The Emerging Christian Way

Chapter 1 - An Emerging Christian Way

1.  Marcus Borg is no stranger to our Panera group.  His book, The Heart of Christianity, is the source of today’s reading.  Drawing distinctions between the two major expressions of contemporary Christianity, he reframes them as the “Belief-Centered Paradigm” (BCP) and the “Transformation-Centered Paradigm” (TCP).  Which of these did you grow up with?  How was this overview of the faith expressed in your family, church, and community?

2.  Borg briefly highlights the core values of each paradigm.  Within the BCP, take a brief minute to discuss how each of these were understood in your particular context:

• The uniqueness of Christianity
• Salvation as afterlife
• Requirements and rewards
• Sin, guilt, and forgiveness
• The Bible
• Faith as believing

3.  Borg does not view this paradigm favorably.  He writes on page 17 that it “has become an intellectual and moral stumbling block for millions of people in our time, inside the church and outside of it.”  And, “Indeed, the belief-centered paradigm is the single biggest reason for the decline of mainline denominations over the past 40 years.”  Where do you see evidence of these conclusions today?  What damage do they continue to inflict upon the church?

4.  On page 18, Borg notes that “instead of rejecting modern knowledge when it conflicts with the Bible, it (the TCP) involves an appreciative and discerning integration of what we have learned in the last several centuries about nature, history, culture, religions, and ourselves.”  Where have we been stretched in these particular areas of our faith of late?  If applicable, what has your process of re-thinking or re-framing these issues been like?

5.  I appreciated Borg’s description of the Bible within the TCP, including the Bible’s authority & interpretation, historical interpretation, and metaphorical interpretation.  I’m especially fond of his statement on page 23, “These stories, to echo Thomas Mann, are about the way things never were but always are.”  What does that perspective mean in terms of Scripture’s usefulness to us?

6.  Borg concludes his essay by emphasizing “transformation as the central dynamic of the Christian life…of the self and of the world.”  Again, take a brief minute to review how each of the following lead to transformation within the TCP:

• Salvation
• Faith
• Adult theological re-education
• Christian practices
• Compassion and a passion for justice
• Political consciousness
• Living deeply into the Bible/Christian tradition
• Commitment and intentionality

7.  Finally, Borg writes on page 32:  “It is trust and loyalty that transform us.  Beliefs may precede them or follow them or remain quite unconnected to them.  But beliefs do not save us, do not transform us.  Trust and loyalty do.  This centering is the purpose of the Christian life.”  How does this reality both free us and equip us for discipleship to Jesus and service to the world?

Making Sense of the Christian Faith

Discussion Questions - Session 8

1.  What makes you most anxious about the future?  What does the Biblical story offer by way of comfort?  How can the Christian community help us face our anxieties about the future?
2.  Some Christians believe that the end of the world is coming soon and focus much on their attention on figuring out when.  What the advantages and disadvantages of reading the Bible in this way?
3.  How does confidence about the future create freedom in the present?  What are some of the things that Christians might devote their time to if they believe that God has promised to secure for all of us a good end?

Read Revelation 21:1-8

4.  How do you hear the promises God makes in this chapter about a new heaven and a new earth?
5.  How do you think the original Christians receiving this letter heard them?
6.  How can this text encourage us in our lives of faith and service today?

Read 1 Corinthians 13

7.  How does Paul's discussion of what we can and cannot know, et in the context of his discussion of love, help us think about the future and our life of faith?
8.  How does Paul suggest we balance our perhaps understandable desire to know the future and out present need to care for our neighbors all around us?

Making Sense of the Christian Faith

Session 7 Discussion - The Body of Christ

1.  Why do you go to church?  From a sense of duty, obligation, need or something else?

2.  What would happen if your pastor told you not to come to church because you feel like you ought to, but to come only if you want to, only if you need to hear the gospel again?

3. Give examples of opportunities to do God's will and be God's people in the world.  What is challenging and/or fulfilling about seeing and responding to these opportunities?  How could your congregation better support and equip you to respond?

Read 1 Corinthians 12

4.  Why do you think Paul chooses the body as a metaphor for the community of Christ?  What are the advantages of this metaphor, particularly with a congregation that is experiencing division and discord?

5.  How can we encourage each other to take pride in the gifts we have and the roles we play?

6.  How can we actively value each other - particularly those who have different gifts or hold different opinions from our own - and in this way grow more fully into being the body of Christ?

