The Heart of Christianity

Just wanted to mention briefly a helpful book I finished recently called The Heart of Christianity (Marcus Borg, HarperOne, 2004). Written in a learned yet accessible way by the scripture scholar Marcus Borg, this book proposes a new way for Christians to understand their faith. In contrast to what Borg describes as an older paradigm that understands belief in stricter terms, he has the following to say about this new way forward:

"The emerging paradigm sees the Christian life as a life of relationship and transformation. Being Christian is not about meeting requirements for a future reward in an afterlife, and not very much about believing. Rather, the Christian life is about a relationship with God that transforms life in the present" (14).

I find this very helpful personally as I agree that for too long Christians have been focused on the "rewards" of the afterlife at the expense of the present moment. The message for many centuries has been that if only we believe the right things in a certain way then we're guaranteed a spot "up there" and we can pretty much coast till then. This, of course, is a simplification but I think there's a good deal of truth to it. Professor Borg puts it much more elegantly in his book but I would agree that the most important value for Christians is not doing any certain thing or another but rather awakening again and again to the reality of God's love for us and living in it through the ways in which we interact with others and seek to live with justice, compassion, and mercy in our daily lives.

Peace,
Padre Chuck