Online Book Study with Deacon Ari Wolfe: Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith, by Marcus Borg

Mondays, October 20 through November 17, 1:30-3:00 pm PT

Join Deacon Ari Wolfe, St. Columba’s Director for Social Justice Programming, for this timely discussion.

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.

Drawing on his own journey from a naïve, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life - one not rooted in creed or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community. He also reexamines the major stories of the Old Testament vital to an authentic understanding of Jesus, showing how an enriched understanding of these stories can uncover new truths and new pathways to faith.

This online book study (via Zoom) will meet weekly from October 20 through November 17.

Please get ahold of a copy of the book as soon as you register and read the Introduction and first chapter BEFORE our first meeting.

The Reverend Ari Wolfe is the deacon at Church of the Holy Spirit in Battle Ground, Washington. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA, a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, and an Associate degree in Behavioral Science. Ari spent her field education and early church service years in feeding ministries, hospital and jail chaplaincy, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and interfaith discussion; she sings and plays washboard and hand drums in church, and likes to knit while watching movies. Her personal website is www.deaconsjourney.com.

Deacon Ari does her best to live a simple, spiritual, and sustainable life as a cleric, blacksmith, and homesteader. She lives and works with her husband on a 2-acre rural farmstead in the Cascade Foothills of SW Washington where they lean into stewarding the land and their menagerie of animals: laying chickens, dairy goats, farm cats and Field Labs. They forge tools, knives, and other items for their own use and to sell and barter in their local community and online. They can be found at AnderWolfe Farmstead and Forge.

Register at https://www.stcolumbasinverness.org/meeting-jesus-book-study