18; 28:1-6

  1 Corint
hians 11:1; 11:23-26; 12-14; 14:34-36

  2 Corinthians 4:4; 12:2-4

  Galatians 2:20; 3:28

  Philippians 2:5-8

  Colossians 1:15

  1 Timothy 2:8-15

  Hebrews 9:11, 24

  Revelation 4:1; 13:10b; 17

  About the Author

  MARCUS J. BORG is also the author of Conflict and Social Change, The Year of Luke and Conflict, Holiness and Politics in the Teaching of Jesus. He is associate professor of religious studies at Oregon State University and a frequent contributor to the The Christian Century and several scholarly journals.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  ALSO BY MARCUS J. BORG

  Conflict, Holiness and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.