The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith

In The Heart of Christianity, bestselling author Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately in today’s world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith.

For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, world—renowned Jesus scholar Borg shows why the Christian life still makes sense today. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life—giving experiences.

Borg reclaims terms and ideas once thought to be the sole province of evangelicals and fundamentalists. He demonstrates that terms like “born again” have real meaning for all Christians, that the “Kingdom of God” is not a bulwark against secularism but instead is a means of transforming society into a world that values justice and love, and that the Christian life is essentially about opening one’s heart to God and to others.

Marcus J. Borg is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, The God We Never Knew (with N. T. Wright), and Jesus: A New Vision. He was an active member of the Jesus Seminar when it focused on the historical Jesus and he has been chair of the Historical Jesus section of the Society of Biblical Literature.

“With great clarity and pastoral genius, Marcus Borg offers questioning Christians a way to keep the faith without shutting down the search for truth.”

— Barbara Brown Taylor, author of When God Is Silent