In the English language, prior to about 1600, the verb 'believe' always had a person as its direct object, not a statement. It did not mean believing that a statement is true, with varying degrees of certainty, but more like what we mean when we say to somebody, “I believe in you.”
The word comes from the Old English "be loef," which means “to hold dear.” The similarity to the modern English word...
2. The Human Side
Illustration
Marcus J. Borg
Though language referring to Jesus’s death as “for us” and as a “sacrifice” goes back to the New Testament, the substitutionary understanding of this language was first articulated in 1097 by Anselm of Canterbury. His book Cur Deus Homo? addressed the question: Why did God became human, incarnate in Jesus? His answer was that God’s retributive justice requires that the penalty for our sins must be...
3. The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6:5-15
Illustration
Marcus J. Borg
The Lord’s Prayer is interesting because of what it doesn’t include:
It’s not about an afterlife.
There is no petition asking God to take us to heaven when we die.
It’s not about material success. There is no petition asking God to see that we “prosper” - an important point because of the prevalence of the prosperity gospel in some Christian churches today.
It’s not about belief. It does not ask ...
