(N.T. Wright, Bible Review, April 2001. Reproduced by permission of the author.) A misunderstood term has caused great confusion in understanding Paul, and it’s time to get it right. Just before Christmas, Paul Barnett, an Australian bishop and a New Testament scholar, placed an article on his Web site entitled “Why Wright is Wrong.” (He […]
Archives for April 2016
The Resurrection of Resurrection
(N. T. Wright, Bible Review, August 2000. Reproduced by permission of the author) Christianity was born into a world where one of its central tenets, the resurrection of the dead, was widely recognized as false–except, of course, by Judaism. Jews believed in resurrection, Greeks believed in immortality. So I was taught many years ago. But […]
The New Inheritance According to Paul
(Originally published in Bible Review, 14.3, June 1998. Reproduced by permission of the author.) The Letter to the Romans re-enacts for all peoples the Israelite Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land — from slavery to freedom. By N.T. Wright Most of the major questions about Paul’s Letter to the Romans relate to Paul’s puzzling […]
Paul, Leader of a Jewish Revolution
(N.T. Wright, Bible Review, December 2000. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Paul’s theology–grounded in Jewish thought and scriptures–propelled him to confront the powers of Rome and the pagan gods that stood behind them. Did Paul think Jesus was the long-promised Davidic Messiah? The first Christian writer seems to say so at the very start […]
The Great Debate
(N.T. Wright, Bible Review. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Jesus doesn’t really matter in Britain, but he clearly does in America. Why? They came, to my surprise, by the hundreds. Serious-minded folks from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco seemed keen to spend an evening listening to two Jesus scholars–Marcus Borg and me–continue in public […]
The Bishop’s Ministry at Auckland Castle
Meeting of Church Commissioners and Auckland Castle Trustees, Directors and Supporters Auckland Castle, July 13 2005 Briefing paper from the Bishop of Durham Introduction In his briefing paper, the Secretary to the Commissioners has highlighted as the principal question before us: ‘how do the retention of the [Zurbarán] paintings, and the Bishop and his family […]
Freedom and Framework, Spirit and Truth: Recovering Biblical Worship
(Originally published in Studia Liturgica 2002, 32, 176-95. Reproduced by permission of the author.) by N. T. Wright* I. Introduction “Biblical worship” is a huge topic, and one on which I am not really qualified. I am neither a liturgist, nor a liturgiologist. I am simply a New Testament scholar working in a community whose daily […]
A Mystery Glimpsed
N. T. Wright (Published in The Times Literary Supplement 29 March 2013, 13. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. Translated by Philip J. Whitmore. 132 pp. London: Bloomsbury Pope Benedict’s papacy will be remembered not least for its surprising conclusion. But Vatican insiders reveal […]
Believing and Belonging
(Originally published in Simply Christian, 2006 London: SPCK; San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. Reproduced by permission.) N.T. Wright The river and the tree appear to be opposites. The river begins, quite literally, all over the place. A tiny spring way up in the hills; a distant lake, itself fed by streams; a melting glacier—all of them and […]
Apocalypse Now?
Originally published in The Millennium Myth, 1999, Louisville: Westminster; London: SPCK UK edition entitled The Myth of the Millennium. Original pagination is retained in bold italicized numbers. Reproduced by permission of the author. [20] Like a swarm of tired old bees, the elderly Christian buzz-words have not been buzzing too much recently. “Redemption” is what […]
After GAFCON
Reflections by the Bishop of Durham June 30 2008 I spent this last week in a great celebration of the love and power of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I confirmed many new believers. I installed a dynamic new rector in a key parish. I assisted in consecrating a wonderful man as the […]
Ad Clerum, December 2005
By the Bishop of Durham, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Tom Wright 12. xii. 05 Dear Friends Warm greetings to you all on a chilly December day. I have been sparing with the Ad Clerum genre over the last two years, but I think it’s time to start making amends. And there is a pressing matter […]