As a companion to Christian Research Net post Opposites Attract Buddhists here in the essay by Marcus Borg referenced below he begins by telling us, “I am by confession a Christian of a nonliteralist and nonexclusivist kind (once Lutheran, now Episcopalian).” But what you’ll read within this piece is the end result of Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism; it is neither true, nor did these words come from a Christian:

Jesus was a Jewish mystic. This is radical shorthand for my fuller five-stroke sketch, as well as foundational for it. As a Jewish mystic (or Spirit person, by which I mean the same thing), Jesus became a healer, wisdom teacher, social prophet, and movement founder. This sketch is the basis for comparing the historical Jesus and the Buddha…

Jesus was killed, his life cut short because he was a social prophet… Both Jesus and the Buddha had transforming enlightenment experiences of a mystical kind at about age thirty. Both became teachers of a convention-subverting wisdom flowing out of their enlightenment experiences… I do not see the understanding of Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for sin as going back to Jesus himself, but as one of several post-Easter metaphors interpreting the meaning of his death…

All of the essayists [in this project] cite problems generated by exclusivist and absolutist Christian claims about Jesus. I agree that the most prevalent forms of Christianity through the centuries have made such claims, and that they are (in Rita Gross’ language) “dangerous, destructive, and degraded.” But prevalent as these claims have been, I do not think they are intrinsic or necessary to Christianity… As a Christian, I do not think Jesus is the only way. He is neither indispensable for salvation, nor unique (except in the sense that every person is unique).  (Online source)

See also:

MARCUS BORG: BUDDHA WAS BORN AGAIN

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

JESUS AND BUDDHA WERE EQUALS AND CHRISTIANITY IS A WAY