The book, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Views, by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright is a conversation of sorts between "Leading liberal and conservative Jesus scholars" as they "present the heart of historical debate about Jesus.” In the introduction, the scholars note that the inspiration and writing of the book arose from a friendship. The book is evidence of the public and private conversations between these scholars and friends, who share the faith and Christian practice as they work through these complex issues in hopes of better understanding each other. Both, “…recognize Jesus of Nazareth as Lord, and [we] view the no-holds-barred study of his actual history as a vital part of what we we mean by this" (viii). In such circumstances, identified in the book are some of the purposes of writing: the desire to transform clogged debates into more fruitful possibilities, suggesting other ways in which the issues might be aligned, as well as opening up a crucial question , how do the different visions of Jesus relate to the different visions of the Christian life? Agreeing that discussions and conversations about Jesus should be open and in the public sphere, Borg and Wright act on this shared aspiration and reveal a conversation that is both interesting and refreshing, with the underlying purpose of sparking dialogue among others, Christians and non-Christians. Likewise Christian (ix-x). In this situation, the content of the paper is divided into eight parts with each scholar writing a short chapter on each of the topics, alternating the position of the chapters in a point-counterpoint manner. Rarely stating an explicit disagreement with the other, the intimate manner of presentation does an excellent job of exposing the inherent tensions between the two... center of the card... of the Christian faith front and center uniting two camps of believers in a single reading; a starting point. As illustrated by the authors: “Although we obviously did not reach an agreement, we are satisfied that we have eliminated the misunderstandings, that is, that neither of us has misrepresented the other. We offer the result to the reader as a celebration of shared friendship, faith, and scholarship” (xi). In conclusion, I found the book incredibly inspiring and useful for this course. Its strength came from the open and honest but respectful nature of the dialogue between these scholars. Each chapter offered by Borg and Wright felt more like a teaser to read their other publications, which was somewhat unsatisfying but very enticing for interested readers of the book to continue their own research to understand the historical Jesus..