Quote of the Day

One of the things I most admired about [Marcus Borg (pictured at right)] was his willingness to say “I don’t know!” Here’s a quote: “So, is there an afterlife, and if so, what will it be like? I don’t have a clue. But I am confident that the one who has buoyed us up in life will also buoy us up through death. We die into God. What more that means, I do not know. But that is all I need to know.”

So when I [refer to Borg's] “willful ignorance”, I mean his willingness to admit he didn’t know. His willingness to embrace mystery. What I’ve learned is that this is not a cop out. In fact, I claim that insisting it is so or it is not so may actually be the cop out, the unwillingness to enter darkness, to not know, to embrace mystery.

In any profession, it takes courage to say I don’t know. But especially in today’s theological climate of certainty, it’s very risky to do so.

– David Hayward
Excerpted from "The Death of Marcus Borg and His Willful Ignorance"
The Naked Pastor
January 22, 2015

Related Off-site Links:
Marcus Borg, Leading Liberal Theologian and Historical Jesus Expert, Dies at 72 – David Gibson (Religion News Service, January 22, 2015).
Marcus Borg Didn't Just Study Scripture; He Lived Its Message – Maureen Fiedler (National Catholic Reporter, January 23, 2015).
My Friend, Marcus Borg – Barkley Thompson (God in the Midst of the City, January 21, 2015).
Will Science Prove There is a Heaven? – Christine Schenk (National Catholic Reporter, January 22, 2015).

For examples of Marcus Borg's writing at The Wild Reed, see
• Palm Sunday: "A Planned Political Demonstration"
• The Passion of Christ (Part 1)
• The Passion of Christ (Part 9)
• A Wretched Death, a Wretched Burial
• Jesus Lives!
• Fall Round Up – 2007

Marcus Borg's insights helped shape a homily and an op-ed of mine. They are:
• The Harvest Within the Heart
• A Catholic's Prayer for his Fellow Pilgrim, Benedict XVI

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Why Jesus is My Man
• Within the Mystery, a Strange and Empty State of Suspension
• A Return to the Spirit
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All