In this excerpt from Reading The Bible Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg the non-exclusivist and progressive Christian teaches that the allegedly enlightened Buddha was born “from above” and “of the Spirit”—in other words, [he was] “born again.”

Of course to get to this blasphemous idea first we first have to reinterpret/reimagine/repaint…frankly, more accurately stated—make up—a new meaning for what Jesus meant by “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”:

Enlightenment as an archetypal religious metaphor belongs to a mystical way of being religious. Outside of the Jewish and Christian traditions, the best-known enlightenment experience is the Buddha’s mystical experience. Such an experience leads to seeing everything differently. It is not simply an intellectual or mental “seeing,” as when we say, “Oh, I see what you mean.” Rather, enlightenment as a religious experience involves communion or union with what is, an immediate “knowing” of the sacred that transforms one’s way of seeing.

So it is in John: enlightenment is a central metaphor for salvation. To have one’s eyes opened, to be enlightened, is to move from the negative pole of John’s contrasting symbols to the positive pole. To move from darkness to light is also to move from death to life, from falsehood to truth, from life in the flesh to life in the Spirit, from life “below” to life “from above.”

To be enlightened is to be born “from above” and “of the Spirit”—in other words, to be “born again.” Thus the “born again” experience in John is an enlightenment experience.

The language of enlightenment connects to John’s emphasis of knowing God. For John, such knowing is the primary meaning of “eternal life”—not a future state beyond death but an experience in the present. To know God is eternal life: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God.” Of course, for John, the true God is known in Jesus, and so the second half of the verse continues with “and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” For John, the Christian enlightenment experience is knowing God in Jesus. (214)

See also:

MARCUS BORG VS. JESUS

“PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY” IS NEITHER PROGRESSIVE OR CHRISTIAN

ROB BELL AND MARCUS BORG

ROB BELL: SOUNDING MORE AND MORE LIKE “PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN” MARCUS BORG

JESUS AND BUDDHA WERE EQUALS AND CHRISTIANITY IS A WAY