Read below for information about winning a free copy of The Challenge of Jesus, by NT Wright.
It is the rare book that leads me to tears. I cannot actually remember the last book that did so. But today, as I finished reading The Challenge of Jesus by NT Wright, I wept. As I tried to read the last few pages through blurred vision, I kept silently shouting to myself, “This! This is the Gospel! This is the Jesus I am looking for. This is the Jesus the world wants, but doesn’t know they need. This is the Jesus the church has locked in the attic, out of shame—or possibly fear—for what might happen if we let him loose.”
In this book, NT Wright has put my soul to words.
Let me briefly explain what the book is about, and then summarize why I found it so compelling.
In The Challenge of Jesus, chapters 1–5 are essentially a summary of one of Wright’s other books, Jesus and the Victory of God, and chapter 6 is a preview of a book that at the time of writing had not been published, but which is now available, The Resurrection of the Son of God. In these six chapters, Wright consistently amazes the reader not only with his insight into the Jewish backgrounds of Jesus, but also his conservative stance on the historical reliability of the Gospels. It is so rare to find a world-renowned New Testament scholar who actually believes that the New Testament is accurate and reliable.
The mixture of Wright’s historical knowledge and conservative stance lead to some challenging and surprising insights into the life and mission of Jesus. Ultimately, Wright paints a picture of Jesus as being the one in whom all the plans and promises of God to Israel are fulfilled. This reading of Jesus helps remove the age-old animosity between Calvinism and Arminianism, the debates about faith and good works (p. 43), election and free will, the meaning of the Kingdom of God (cf. p. 36), and the ongoing battle between Dispensationalism and Covenant theology. In Wright’s reading, these debates become almost nonsensical. They are cases of asking the wrong questions. Such debates are beside the point (p. 73).
Wright’s reading of the Gospels (and the entire Bible) emphasizes the central theme of the people of God in exile (p. 36f), and that the Bible is a story in search of actors and an ending (pp. 43, 159). Jesus is the pivot point in the story, and brings into himself the people of Israel, the Temple, the Torah, the Land, and the Covenant (pp. 55f, 110f). The purpose for all these are now repurposed in and through Jesus. The resurrection showed that this was the purpose all along.
As fantastic as the first six chapters were, the last two chapters are where my tears were shed. Using the story from Luke 24 about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus as a framework, Wright shows how the startling news about the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb transformed and re-imagined the mission and purpose of the early church, and how it can do the same for us.
In these chapters, he shows how the reality of postmodernism is actually a blessing for the mission of the church, not something to be attacked or fended off with ever-lengthening doctrinal statements. Postmodernism contains a good critique of modernism, for which the church should be grateful. I wish I could explain his reasoning on this, but you really must read the chapters for yourself to grasp the full weight of his argument. The part that led me to tears is on pages 172-173, but I cannot reproduce it here, as once again, ripping these paragraphs from their context causes them to lose their force. I will, however, conclude with a small excerpt—a message, I felt, was straight from Jesus, through NT Wright, to me (make of that what you will):
“Foolish ones,” replies Jesus; “How slow of heart you are to believe all that the Creator God has said! Did you never hear that he created the world wisely? And that he has now acted within the world to create a truly human people? And that from within this people he came to live as a truly human person? And that in his own death he dealt with evil once and for all? And that he is even now at work, by his own Spirit, to create a new human family in which repentance and forgiveness of sins are the order of the day, and so to challenge and overturn the rule of war, sex money, and power?” And, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, and now also the apostles and prophets of the New Testament, he interprets to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
If you are looking for a book to prepare your heart, mind, and life for Easter, you could do no better than read The Challenge of Jesus. I, for one, am going to read it again.
Free Book Offer
If you would like to be entered in a drawing for a free copy of this book, please post a thoughtful comment below about this post, NT Wright, Jesus, the Gospels, the resurrection, or anything related. The drawing will be next Friday, February 25.
Jeremy,
I have not read this one yet, but I will have to add this to my list of books to read. I have always felt that dispensationalism and covenant theology (as well as many other arguments) miss the whole point of the Gospel.
I would call myself more of a “Narative Theologian”. Meaning that I thing the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation is about a single continuous story. The meta-narrative as it is often referred to is the idea that from the begining of time, God with perfect foreknowledge planned to create a new thing to reveal parts of His nature that were not yet revealed. He made man and women to reflect unrevealed aspects of His being. I believe that the fall and the redemption were also part of this, and through them, even more if His divine nature was revealed.
I really think that looking at the entire Bible as a single Cohesive story and coming at it from the idea of seeing how God is revealing a little more of His plan over time is much more appropriate than most traditional views.
FedEx,
President,
Men of Praise Motorcycle Ministry
Jeremy,
looks like a great book. Much of what you summarized from it reminds me of the teachings of a professor from college I had, Dr. Jonathan Lunde. He specializes in the New Testament, but I think if you asked him he would say he really loves to study Jesus. One of the main points I remember him making and I think this relates to the excerpt from the Wright’s book, is that Jesus came as the righteous king, and he also came as the servant king who would provide the grace necessary to live in the kingdom of a righteous god. And indeed when you study Jesus himself, you begin to ask questions that are more concerned with following him than with questions of Calvinism vs. Arminianism.
