Sunday, May 13, 2012

And the Sophia Became Flesh

"MEETING JESUS AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME" Marcus Borg
CHAPTER 5


Starter Questions For a Study Group
  1. Share the best thing that happened to you this week.
  2. Share the worst thing that happened to you this week.  
  3. Share a time last week when you saw God at work in your community or in another person. 
 
Questions for the Passage Below
  1. How does the metaphor "Son of God" help you to understand and relate to Christ?  
  2. How could literalizing this metaphor (ie, we must believe that Jesus is literally a/the Son of God) be limiting for us in understanding or relating to Christ? 
  3. How does the female metaphor "Sophia (Wisdom) of God" help you to understand and relate to Christ?  
 
Take Time to Pray Together and Bless One Another
    
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[Our exploration of the role of Sophia as wisdom in the Jewish tradition and in the New Testament] enables us to glimpse what may be the earliest Christology of the Christian movement.  The use of Sophia language ("Sophia", a feminine noun meaning "wisdom") to speak of Jesus goes back to the earliest layers of the developing tradition.  It is also, as we have seen, widespread across the tradition.  According to the synoptics, Paul, and John, that which was present in Jesus was the Sophia of God... 
   
This points to the impossibility of literalizing Christological language.  The multiplicity of images for speaking of Jesus' relationship to God (as Logos, Sophia, Son - to name but a few) should make it clear that none of them is to be taken literally.  They are metaphorical... 
   
The issue is no longer believing that Jesus was literally the Son of God, but appreciating the richness of meaning suggested by the multiplicity of Christological images.  He was "the Son," yes, but also the incarnation of the Word, which was also the Wisdom of God.
     
~ Marcus Borg 
    
CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY: WISDOM AND PRACTICE: CHURCH OF RECONCILIATION  
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2 comments:

  1. Diana78131May 13, 2012 at 8:57 PM

    I must admit I love Borg...but seriously we are all (metaphorically..or more so??) the sons and daughters of God.

    I am not sure how this plays out, but the reading for Saturday evening's (Sunday's??) liturgy dealt with Jesus telling us we are his friends...THAT was a very powerful wake up call for me.

    If Wisdom was with Jesus, and I am his friend...then Wisdom must also be with me.. because like attracts like....and then Wisdom must be with each of us as we walk with Jesus...

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  2. Bruce WilsonMay 14, 2012 at 7:45 PM

    That helps make the metaphor much richer, doesn't it? We are all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, and at the same time sons and daughters of God.

    The title Son of God had so many connotations, and still does. The most familiar in early Christian times was the Emperor who ruled by divine right and was called "Son of God." Early references to Jesus as Son of God was an affront to the Emperor - as if Jesus was being hailed as the real or superior king. It was definitely political but grew more and more to imply a spiritual kingdom.

    When you refer to US as sons (and daughters) of God, I get the sense that you are using this metaphor to refer to our deepest identity as creatures/beings which share in the divine nature. The question might still be asked whether we share the divine nature in the same way that Jesus shared the divine nature. Ie, was Jesus a divine being who shared our human nature, or was Jesus a human who shared God's divine nature. Did Jesus bridge divine and human natures or are the divine and human natures originally related?

    I do love the reading about being called "friends". That's one of my favorite spiritual "maps": we begin as servants (ministers) with a desire to serve and to please God.

    We are called to move beyond servanthood to friendship - still delighting in serving God but now more intimately related. Less rules and more relationship.

    Friendship leads on to being lovers. Without losing friendship, we fall in love with our Beloved.

    These "stages" of spiritual growth are similar to the classic purgation, illumination, and union.

    I guess that Wisdom grows in us (from the inside out) as we follow the Jesus path.

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