Marcus Borg reintroduced me to Jesus

I learned of Marcus Borg’s passing on Facebook, from Diana Butler Bass. The news spread as news does these days, from person to person, fanning out across the social media feeds of liberal Christians everywhere. As one friend noted, “A lot of people do not know the name Marcus Borg. Those who do know that name seem to really know it.”

I lost count of how many friends and acquaintances posted appreciative reflections of Borg and his work (and, incidentally, his taste in footwear; more than one person fondly remembered his tendency to wear colorful socks). A distinct theme emerged from this chorus of eulogies: many progressive Christians identify Borg as the person who made space for them to return to—or remain in—the Christian faith. 

That Borg would end up being remembered an evangelist par excellence is a wonderful irony, given the furor the Jesus Seminar generated amongst conservative Christians. If you’d asked an evangelical what she thought of Borg and his cronies back in the early 1990s, she likely would have implied that they were leading people away from the truth (or Truth).