N.T. Wright

Chuck said:

I just watched the Logos video on N.T. Wright.  ... Can you comment on his positions.  Is he considered a conservative, evangelical, liberal?

N T Wright is Anglican (Episcopalian). He has lectured at Cambridge and Oxford, as well as Regent College (Canada). Until recently he was the Bishop of Durham (UK), but has now moved to Aberdeen Uni (Scotland) as a research fellow in NT studies.

I consider Wright to be conservative/evangelical (e.g. he does believe in the resurrection of Christ as a fact of history), but he succeeds in engaging in debate with liberal scholars in a way that very few evangelicals even attempt. For example, he argues that there's nothing wrong with the questions liberals/enlightenment thinkers asked about the historical Jesus, but that the way they approached answering those questions was inadequate. So, the the Christian Origins and the Question of God Series, he demonstrates another way to do that kind of study that does not destroy faith. (BTW, Volume 1 of that series, The New Testament and the People of God is on a half-price special this month: if you search back in the forums, you will find the coupon.)

I can't recommend Wright highly enough. The way he takes the gospels seriously as history is life-changing. Richard Hays is not overstating the case when he says:
"... no New Testament scholar since Bultmann has even attempted—let alone achieved—such an innovative and comprehensive account of New Testament history and theology"

When it comes to Pauline studies, Wright is also very insightful, but he has upset some in the Reformed tradition by accepting aspects of the New Perspective on Paul -- a view that Luther and Calvin may have misread Paul through the filter of the struggles of their own time. While I can't see the sense of what Wright does with some of these passages, I still find him refreshingly enlightening in his approach to Paul. Especially with regard to the big picture (Adam, Abraham, Israel, Jesus, church, new heavens/earth), he is invaluable. His For Everyone commentaries are part of the 34-volume collection that's on pre-pub.

Naturally, no one is right all of the time, but Wright is just surperb: historically very sound, exegetically deep, faith filled, academically engaged, socially informed,  and refreshingly expressed.

You need to read Wright.

Allen Browne said:

You need to read Wright.

Thank you Allen for that insightful post. Great job. [Y]

Chuck said:

I searched but was unable to find the coupon for half price.  If you have it, can you include in a reply?

We are requested by Logos not to post coupon codes on the forums. (See http://community.logos.com/forums/t/10072.aspx.) But if you contact a Sales rep and tell him or her that you heard there might be a coupon sale going on now, I'm guessing you'll probably be able to get that sale price, if it's still going on. They generally go out of their way to give you the best deal available at the time.

Ron Corbett said:

I watched the Logos interview with him on the Blog. What a delightful and insightful man. I was blessed.

I may not agree with him on some things, but he seems to have a heart of gold  

I would recommend the interview to all.  Pay particular attention to his statements regarding those who were most helpful to him (near the beginning).  He says very much the same as I have been saying all along -- read those with whom you know you will disagree -- they will cause you to think.

Allen Browne said:

(BTW, Volume 1 of that series, The New Testament and the People of God is on a half-price special this month: if you search back in the forums, you will find the coupon.)

Thanks for mentioning that! Got it through a sales rep.

He is a great writer with clear concise transfer of thought.

Brad Fry said:

At 4:40 into the interview Wright says that C.S. Lewis' "view on the historical Jesus is very worrying". Anyone have any idea what in particular he's talking about?

He has a great deal of respect for Lewis, but has some critiques. He elaborates on them in this article, and that issue in particular in the sections titled "What Christians Believe" and "Lewis’s Cross." A key sentence is "There is virtually no mention, and certainly no treatment, of Israel and the Old Testament, and consequently no attempt to place Jesus in his historical or theological context." Wright is doing the quintessentially academic thing (perhaps seen more and done more eloquently and cordially in British academia than North America) of seriously challenging academic equals whom you respect and admire and have learned a lot from, but pointing out flaws in their writing. It is designed not to cut down nor judge but to get all involved to become better thinkers. Alas, Lewis is gone and can't defend himself or follow up with an improved version of his book, sharpened by the iron of Wright's critique.

Rosie Perera said:

Brad Fry said:

At 4:40 into the interview Wright says that C.S. Lewis' "view on the historical Jesus is very worrying". Anyone have any idea what in particular he's talking about?

He has a great deal of respect for Lewis, but has some critiques. He elaborates on them in this article, and that issue in particular in the sections titled "What Christians Believe" and "Lewis’s Cross." A key sentence is "There is virtually no mention, and certainly no treatment, of Israel and the Old Testament, and consequently no attempt to place Jesus in his historical or theological context." Wright is doing the quintessentially academic thing (perhaps seen more and done more eloquently and cordially in British academia than North America) of seriously challenging academic equals whom you respect and admire and have learned a lot from, but pointing out flaws in their writing. It is designed not to cut down nor judge but to get all involved to become better thinkers. Alas, Lewis is gone and can't defend himself or follow up with an improved version of his book, sharpened by the iron of Wright's critique.

Very interesting comment Rosie. Thank you.

MJ. Smith said:

"We can only reverently pause before this or that word of act [of Jesus], ready to learn, adore, obey."

just a way to sneak a fascinating quote i

What a great quote. Thanks for sneaking it in....

Romulo de Amorim Correa said:

Does anybody knows who are the others top four theologians?

Well, that clearly depends on the particular source you're referring to when naming the top five ...

The following blogpost and the accompanying PDF-version summary of Wright's three books might help you decide if you want to buy and read Wright. The summaries include lengthy quotes from the books:

Blogpost: http://www.postost.net/2003/09/christian-origins-and-question-god

Full PDFs: http://www.postost.net/christianorigins.pdf

Damian McGrath said:

But, from what I can tell by looking at the Christianity Today archives, (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1999/february8/9t2030.html), the particular issue was dedicated to five new theologians: Richard Hays, Miroslav Volf, Kevin Vanhoozer, N. T. Wright, and Ellen Charry.

They are referred to as "top theologians" but not in the sense of "Top 5".

That's the publishing business.  [:(]

Damian McGrath said:

Romulo de Amorim Correa said:

N. T. Wright (1948– ) has been named one of the top five theologians in the world. .....

(...)

But, from what I can tell by looking at the Christianity Today archives, (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1999/february8/9t2030.html), the particular issue was dedicated to five new theologians: Richard Hays, Miroslav Volf, Kevin Vanhoozer, N. T. Wright, and Ellen Charry.

They are referred to as "top theologians" but not in the sense of "Top 5".

Well, Damian I don't know if you found the others four, but you introduced me some new fine theologians. thanks!

Romulo de Amorim Correa said:

N. T. Wright (1948– ) has been named one of the top five theologians in the world. .....

Wouldn't "in the world" mean now living?

I agree with you 100%. I have about 8 of Wright's books including the Christian Origins and the Quest of God series. I've  also John Pipers book "The Future Of justification" as well. In fact it was Piper whom I agreed with after reading the book. I also read many other things by others who had problems with Wright. But I was always taught if you want truth....get it from the horses mouth. So after "The Future of justification" I decided to read Wrights book "What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus The Real Founer of Christianity?" and boy was my eyes open. I saw that many of the things Wright was accused of, was do to a wrong understanding of what Wright was saying, or flat out taking him out of context....but for the most, it was not seeing Wrights overall picture.

I agree Wright needs to be read...and the" Christian Origins and the Quest of God series" would be a vey good place to start.