Jesus A New Vision Spirit, Culture, and The Life of Discipleship
Preface
This book attempts in a scholarly and nondogmatic way to say, “This
is what the historical Jesus was like, this is what he taught, and this
is what his mission was about.” It seeks, in short, to sketch a portrait
of what Jesus was like as a figure of history before his death.
My purpose is twofold. First, I want to present a synthesis of
modern Jesus scholarship that is accessible to the general reader,
whether Christian or among the interested inquirers. At the same
time, I wish to make a serious scholarly case for a particular image
of the historical Jesus that is considerably at variance with the
dominant scholarly image. This twofold purpose accounts for the
book’s character. On the one hand, I presuppose no familiarity with
the academic discipline of New Testament studies or with theological
language. On the other hand, I seek to provide enough support for
the positions taken so that they can be considered seriously by other
scholars.
I have a third purpose as well. The two focal points of the book,
Spirit and culture, enable us to see some of Jesus’ significance for
our time. For us, whether in the church or not, his life is a vivid
testimony to the reality of Spirit, a reality affirmed and known in
virtually every society prior to the modern period. But this reality
is poorly understood and often discounted in the modern world,
not only in the academy but even in much of the church.
For the church and Christians in particular, among whom I number
myself, knowledge of what the historical Jesus was like can be a
potent source of renewal. Not only is he a witness to the reality of
Spirit as an element of experience, but his passionate involvement in
the culture of his own time—his “social world”—connects two
realities which Christians have frequently separated. Throughout
the centuries as well as in our own time, Christians have tended to
view culture as having little or no religious significance, or as largely
negative in its significance. But it was not so for Jesus. He sought
the transformation of his social world.
The Jesus who emerges in these pages is thus deeply spiritual and
deeply political. He is spiritual in that his relationship to the Spirit
of God was the central reality in his life, the source of all that he was;
we cannot glimpse the historical Jesus unless we take with utmost
seriousness his relationship to the world of Spirit. He is political in
the same sense that the mainstream of his tradition was political:
concerned about creating a community within history whose corporate
life reflected faithfulness to God. What happens in history matters
to the God of Jesus and his tradition.
This book is simultaneously polemical and apologetic. It is polemical
in that it is critical of much that is central to modern culture; and
apologetic in that it seeks to show how the gospel portraits of Jesus,
historically seen, make sense. From his life and teaching flow a convincing
and persuasive understanding of reality. The challenge
which the historical Jesus presents is not the sacrifice of the intellect,
but the sacrifice of something much deeper within us. Christianity
has very little to do with believing forty-nine impossible things before
breakfast—as the late Bishop John Robinson puckishly described
the impression that people commonly have of what it means to be
a Christian; but it has everything to do with taking seriously what
Jesus took seriously.
My study of the historical Jesus began over two decades ago in
graduate school and has continued through fifteen years of teaching
in both university and church settings. The present book builds on
that study and interchange and is indebted to many people, some
of whom I know only through books, others more personally. In
particular, it builds on my book Conflict, Holiness and Politics in the
Teaching of Jesus. Directed primarily to other scholars, it emphasized
Jesus’ relationship to his social world, especially as renewal movement
founder and prophet. The present volume broadens the focus
of that book, even as it seeks to be accessible to a broader readership.
The reader needs no particular faith orientation to understand
this book. I generally avoid language which depends on the Christian
belief system for its meaning; when I do use the language of “insiders,”
I explain what it means in terms not drawn from the Christian
language and belief system.
Thus it addresses both the interested inquirer who may well be
outside of the church, even as it also addresses the Christian who
wants to reflect about what it means to follow Jesus. For the first
reader, the book sketches a credible picture of the historical Jesus;
for the second reader, it also sketches a picture of the life of discipleship.
I began my scholarly study of Jesus (and theology) as an “unbelieving
son of the church.” Raised within the church, convinced that
Christianity was exceedingly important, committed to studying and
teaching it—even preaching it, respecting and loving it—I did not
yet understand (and therefore did not believe) its central claims. The
study has continued through the glimmering of understanding and
the birth of belief, still embryonic but growing. To some extent, the
book reflects this journey. I have dared to presume that some of the
difficulties I encountered have also been issues for my readers. The
book incorporates both parts of my journey. What is stated in it
makes sense to me both in the context of my unbelieving past and
in the context of my believing present.
Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to the Stewart Foundation
at Oregon State University for providing me with release time
in which to write. I also wish to thank a number of individuals at
Oregon State: Mrs. Pat Rogerson, secretary of Religious Studies, who
helped to create that most valuable of commodities, time; Professor
Nicholas Yonker, my chairman, who supported me in many ways;
and Hans Michael Vermeersch, my student assistant. Students in
courses at both Oregon State University and Carleton College helped
shape the material. A visiting professorship at the University of
Puget Sound unexpectedly provided some extra time for writing.
Finally, I am grateful to my editor, Roy M. Carlisle of Harper & Row
San Francisco, who saw potential in a preliminary
outline; and to my wife, Marianne Wells Borg. In addition to being
my best conversational partner about the ideas in this book, she
provided me with constant encouragement and nourishment.
