The internet is packed with responses to the news that Marcus Borg died a few days ago. ABC carried the original news release. Marcus's colleagues at HarperOne wrote a beautiful piece to honor Marcus. Blogs by Barkley Thompson and The Naked Pastor David Hayward stand out among the many personal pieces, and Patheos has just published an entire section of tributes.

Among the responses, Brian McLaren's post was particularly warm ... and insightful. I especially noticed his description of the things that he overheard people saying to Marcus: "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be a Christian today ... I dropped out of church but came back after I read one of your books ... I'm still a Christian because of you ... I became a Christian because of your books." (emphasis added)

(SNIP)

What catches my attention is that, despite all the reasons that Marcus Borg should have seemed stodgy, institutional, and irrelevant, he wasn't. There are a couple of important reasons for the surprising attractiveness of Borg's message. These reasons matter because they function as a sort of mirror to us. At their best, they help us see more clearly what it is that we're looking for:

Marcus Borg and the New Face of Christianity