Simply Jesus
But the book is not just about Jesus. It is about the church, the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, Israel, history, government, social involvement, eschatology, and a mind-numbing array of other topics, all of which swirl around and center upon the person and work of Jesus Christ.
But don’t be scared. N. T. Wright may be one of the world’s leading New Testament scholars, but this book is highly readable. Unlike some of his academic-level books (such as The Resurrection of the Son of God
If you have been hearing about N. T. Wright and are curious about his ideas, but have not wanted to tackle the 800 pages of The Resurrection of the Son of God
Here, briefly, is what he argues:
There were numerous cultural, political, and theological winds swirling around Israel in the years before and after the ministry of Jesus Christ. Most of these winds led Israel to expect a Messiah who would overthrow Rome through military conquest and set Israel up as the nation that ruled the world in peace and justice.
When Jesus began saying and doing the things He said and did, He was not fulfilling any of the expectations, which confused many people, and eventually, led to His crucifixion. (Whew! I’m skipping a lot in there! It’s almost shameful!)
But through all of His teachings and miracles, and climaxing in His death and resurrection, Jesus was trying to show people what God was really like, and how the Kingdom of Heaven truly operated. It would not arrive by bloodshed and sword, conquest and violence, but through love and service, humility and sacrifice, and even death.
And when Jesus rose, He gathered His disciples around Himself and told them that through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection, the Kingdom of God on earth had been inaugurated, and they were now His ambassadors to carry the Kingdom forward to the ends of the earth. They must live as He lived. Love as He loved. Serve as He served. And maybe even die as He died. For this is the way of the kingdom. This is the way of God.
The church then, continues this task. We are the hands and feet and voice of Jesus to the world. “The way in which Jesus now exercises his rule in the world [is] through the church, which is his Body” (p. 217). This is fantastic theology, and provides us with a vision not just of who Jesus really was and what He really did, but also who the church is, and what the church is supposed to be doing. The last chapter really focuses on this theme, and is more than worth the price of the book.
I really only have one concern with the book, and it is that N. T. Wright does not believe in the Rapture (p. 199-200), and appears to be Amillennial (p. 229). But these are not really big issues for me, and while I believe in a future Rapture and a Millennium, I can still fully apply everything N. T. Wright says to my life as a follower of Jesus, and to the church as the Body of Christ in the present time.
I highly recommend Simply Jesus
Just in case anybody was wondering…
I meant that this is the best book I have ever read about Jesus other than the Bible. 😉
Jeremy,
Sorry to have doubted you. 🙂 Hope we’re still friends. 🙂
Jeremy Myers writes “Simply Jesus by N. T. Wright may simply be the best book about Jesus I have ever read.” Ummmm, and I thought it was the Bible…silly me. I’ve never heard of N.T. Wright and maybe he’s a quality guy, but it’s so typical of scholars to write books containing hundreds or even thousands of pages about a topic the God covered in five to ten chapters. The subtitle of this book is “a new vision of who he was” like as if N.T. Wright is smarter than all the biblical scholars of the last two thousand years. Again, I don’t know who he is, perhaps his theology is sound, but I’m cautious of anyone who claims that we’ve all been wrong for the last two thousand years but he alone has figured it all out. yea right…… Read the Bible first and ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what it means. You’ll end up becoming far wiser than the scholars.
Gary, You’re jumping to conclusions. Read some of N.T. Wright’s books, then come back and reread Jeremy’s post. A free place to start would be to listen to Drew Marshall’s interview with N.T. Wright earlier this year.
Oh yes, I freely admit that I’m jumping to conclusions about the guy. Like I said, he might be a great guy. Also, I’m not against reading books written by biblical scholars, I just started down this path because Jeremy stated that this is the best book about Jesus, rather than applying that attribute to the bible itself. But I’m probably just nit-picking and Jeremy most likely meant “other than the Bible”. None the less, we should guard our faith and be cautious of anyone who says they have something new with regards to the Christian faith. I’ll check out the interview you referenced Sam. Thanks.
Jeremy,
You caved too easily. I am sick of Christians who always have to answer “Jesus” when asked questions like “If you could spend one hour with a person from history, who would it be?” or “Who is your role model?” These same Christians answer “the Bible” when asked “What is you favorite book?” or “Which book has challenged you the most?”
Gag me!
What? Are we in Kindergarten Sunday school where the answer to every question is “Jesus” or “the Bible”?
The truth is that maybe the book above truly is the best book about Jesus you have ever read – even better than the Bible. This doesn’t mean that the book by Wright is inspired or inerrant, but that it helped you understand who Jesus was and what He was all about better than the Bible does. If this book helps you understand Jesus, His mission, and our mission, better than if you had just read the Bible alone, then why can’t this book be better than the Bible?
Again, this isn’t to denigrate the Bible! But one way to determine the value of a book is by how it helps us understand Jesus and inspires us to live like Jesus, and if this book did this for you better than reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, then by all means, stick to your guns and say this is the best book you have read about Jesus!
William,
I hear what you are saying. Just three days ago, someone asked me who my role model was, and I almost said, “Jesus, of course.” Then I caught myself. He is my role model, but it is such a Christian cliche answer. When unbelievers hear it, they roll their eyes. Among believers, it is kind of “spiritual maturity” test where they feel they can judge you if you don’t say “Jesus.”
I ended up saying CS Lewis.
Anyway, regarding this book, I do value the Bible above it. I mean that literally… if I could only read and own one book for the rest of my life, of course I would pick the Bible. It’s not even a choice I have to think about. No book even comes close. And of course, without the Bible, this book by Wright would never have been written, so the Bible forms the foundation and basis for this book.
Having said that, you make a good point about there being different ways of defining “better” and “best.” If I was alone on a desert island with nothing but the Bible, and no research tools to help me understand the background and history of who Jesus was and what He taught, and the cultural and theological forces He was facing, I doubt I ever would have understood Him in the way that Wright presents here. Extrabiblical cultural and background tools are needed to help us fully understand Jesus. So in that sense, this book helps me understand Jesus “better” than the Bible does all by itself.
If I understand N.T. Wright correctly, he is trying to help us discover the Jesus of the Gospels, as opposed to Jesus as He has been interpreted and reinterpreted by so many.
We somehow manage to miss a lot of the plain teaching of Jesus, instead reinterpreting it so it somehow doesn’t apply to us. Probably the most common excuse I have heard for Christians to not do certain things Jesus plainly tells us to do is “I’m not ‘called’ to do that” (help the needy, love our neighbor or whatever).
Sam,
Yes, I think you understand him correctly.
By the way, the idea from my post the other day about Jesus returning in us is mostly from some of the things NT Wright wrote in this book.
Does Amazon pay you a commission for all the books I have bought because you recommended them? If not, they should. Now I’ll order the book. I don’t agree with everything Wright says, but I like reading his writing.
I actually do use Amazon affiliate links, but I think they depend on cookies, which you have turned off, right?
Well, crap…I have this book sitting in my office now waiting to be read, but I ordered it along with Wright’s book “Justification,” and I chose to read it first. Although, Justification is good read so far though, I’m just itching to get into Simply Jesus even more now..
Justification is a good book also. I cannot wait for Wright’s full-fledged book on Paul. It should be out 2012 or 2013 (I hope).