Is Marcus Borg a Christian?

What Makes a Friend a Brother?
What does it mean to be a Christian?
Matt Kennedy +

I ask that question because of the smallish but significant tempest surrounding the comments of a hero of mine, the bishop of Durham, Dr. NT Wright with regard to Marcus Borg.

Borg, as you probably know, denies the bodily resurrection. Bishop Wright, author of the most powerful defense of the resurrection in decades, The Resurrection of the Son of God (read, mark, digest it), nevertheless counts Borg a Christian brother. Here’s the quote:

I have friends who I am quite sure are Christians who do not believe in the bodily resurrection," he says carefully, citing another eminent scholar, American theologian Marcus Borg, co-author with Wright of The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions. But the view I take of them - and they know this - is that they are very, very muddled. They would probably return the compliment. Marcus Borg really does not believe Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead. But I know Marcus well: he loves Jesus and believes in him passionately. The philosophical and cultural world he has lived in has made it very, very difficult for him to believe in the bodily resurrection. I actually think that's a major problem and it affects most of whatever else he does, and I think that it means he has all sorts of flaws as a teacher, but I don't want to say he isn't a Christian. (As quoted in Resurrecting Faith by Jill Rowbotham from The Australian)

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