Week 4

As I started my journey into my religion class, I knew I didn’t know much. However I thought that I at least understood the stories and teachings of Jesus. I feel that I should have known that I couldn’t have been taught absolutely everything, but for some reason I thought the stories didn’t change. As I started reading Marcus J. Borg’s Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary, I realized I knew nothing compared to what has really been discovered about Jesus. I can remember being in church and listening to stories being told by several different people. All of theses stories I believed carried with me to this day. However I now simply have a different outlook on them. When I started to read about the concepts of memory metaphorized and the metaphorical narrative I was very shocked. To me I feel that it is the most logical way to explain things. By this I mean it is easier for many of the non-believers to believe. It can help them to look at it in at least two different ways.

The passage on page 59 states “Peter answered Jesus, “Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when peter noticed the strong wind, he became frightened and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

This story could very possibly be a memory of someone, however it could also be a story that was retold in a metaphorical narrative way. A similar event could have happened that tested Peter’s strength but was retold in a way that was more metaphorical. To me this adds a little bit of confusion to my life. I learned many stories that have formed the way I see Jesus. Now that I think about it I wonder what stories are completely true and what stories are more metaphorical? It also makes me wonder what all the other people believe. By people I mean the ones who preach and live exactly by what they have read. Have they interpreted it the correct way? Is there even a “correct” way to interpret it? These are all the questions that Borg has now planted in my brain.
Although all these questions are floating in my head I still believe that Jesus was sent by his father. I am having a hard time deciding how I view the many stories I have heard, but overall I believe he was here to help many different people. He may or may not have been performing numerous different miracles, but he was here to teach those who listened. I believe that he would have done what he thought was right and maybe done a small miracle once in a while. If he would have done one every time someone asked, no one would care what he had to say. Everyone is going to interpret stories and the gospels differently. I am one of those people. I feel that reading Jesus by Borg has opened so many more questions in my mind. With further reading I hope to discover the answers to some of these. For the rest, I might have to wait to see what life throws at me.