Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Speaking Christian

For our next residency, I am again reading in Marcus Borgs's Speaking Christian. What a wonderful, enlightening, and eye-opening book! Surely if all Christians taught as Borg does, I would see myself as a Christian through and through. Just for instance, think about the word, "believe." What does it mean to 'believe' in god, or in Jesus? Does it mean that every word in the Bible is literal Truth? If so, then I certainly cannot believe. And this is where I have had my trouble with the whole religion thing, even among Friends. Twenty years ago, I was put off by Christ language. Ten years ago, I could take the Christ lingo OK, but it sure wasn't me. What did it mean to be saved? What did I have to be saved from? I couldn't (and can't) deal with a world where you must adhere to a strict set of ideas or be damned to fiery Hell for all eternity.

So here is what Borg says: In English prior to about 1600, people did not use the verb believe connect with a statement (as in, "I believe that the King is a deity.") Rather, the verb always referred to a person or being, and had the same meaning as saying "I believe in you." That is, to believe in God meant to put one's faith in God, one's trust in God. It had not much to do with fact or reality. Additionally, believe comes from the Old English be loef. That means "to hold someone dear." Belove comes from the same source, and believe and belove in that time were synonyms. To say you believed in someone was to say you had confidence and trust in them, and that you hold them dear. So, to believe in Jesus is to hold him close to the heart, to love him, to trust him.

We don't have to believe in the literal facts of the Gospels to believe in Jesus. His teachings, his works, his hopes for the world are all wonderful, and are held dear to my heart. I trust in the way.