I just hope Dr. Lunde doesn’t hunt me down and bludgeon me for misquoting him…
Sounds like an amazing book and your review – which is thorough and excellently written by the way – makes me want to add it to me ever-growing reading list.
What particularly fascinated me about what you was what you reported about NT Wright saying some of the theological debates ask the wrong questions. I agree with you that ever-lengthening doctrinal statements are not the way forward. After all the letter kills, doesn’t it?
Something I blogged about recently was the doctrinal statement of Michael Gungor’s fellowship “Bloom”. While, in my opinion not lacking in precision, this “what we believe” answers the fundamentals without getting bogged down in controversies.
Here’s the link to the post – http://onewaypublishing.co.uk/blog/archives/75 – if you are interested.
Thank you all for commenting. You will be entered in the drawing next week.
FedEx,
I like the idea of narrative theology. I think it is a helpful way to approach Scripture. Rather than seeing it as a book of proof texts, it helps us see what God has been doing in the world, and what our role might be in carrying the story forward.
Chris,
I know what you mean about the growing book list… too much to read, so little time! Thanks for the link to that poetic doctrinal statement. I read it and like it. Also, due to your link, I added your blog to my Google Reader. I look forward to reading more!
David,
I like the thought from Dr. Lunde. I’m sure he will forgive you if you misquoted him, especially since he has the grace from Jesus to live in the kingdom. Ha ha! Seriously, though, that is a great point. Wright writes (pun!) a lot about living in the Kingdom here and now, even though it awaits the full expression in the future. It’s a helpful concept, I think.
I’ll have to add that one to my list…! Am currently trying to read through New Testament and the People of God, and Jesus and the Victory of God, which are excellent but quite dense! I also found his book Justification to completely change my perspective on how Paul explains the gospel, which like you say renders many of the battles of the church in the last four centuries completely irrelevant. Wright is my favourite author at the moment, as I love how he explains things so simply by going back to the original context and helping you to understand the questions that the author is answering rather than imposing foreign questions on the text.
Jeremy
Thanks for alerting me to this book. NT Wright is certainly a first rate scholar and anything he writes should be noted. Your review is appreciated.
I’m looking forward to reading this book. I’ve read several things by N. T. Wright lately, just articles mainly, but I am interested in narrative theology and new testament theology. Since I have been running in reformed circles lately, I hope this book will offer insights to solve some of the issues I have discovered (and maybe cool the jets of some of my newly reformed friends, if you know what I mean.)
Have never read anything that brought me close to tears? Reading NT Wright will make my night seem quite alright if I dont allow myself to get uptight with any of his liberal trite! :^)
Mark,
Jesus and the Victory of God is one of my top ten favorite books, I think. NTPG was also good. He does a fantastic job of pointing out the Jewish and cultural background to Jesus and the NT church. Enjoy reading!
Josh,
Thanks for the comment. He is definitely a first-rate scholar, even though we might not agree with everything. Of course, who among us can disagree? Ha ha.
Bobby,
Yes, his articles are a great introduction to NT Wright. A few years ago, I started by reading dozens of articles off of the NTWrightpage.com. It is a great resource.
Bruce,
That is a great little ditty. Although, I have been amazed at how conservative he is. I would definitely not put him in the liberal category. It is quite rare to find a NT scholar of his caliber who believes the entire Bible is inspired and historically accurate. I have yet to find something where he says, “This didn’t really happen. Later editors added it in to reinforce their own political or theological agenda” as you often find with liberal NT scholars.
I have recently discover NT Wright and would love a chance to win this book. I found your blog through your guest post at O Me of Little Faith. Great post!
Thanks Kristen,
Are you in British Columbia? What a beautiful province!
Anyway, you have been entered in the drawing for later today.
I feel like I’m in a theological flux right now, and maybe that’s what happened to those two people on the Emmaus road. I’m doubting a lot of old beliefs (in their case, that the Messiah would crush his enemies; in my case, issues such as inerrancy and a male-only pastors) and walking on a path that hopefully puts me in contact with the real Lord.
I guess that means I need to be careful attention to strangers. 🙂
Justin,
Hope you don’t mind, I removed the duplicate comment. Yes, pay attention to strangers! I cannot tell you how much I have learned from people who walked down the road with me a for a while. I’m not saying they were Jesus, but I still learned a lot from them.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially long-held core beliefs. I believe the truth can defend itself. But don’t cut yourself from others in the process.
Thanks, Jeremy! Asking hard questions is something I’m pretty good at. 🙂
I really enjoyed Wright’s ‘Jesus and the Victory of God’. I can’t wait for his fourth volume on Paul to come out.
Sounds like a great book! Can’t wait to read it.