One recurring interest for Professor Marcus Borg (March 11, 1942 – January 21, 2015) was the nature and meaning of the resurrection of Jesus. The late Marcus Borg was involved in a number of debates and discussions concerning the meaning of resurrection, and we include a selection here.
Crossan and Borg vs. White and Renihan
Gulf of Alaska, 2005
This debate took place on board a cruise ship in 2005 in the Gulf of Alaska, between John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, James Renihan and James White.
Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? William Lane Craig vs Marcus Borg
University of North Texas, Denton, Texas (October 22, 2001)
“William Lane Craig debates Jesus Seminar member Marcus Borg on Jesus’ physical resurrection. Darrell Bock and Daryl Schmidt (also a Jesus Seminar member) respond.”
Believing in the Resurrection: Was Jesus Actually Raised from the Dead? Marcus Borg & Charles Holt
Hosted by the Rollins College on February 7, 2013
Listen also to a debate between Borg’s fellow Jesus Seminarian, John Dominic Crossan with N.T. Wright,
The Resurrection: Historical Event or Theological Interpretation?
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, March 11 or 12, 2005
Biblical Studies Online 
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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The movie Risen makes powerfully clear that a claim of resurrection could not have been sustained if the body of Jesus of Nazareth could have been produced. It would have been searched for and produced if Jesus had not risen physically, materially, bodily. I believe Borg asserted that it was lost or eaten by dogs. But there is, I believe, no evidence that the Jewish leaders asserted anything of that kind. They asserted the disciples disposed of the body – clearly a psychologicaly impossible claim in light of the disciples’ death as martyrs.
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1. No Christian identifies the tomb where Jesus had allegedly been born before ca. AD 200. Although Christianity celebrated many sites associated with Jesus, nobody identified his tomb. Nobody. Did anybody know before this? If they did, we have no evidence. And there is a conspicuous lack of evidence for knowledge of the whereabouts of Jesus’ tomb.
2. Matthew records a Jewish counter-story to the resurrection story that the disciples stole the body. This is half a century after the death of Jesus. It serves just as well as a counter-story to the claim of an empty tomb as it does to an actual empty tomb. That is, you don’t need an actual empty tomb for the story to be circulated. You just need a story about an empty tomb, as you get as early as the Gospel of Mark, some 40 years after Jesus’ death. The counter-story then recorded by Matthew (50 years after Jesus’ death) counters the claim of an empty tomb in Mark. At this stage, nobody is searching for a body, which has been long decomposed.
3. Martyrs die for what they believe to be truth, not for truth itself. If Jesus was buried in a mass tomb, or an unmarked grave, or simply lost, the disciples would have still believed in his resurrection to the heavens. People die for causes they believe in every day, whether true or false.
You might not personally accept these suggestions. And that’s fine. But I just want to point out that there is no good evidence or argument which makes Jesus’ resurrection likely.
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