Making Sense of the Christian Faith

Session 6 Discussion Questions - Life Wins

1.  Why do you think people got upset when Jesus proclaimed the coming kingdom of God?  Should we be upset about it today?  Why or why not?
2.  Jesus' parable in Matthew 20:1-16 seems to suggest that in God's kingdom we are all treeated as equals - not in terms of what we deserve or what we earn, but simplhy in terms of how much God loves each and all of us.  Is that problematic, comforting, both, or something else?
3.  Why is it so important that someone who says, "I love you," also knows you?  Woyuld you trust someone's, "I love you," if you were hiding something?  What is hard about letting someone really know us?

Read Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

4.  Do you think that the younger brother is truly repentant, or is he merely rehearsing a speech that he believes will at least get him back into his father's household?  Does it matter?
5.  Can we go through life living like the father does, just forgiving everything?  Do we ever need to be older brothers?  How do we redoncile the differing reactions of the father and the older brother to the younger brother's return?
6.  How does this parable help us to understand what is going on in Jesus' cross and resurreciton?

Making Sense of the Christian Faith

Discussion Questions for Session 5 - God con Carne

1.  It is easy to think that the Bible is a little boring, because it is an ancient book and can be challenging to read.  But what happens to our understanding of the Bible when we think of it as an adventure or "wild ride," the story of a passionate God committed to saving God's beloved children?

2.  Does it matter who makes a promise?  For example, does it matter if a sales clerk or the store manager promises you a discount on an item?  Does it matter if a colleague or your boss promises you a raise?  How are promises affected by the person and the authority of the person making them?  Does this help to explain the importance the early Church put on Jesus being really and fully God?

3.  In Greek philosophy during the time of early Christians, God was sometimes described as an unfeeling, unchanging, powerful deity.  How do you think the idea of God becoming human and experiencing human feelings, pain, and hope would have played in a culture heavily influenced by Greek philosophy?  Why do you think it was important for the early Christians to argue that Jesus was truly God and fully human?

4.  What difference does it make to your faith to say that God not only knows that you exist, but understands what it's like to be you and cares very much for you?

Read John 1:1-18

5.  What are the most important details that stand out to you while reading this passage? 

6.  What claims is the author making about the Word?

7.  This passage is often read at Christmas, the Feast of the Incarnation.  Why do you think this is?

8.  How does John 1:17-18 help us understand John's story of Jesus in relation to the Old Testament story?

Making Sense of the Christian Faith

Session 4 Discussion Questions - East of Eden

1.  How do promises function in our lives?  How do they affect the future?  How does it feel to have a promise kept?  Or broken?  If God makes and keeps promises, how does that shape our sense of God's covenant?

2.  What are the most significant covenants (or promises) in your life?  How do they keep you in relationship with others and remind you of that relationship?

3.  How do our laws today reflect the Ten Commandments?  What are some current laws that help us treat our neighbor well?  What kinds of laws would better reflect God's will that we care for each other?

Review Exodus 19-20

4.  God declares Israel to be God's chosen people before giving Israel the law.  What difference does this make?

5.  Behind each "you shall not" phrase in the Old Testament is a positive value.  How would you re-write a low to express its intent in more positive terms?

6.  The Ten Commandments deal with our relationships with God and with each other and creation.  Are there any laws that seem to be missing?  Any essential relationships we would want to add today?

Making Sense of the Christian Faith

Session 3 Discussion Questions, "Missing the Mark"

1.  In what way does thinking about the human condition as being fundamentally insecure help you make sense of the world we live in?  What other ways of describing the human condition help you understand the problems and brokenness we see all around us?

2.  What are some of the ways in which we see ourselves and others trying to fill our "God-shaped hole?"  If it regularly doesn't work, why do you think we keep trying?  What are some of the problems that result from thinking we can fill our deep needs apart from God?

3.  A modern proverb says, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing."  In what way does the biblical story seem to be saying that "desiring too much knowledge" is also dangerous?

Read Genesis 3:1-24; Matthew 4:1-11

1.  From where does temptation come in each story?

2.  What is the response to temptation?

3.  What role does trust in God play in each story?

4.  How does the text seem to view the human condition?

5.  Where do we see similar temptations in our own lives?  How can we respond to them in light of the message of the story?