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Summary Of ' Meeting Jesus '

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With a topic as broad and vast as the Christian life, it is certain that there are many different viewpoints and insights to consider. Whether it be about our understanding of God or how we view the life of Jesus, different philosophies and schools of thought offer us various answers that, although they may have some commonalities, are fundamentally very different. When exposed to the traditional views of Barron, the historically critical views of Borg, the contemplative ideology from Laird, and the postmodern philosophy of Caputo, one is forced to develop different perspectives and expressions of the Christian faith as a whole.
To begin with, these various works looked at the life of Jesus Christ in very different manners. Sure there is …show more content…

According to Borg, this was not the way of Jesus. Since he came from a low position in society as a carpenter, Jesus was not in a position to show mercy, but rather focused on being compassionate, that is, feeling with others, alongside them rather than above. This is a distinction that, although he may actually agree with, Barron fails to make.
Borg’s ideas do not stand alone however. John Caputo, for one, certainly shared Borg’s sentiment regarding Jesus’s place in society. In his work, What Would Jesus Deconstruct?, Caputo speaks about the process of deconstruction and reorientation. He deals with the transformation he feels Christians must make in order to rid themselves of their past misconceptions, and the reorientation they must seek, to find the real truth. Caputo emphasizes that Jesus’ nature would cause many modern day Christians “to cross to the other side of the street if they saw him approaching” (Caputo, 33). Caputo goes on to say that, “Jesus is most likely to be found in the worst slums, among the dispossessed people, on the most dangerous streets in a modern city” (Caputo, 28). These understandings of who Jesus was are an important aspect in what Caputo and Borg consider Jesus’ mission to be. Further separations between the traditionalist, Barron, and the historical critic, Borg, come in how they describe the impacts of Jesus’ actions, and the changes he was trying to bring about.

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