Chris Starr

“Christmas is not about tinsel and mistletoe or even ornaments and presents, but about what means will we use toward the end of a peace from heaven upon our earth. Or is “peace on earth” but a Christmas ornament taken each year from attic or basement and returned there as soon as possible?”
― Marcus J. Borg, The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus's Birth

“American Christians need especially to see the political meanings of these stories, for we live in a time of the American empire.”
― Marcus J. Borg, The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus's Birth

“The four-week period of Advent before Christmas—and the six-week period of Lent before Easter—are times of penance and life change for Christians. In our book The Last Week, we suggested that Lent was a penance time for having been in the wrong procession and a preparation time for moving over to the right one by Palm Sunday. That day’s violent procession of the horse-mounted Pilate and his soldiers was contrasted with the nonviolent procession of the donkey-mounted Jesus and his companions. We asked: in which procession would we have walked then and in which do we walk now?”
― Marcus J. Borg, The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus's Birth

“we are to participate with God in bringing about the world promised by Christmas.”
― Marcus J. Borg, The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus's Birth