Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


  • Join Us!
  • Scripture
  • Theology
  • My Books
  • About
  • Discipleship
  • Courses
    • What is Hell?
    • Skeleton Church
    • The Gospel According to Scripture
    • The Gospel Dictionary
    • The Re-Justification of God
    • What is Prayer?
    • Adventures in Fishing for Men
    • What are the Spiritual Gifts?
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Courses FAQ
  • Forum
    • Introduce Yourself
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
    • Theology Questions
    • Life & Ministry
You are here: Home / Simply Jesus

Simply Jesus

By Jeremy Myers
13 Comments

Simply Jesus

Simply Jesus by NT WrightSimply Jesus by N. T. Wright may simply be the best book about Jesus I have ever read.

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), this book contains almost no footnotes, scholarly discussion of Greek words, or involved critique of ideas from other scholars.

If you have been hearing about N. T. Wright and are curious about his ideas, but have not wanted to tackle the 800 pages ofย The Resurrection of the Son of Godย or the 800 pages ofย Jesus and the Victory of God, this book is the the place to start. It is a concise summary of everything written up to this point by N. T. Wright about Israel as the people of God, Jesus as the Son of God, the significance of His resurrection, and the role of the church within the Kingdom 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 beenย 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 recommendย Simply Jesus, and along with it, a book which deals more with the role of the church and individual Christians within the world: Simply Christian. Both are on my Burning Books list.


God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Reading, Theology of Jesus

Advertisement

Learn the most essential truths for following Jesus!

Get FREE articles and audio teachings every week in my discipleship emails!


Comments

    Leave a Comment or Question Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Jeremy Myers says

    November 25, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    Just in case anybody was wondering…

    I meant that this is the best book I have ever read about Jesus other than the Bible. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
    • Gary Eugene Howell says

      November 25, 2011 at 8:46 pm

      Jeremy,
      Sorry to have doubted you. ๐Ÿ™‚ Hope we’re still friends. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Gary Eugene Howell says

    November 25, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      November 25, 2011 at 6:19 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Gary Eugene Howell says

        November 25, 2011 at 6:32 pm

        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.

        Reply
  3. William N. Donaldson says

    November 26, 2011 at 9:47 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      November 26, 2011 at 10:28 am

      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.

      Reply
  4. Sam says

    November 28, 2011 at 12:03 am

    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).

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      November 30, 2011 at 2:39 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Sam says

        November 30, 2011 at 5:58 pm

        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.

        Reply
        • Jeremy Myers says

          December 1, 2011 at 6:10 pm

          I actually do use Amazon affiliate links, but I think they depend on cookies, which you have turned off, right?

          Reply
  5. Jesse says

    December 15, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    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..

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      December 16, 2011 at 5:32 pm

      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).

      Reply

Leave a Comment or Question Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join the discipleship group
Learn about the gospel and how to share it

Take my new course:

The Gospel According to Scripture
Best Books Every Christian Should Read
Study Scripture with me
Subscribe to my Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to my Podcast on Amazon

Do you like my blog?
Try one of my books:

Click the image below to see what books are available.

Books by Jeremy Myers

Theological Study Archives

  • Theology – General
  • Theology Introduction
  • Theology of the Bible
  • Theology of God
  • Theology of Man
  • Theology of Sin
  • Theology of Jesus
  • Theology of Salvation
  • Theology of the Holy Spirit
  • Theology of the Church
  • Theology of Angels
  • Theology of the End Times
  • Theology Q&A

Bible Study Archives

  • Bible Studies on Genesis
  • Bible Studies on Esther
  • Bible Studies on Psalms
  • Bible Studies on Jonah
  • Bible Studies on Matthew
  • Bible Studies on Luke
  • Bible Studies on Romans
  • Bible Studies on Ephesians
  • Miscellaneous Bible Studies

Advertise or Donate

  • Advertise on RedeemingGod.com
  • Donate to Jeremy Myers

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

© 2025 Redeeming God · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Knownhost and the Genesis Framework