From Library Journal
Under three headings?thinking about God, imaging God, and living with God?Borg (religion and culture, Oregon State Univ.; Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, LJ 1/94) examines what belief entails today. Borg holds that traditional Christianity emphasizes God's transcendence too much; he makes a case for pantheism, that is, God as spirit present in the world. Borg argues that how we think about God matters, and that the Christian tradition makes sense if understood at a deeper level. He seems not to believe in the divinity of Jesus, nor even necessarily in a transcendent God, but comes across as an honest seeker after meaning. While not all readers will agree with him, Borg offers a compelling reflection on what it means to believe today, and his discussion of the politics of compassion and of images of salvation are noteworthy. For both general readers and scholars.?Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, N.J.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
In the companion to Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time (1994), Borg argues for panentheism the conception of God as being both transcendent (God is more than everything) and immanent (God is in everything). The ancient Jews and the early Christians, he says, understood God in this way, as being "right here," at the same time that God was also thought to be supernatural and transcendent, the all-knowing king-judge "out there." Panentheism entails imaging God, not as a monarch to whom we owe fealty, but as a lover with whom we have a relationship. Borg ultimately maintains that living in relationship with God enjoins an open heart; a politics based in compassion and, especially for Christians, just communalism rather than a system of individualistic competition; and the understanding that salvation is an ideal for this world, not any afterlife. The many enthusiastic readers of Borg's Jesus book will be further cheered by his God book. Ray Olson


Robert N. Bellah, author of Habits of the Heart and The Good Society
"The God We Never Knew tells us who God is in a way that is both authentically traditional and vividly contemporary, something no one has been able to do for a long time. The book will appeal to unbelieving seekers and faint-hearted believers, but it also has riches for those who think their faith is secure. Christianity here is not reduced to a private spirituality, but the God Borg would have us meet calls us to re-orient the whole of our lives, not just as individuals but as a society as well."


Frederick Buechner, author of The Storm and On the Road with the Archangel
"[P]ersuasive and inspiriting."


Oregonian
"Borg does what few scholars on religion seem capable of doing: He has digested an immense amount of difficult, often conflicting religious ideas and written a clear, coherent, and highly readable theological work that satisfies the mind and the soul."


Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
"A breath of fresh air, a liberating book for Jews and Christians alike."


Book Description
Answering the many "spiritual" questions left unaddressed by such popular historical bestsellers as A History of God and God: A Biography, renowned author Marcus Borg reveals how to embrace an authentic contemporary faith that reconciles God with science, critical thinking and religious pluralism. How to have faith--how to even think about God--without having to stifle modern rationality is one of the most vital challenges facing contemporary religion.In providing a much-needed solution to the problem of how to have a fully authentic yet fully contemporary understanding of God, Borg--author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the first Time--traces his personal journey. He leads readers from the all-powerful and authoritarian God of his (and their) childhood and traditional faith to an equally powerful but dynamic image of God that is relevant to contemporary seekers and more biblical and spiritually authentic. Borg shows how the modern crisis of faith is itself rooted in delusion--misinterpretation of biblical texts and of God's true nature--and challenges readers to a new way of thinking about God. He opens a practical discussion about how to base a relationship with the divine both immanent and transcendant, here and now, always and everywhere. Arguing that the authentic Judeo-Christian tradition is that God's being includes the whole world, Borg persuasively shows how this understanding accounts for the whole variety of human religious experience. Ultimately, he introduces readers to a way of thinking about God who is "right here" all around them, rather than distant and remote. This understanding is more intellectually and spiritually satisfying and allows readers to reclaim a stronger sense of God's presence.


From the Publisher
Answering the many "spiritual" questions left unaddressed by such popular historical bestsellers as a A History of God and God: A Biography , renowned author Marcus Borg reveals how to embrace an authentic contemporary faith that reconciles God with science, critical thinking and religious pluralism. How to have faith -- how to even think about God -- without having to stifle modern rationality is one of the most vital challenges facing contemporary religion. In providing a much-needed solution to the problem of how to have a fully authentic yet fully contemporary understanding of God, Borg --author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the first Time -- traces his personal journey. He leads readers from the all-powerful and authoritarian God of his (and their) childhood and traditional faith to an equally powerful but dynamic image of God that is relevant to contemporary seekers and more biblical and spiritually authentic. Borg shows how the modern crisis of faith is itself rooted in delusion --misinterpretation of biblical texts and of God's true nature -- and challenges readers to a new way of thinking about God. He opens a practical discussion about how to base a relationship with the divine both immanent and transcendant, here and now, always and everywhere. Arguing that the authentic Judeo-Christian tradition is that God's being includes the whole world, Borg persuasively shows how this understanding accounts for the whole variety of human religious experience. Ultimately, he introduces readers to a way of thinking about God who is "right here" all around them, rather than distant and remote. This understanding is more intellectually and spiritually satisfying and allows readers to reclaim a stronger sense of God's presence.


From the Inside Flap
Answering the vital contemporary theological and spiritual questions that fall outside the scope of such popular historical bestsellers such as A History of God and God: A Biography, Marcus Borg leads us to a fresh, contemporary, yet deeply grounded experience of God in our minds--and hearts. "For me, the problem was thus centrally intellectual, even though it deeply affected the rest of my life. For a variety of good reasons, not everybody experiences a serious intellectual problem with the notion of God. But some do. For my own religious journey, the resolution of the intellectual problem was indispensable; without it, I would still be on the outside of the Christian life looking in."--from The God We Never Knew How to have faith--even to think about God--without having to stifle modern rational thought is one of the most vital challenges facing many of us today. Marcus Borg, author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, traces his personal spiritual journey to the discovery of an authentic yet fully contemporary understanding of God. In a compelling, readable way, he leads us from the distant, authoritarian God of our childhood to an equally powerful, dynamic adult image of God--"the beyond in our midst," the life spirit that is within us and all around us--that reconciles faith with science, history, critical thinking, and religious pluralism.


From the Back Cover
In The God We Never Knew, bestselling author Marcus J. Borg leads us from the distant, authoritative God of our childhood to an equally powerful, dynamic adult understanding of God. Tracing his own spiritual journey, he reveals how to embrace a fresh, authentic view of God that is fully compatible with good science, critical thinking, and religious pluralism--a view that promotes a much healthier and more vital life of faith today.


About the Author
Marcus J. Borg is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and author of many books, including Jesus: A New Vision and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. N. T. Wright is Canon of Westminster Cathedral, London, and visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School. His many works include The Original Jesus and Jesus and the Victory of God.

FROM THE PUBLISHER