Borg – Conventional wisdom is not to be identified with any particular tradition.; it is pervasive in all traditions. To emphasize the point once again: the conflict between conventional wisdom and alternative wisdom is not a conflict between Judaism and Christianity, but a conflict within both traditions.

This awareness is also important for the sake of our own self-understanding as Christians. To illustrate from my own experience, I grew up as a Lutheran, in a tradition that emphasized ”salvation by grace and not by “works of the law.” Indeed, “justification by grace” was the battle cry of the Lutheran Reformation; Luther”s own personal and theological struggle had been against ‘salvation by works.” As Lutherans, we all knew that we weren”t saved by “works.” Rather, we were saved by “grace through faith.”

Yet this strong emphasis on grace got transformed into a new system of conventional wisdom, not only in my own mind but, I think, in the minds of many Lutherans, and many Christians generally. The emphasis was placed upon faith rather than grace, and faith insidiously became the new requirement. Faith (most often understood as belief) is what God required, and by a lack of faith/belief one risked the peril of eternal punishment. The requirement of faith brought with it all of the anxiety and self¬-preoccupation that mark life in the world of conventional wisdom. ¬Was one’s faith/belief real enough, strong enough? Thus, for many of us latter-day Lutherans, the system of conventional wisdom remained. Only the content of the requirement had changed–from good works to faith.