Marcus Borg, leading liberal theologian and historical Jesus expert, dies at 72

[hrmjustin]

David Gibson

(RNS) Marcus J. Borg, a prominent liberal theologian and Bible scholar who for a generation helped popularize the intense debates about the historical Jesus and the veracity and meaning of the New Testament, died on Wednesday (Jan. 21). He was 72 and had been suffering from a prolonged illness, friends said.

Borg emerged in the 1980s just as academics and theologians were bringing new energy to the so-called “quest for the historical Jesus,” the centuries-old effort to disentangle fact from myth in the Gospels.

Alongside scholars such as John Dominic Crossan, Borg was a leader in the Jesus Seminar, which brought a skeptical eye to the Scriptures and in particular to supernatural claims about Jesus’ miracles and his resurrection from the dead.

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/01/22/marcus-borg-leading-liberal-theologian-historical-jesus-expert-dies-72/

[Htom Sirveaux]

1. Did not see this coming.

Marcus Borg was the first person to explain Christianity for me in a way that was credible and made sense. Liberal Christianity has lost a giant.

RIP, Professor Borg.

[TM99]

2. Such sad news.

Three men now that were very formative to me in who I became as an adult have died or are dying this week. First Borg, then Froese, and now my own father.

I had the pleasure of attending several seminars with Marcus Borg during my stint in graduate studies of religion in divinity school in the late 80's. He was a consummate scholar and a very pleasant man to discuss such topics with.

I wish more Christians and atheists alike would read his works as well as Sponge's though I don't see that happening with younger generations coming along.