What's the Problem?

MEETING JESUS AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME, Chapter 6 ~ Marcus Borg 
   
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. Which of the marco-stories below are most central to your experience of Christianity? 
2. Which of the macro-stories below have been most helpful to you at different times in your life?  Which have been the most irrelevant or troublesome?  
3. Which of the marco-stories, or combination of macro-stories, below are most helpful for painting a meaningful portrait of Jesus? 

Take Time to Pray Together and Bless One Another
    

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Is the human problem bondage, exile, or sin?  Is Jesus a Deliverer, a Home-Bringer, or an Atonement for Sin?  In Chapter 6, Marcus Borg outlines three "marco-stories" of scripture that are the most central for shaping the Bible as a whole.  Here is a summary quote.  
   
The Exodus Story
As an epiphany of the human condition and the solution, the story of the exodus images the religious life as a journey from the life of bondage to life in the presence of God.  Though we find ourselves in bondage to Pharaoh, it proclaims, there is a way out.  Through signs and wonders, through the great and mighty hand of God, God can liberate us, indeed wills our liberation and yearns for our liberation, from life in bondage to culture to life a a journeying with God. 
   
The Story of Exile and Return 
The feeling of being separated from home and longing for home runs deeply within us... Like the exile story, the story of exile and return is a journey story.  It images life as a journey to the place where God is present, a homecoming, a journey of return. And like the exodus story, this story speaks of God aiding and assisting those who undertake the journey. 
   
The Priestly Story 
The priestly story is not primarily a story of bondage, exile, and a journey, but a story of sin, guilt, sacrifice, and forgiveness... Within this story, we are primarily sinners who have broken God's laws, and who therefore stand guilty before God, the lawgiver and judge.  Seen through the lens of this story, the religious life becomes a story of sin, guilt, and forgiveness. 
   
Marcus Borg ~ "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time"