
Speaking Christian
Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power—And How They Can Be Restored
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Narrated by:
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John Pruden
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By:
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Marcus J. Borg
About this listen
Modern Christians are steeped in a language so distorted that it has become a stumbling block to the religion, says internationally renowned Bible scholar Marcus J. Borg. Borg argues that Christianity's important words, and the sacred texts and stories in which those words are embedded, have been narrowed by a modern framework for the faith that emphasizes sin, forgiveness, Jesus dying for our sins, and the afterlife. Here, Borg employs the "historical-metaphorical" method for understanding Christian language that can restore for us these words of power and transformation. For example:
- Redemption: now narrowly understood as Jesus saving us from sins so we can go to heaven, but in the Bible it refers to being set free from slavery.
- Savior: now refers to Jesus as the one who saves us from our sins, but in the Bible it has a rich and wonderful variety of meanings having nothing to do with the afterlife.
- Sacrifice: now refers to Jesus's death on the cross as payment for our sins, but in the Bible it is never about substitutionary payment for sin.
In Speaking Christian, Borg delivers a language for 21st-century Christians that grounds the faith in its deep and rich original roots and allows it once again to transform our lives.
©2011 Marcus J. Borg (P)2011 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Overall
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Performance
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By: Marcus J. Borg
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- How I Learned What Matters Most
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- Narrated by: John Pruden
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Rehashing of Borg's progressive perspective
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Beautiful 🏵️
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Overall
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Richard Rohr Rohr goes through the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, explaining the historical and cultural context of each verse and offering guidance for what it means for Christians today.
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Richard's commentary on Matthew's gospel
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Wow, what an amazing book! I loved it!!
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world.
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Off the Reservation
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Ok book
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Render unto Caesar
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Leading Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan, the author of the pioneering work The Historical Jesus, provides new insight into the Christian culture wars which began in the New Testament and persist strongly today. For decades, Americans have been divided on how Christians should relate to government and lawmakers, a dispute that has impacted every area of society and grown more rancorous over the past forty years. But as Crossan makes clear, this debate isn’t new; it can be found in the New Testament itself, most notably in the tensions between Luke-Acts and Revelations.
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Honest, sharp scholarship bogs down
- By Philo on 04-11-22
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How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian
- Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation
- By: John Dominic Crossan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Many portions of the New Testament introduce a compassionate Jesus who turns the other cheek, loves his enemies, and shows grace to all. But the Jesus we find in Revelation and some portions of the Gospels leads an army of angels bent on earthly destruction. Which is the true revelation of the Messiah - and how can both be in the same Bible? How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian explores this question and offers guidance for the faithful conflicted over which version of the Lord to worship.
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A Brilliant, and Brilliantly Flawed Thesis
- By Stephen on 12-06-22
What listeners say about Speaking Christian
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-21-12
Say That Again With Different Words
Often I have wondered,"How did we get here from there?". We make the "Good News" very complicated and fear based, needing to escape the "fires of Hell". It doesn't seem that our message to a suffering world is the same as Jesus'. My silent questions were openly discussed in this book and answered even with the scripture passages for explanation. Over the recent years I have learned the filter of belief we hold in our own minds influence what we think a phrase means. This book identifies the filters and gently challenges the listener to be willing to listen without the old filter. I have listened to this book four times in the past week, removing more of the filter each time and going back to scripture with an open mind and a prayerful heart. I highly recommend listening to this book. I hoped I could find a way of telling others from a different culture about my faith and found many of my own questions answered along the way.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 12-05-11
Great Book, OK Presentation
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
A good book that would be a good read for someone already familiar with the Christian story who is struggling with questions of Christianity's relevancy in the 21st century.
What did you like best about this story?
I love the fresh take on the meaning of the language of faith and the ways in which Borg roots his understanding in the cultural and linguistic context of the Bible.
Have you listened to any of John Pruden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Haven't heard John Pruden before, but felt that his reading did not always capture the wry wit of Marcus Borg. I have heard Borg speak and sometimes I imagined passages having a different tone or nuance than the one that Pruden put on it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bart Visscher
- 01-16-18
Great book, extremely well read by the narrator
Words are important, the author shows where many of the “Christian” words we use have been changed from their biblical roots.
Fascinating
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1 person found this helpful
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- Curt Curtis
- 06-04-16
My favorite book from my favorite author.
I have now read this book and listened to it four or five times in the last three years. I Learn something each time. I just listened to it again, it seems especially appropriate in mid 2017
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3 people found this helpful
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- Marita Hartmann
- 09-15-16
thank God for Marcus Borg. much needed.
This book can help those caught in life's paradox to finally understand God's undying love for His/Her creation. A refreshing look at what the Bible is trying to teach us. How can we as Christians embody a transformed way of living. Imagine the Justice, Peace and transformation if we could only understand these concepts.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-16-19
Abandonment of faith is not restoration of Christianity
modernism + New Testament scripture - literalism = lukewarm, non-existent faith. The very crux of Christian faith hinges on whether or not you accept that Jesus was the LITERAL Son of God, ACTUALLY died for our sins, and was PHYSICALLY resurrected to new Life so that we, too, can take part in eternity with Him... having been made free from sin.
Borg speaks of an anti-Christian doctrine, wherein the literal language and concepts of Christian faith, with which Borg disagrees and finds discomforting to his modern, progressivism.
This is dead faith. A belief in a historical Christ, alone, does not amount to the faith required to receive salvation. Only faith in the literal, sinless Son of God will suffice.
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- barry thomas
- 01-05-16
Atheist
This book should not be included with Christian books as it is not even close. This is a clueless individual who is confounded by the Word and is lacking any Spiritual guidance. DO NOT buy this book for ANY resemblance of Christ. He is what the Bible refers to as a heretic and is Spiritually void and as so try's to dispel the Word because he does not understand . To those who believe the Spirit is life but to those who do not it is foolishness. Obviously anyone who denies the resurrection and salvation is sadly foolish and ignorant.
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