Continuing our summary/review of Tom Wright and Marcus Borg's discussion... For other articles in this series visit http://jmm.aaa.net.au/catalog/section/jc1.htm.

These brief excerpts are meant to provoke thought/reflection...

More from Marcus Borg (from his chapter on Jesus' birth-stories, including the 'virgin birth'):

'To say "What happened in Jesus was of the Spirit" is not a factual claim dependent upon a biological miracle, but a way of seeing Jesus [as] the decisive disclosure of God... The important questions are "Is Jesus the light of the world? Is he the true Lord? Is what happened to him 'of God'?" Answering these questions affirmatively lays claim to our whole lives... Meister Eckhart, a Christian mystic, theologian, and preacher from the thirteenth century... spoke of the virgin birth as something that happens *within us*... [It's] the story of Christ being born within us through the union of the Spirit of God with our flesh. Ultimately, the story of Jesus' birth is not just about the past but about the internal birth in us in the present' (pp. 186).

[Note from Rowland: To be fair to Tom and Marcus I'm presenting their summary-views before I offer some of my own... You'll have to *think* first, and then wait for my appraisal].