Putting away childish things - Marcus J. Borg

Kate is a popular religion professor at a liberal arts college in a small town in the Midwest who retreats to her nearest pub for a Guinness and a cigarette when she needs some air. Kate thinks her life is right on track--teaching, writing books, getting some notice, but she soon discovers that even in the twenty-first century, God works in mysterious ways. Kate is up for tenure, and that is when it all starts to go wrong. A colleague warns her that her books are too Christian and too popular. She is offered a visiting professor job at a prestigious seminary that employs the professor she had an affair with years ago. Students ask her views on Jesus, the Bible, and homosexuality, which leads to a parents' campaign for the school to get rid of her. Along the way, readers learn about theological and social issues dividing Christians today as the characters engage them in their lives and work. What is the Bible? What is the quest for the historical Jesus about? What is the nature of faith? How does the study of religion relate to the practice of religion? Are reason and faith friends or foes? Who said it would be easy to be a Christian in today's world? As Kate wrestles with the Bible, the church, the university, her past, and her vocation, we all learn from and share in what it means to walk in faith today.