(N.T. Wright, Bible Review, August 2001. Reproduced by permission of the author) Little did Paul know how his colorful metaphors for Jesus’ second coming would be misunderstood two millennia later. The American obsession with the second coming of Jesus — especially with distorted interpretations of it — continues unabated. Seen from my side of the […]
Jesus and the Identity of God
Originally published in Ex Auditu 1998, 14, 42–56. Reproduced by permission of the author. To address the subject of the theological significance of the earthly Jesus I take as my topic the central question of Jesus and God. The question must be approached from both sides. First, in what sense, if any, can we meaningfully use the word “god” to […]
The Letter to the Galatians: Exegesis and Theology
(Originally published in Between Two Horizons: Spanning New Testament Studies and Systematic Theology Joel B. Green and Max Turner, eds., 2000, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 205–36. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N. T. WRIGHT The dense and dramatic argument of Galatians excites and baffles by turns. Sometimes perceived as a flamboyant younger sister of the […]
Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem
(Originally published in Sewanee Theological Review 41.2, 1998. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright Prologue The Question of Jesus’ resurrection lies at the heart of the Christian faith. There is no form of early Christianity known to us that does not affirm that after Jesus’ shameful death God raised him to life again. […]
Mind, Spirit, Soul and Body: All for One and One for All Reflections on Paul’s Anthropology in his Complex Contexts
March 2011 Main Paper, Friday March 18 Society of Christian Philosophers: Regional Meeting, Fordham University By the Rt Revd Prof N. T. Wright University of St Andrews An exegete among philosophers! I don’t know whether that is more like a Daniel among the lions or like a bull in a china shop. We shall see. […]
Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins
Originally published in Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4, 615–635. Reproduced by permission of the author. Introduction The question of Jesus’ resurrection continues to haunt the thinking and writing of many scholars. I shall not debate in detail with them here; there are other places for that. I want instead to sketch, in broad strokes, a historical argument about what happened three days […]
The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology
Originally published in Sewanee Theological Review 39, 1996. Reproduced by permission of author. he quest for the historical Jesus began as a protest against traditional Christian dogma, but when the supposedly ‘‘neutral” historians peered into the well, all they saw was a featureless Jesus. Even when scholars decided that other biblical figures—John the Baptist, the evangelists, […]
Communion and Koinonia: Pauline Reflections on Tolerance and Boundaries
A paper given at the Future of Anglicanism Conference, Oxford, 2002. Introduction: Paul’s Context From the very beginning, the church was faced with the problem of different cultures coming together. Even in the earliest days, when all Christians were Jews, there were Greek-speaking Jews and Hebrew (or Aramaic-) speaking Jews, and problems arose between them. Even during the […]
Imagining the Kingdom: Mission and Theology in Early Christianity
University of St Andrews St Mary’s College (Faculty of Divinity) Inaugural Lecture by the Right Reverend Professor N. T. Wright Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity 5.15 pm, October 26 2011 The four gospels stand magisterially at the head of the canon and the centre of early Christianity. They are remarkable documents. If […]
How Can the Bible Be Authoritative?
Originally published in Vox Evangelica 1991, 21, 7–32. Reproduced by permission of the author.
The question before us, then, is: how can the Bible be authoritative? This way of putting it carries deliberately, two different though related meanings, and I shall look at them in turn. First, how can there be such a thing as an authoritative book? What sort of a claim are we making about a book when we say that it is ‘authoritative’? Second, by what means can the Bible actually exercise its authority? How is it to be used so that its authority becomes effective?
An Evening Conversation on Jesus and Paul
On October 25, 2004, James D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright had a two-part dialogue on Jesus and Paul in Durham, England. This a transcript of the dialogue, edited by Mark M. Mattison. Transcript: An Evening Conversation on Jesus and Paul (PDF 144 KB) Audio recordings: Jesus: Durham New Testament Seminar Paul: Durham New Testament Seminar
A Scripture-formed Communion? Possibilities and Prospects after Lambeth, ACC, and General Convention
Nicholas Thomas Wright The question of the authority, use and relevance of Scripture in today’s Anglican Communion needs to be addressed more thoroughly. All authority is God’s authority, and the question of Scripture’s authority needs to be reframed in that light: God is not merely providing information and instruction, but taking forward his Kingdom-project, and […]
The Law in Romans 2
N.T. Wright Romans 2 is the joker in the pack. Standard treatments of Paul and the Law have often failed to give it the prominence that one might expect it to have, judging by its position within his most-discussed letter. But generations of eager exegetes, anxious to get to the juicy discussions that surround 3.19-20, […]
New Perspectives on Paul
Rutherford House, Edinburgh 10th Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference: 25–28 August 2003 N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham I am grateful for the invitation to this conference, and for the sensitive way in which the organisers responded to my comments on the intial outline of the programme. I am aware that fresh interpretations of Paul, including my […]
Jerusalem in the New Testament
(Originally published in Jerusalem Past and Present in the Purposes of God. P. W. L. Walker, ed., pp. 53–77. (2nd edn. 1994.) Carlisle: Paternoster. Grand Rapids: Baker. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Tom Wright This chapter is inevitably written with mixed feelings. Having lived in Jerusalem recently for a period of three months one […]
Gospel and Theology in Galatians
(Originally published in Gospel in Paul: Studies on Corinthians, Galatians and Romans for Richard N. Longenecker, eds. L. Ann Jervis and Peter Richardson, 1994, pp. 222–239. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series 108. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright The word ‘gospel’ has had a […]
4QMMT and Paul: Justification, ‘Works,’ and Eschatology
N. T. Wright Bishop of Durham [Auckland Castle, Co. Durham, DL14 7NR] Originally published in History and Exegesis: New Testament Essays in Honor of Dr E. Earle Ellis for His 80th Birthday, ed. Aang-Won (Aaron) Son (New York and London: T & T Clark 2006), 104-132. Reproduced by permission of the author. The topic of […]
Romans and the Theology of Paul
(Originally published in Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E. Elizabeth Johnson, 1995, 30–67. Minneapolis: Fortress. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright Lichfield Cathedral A JEWISH THEOLOGY for the Gentile world, and a welcome for Gentiles designed to take the Jewish world jealous. That, I suggest, is what Paul offered […]
God and Caesar, Then and Now
Festschrift for Dr Wesley Carr, 2003 by Dr N. T. Wright, Canon Theologian, Westminster Abbey (from June 30 2003: Bishop of Durham) ‘Render unto Caesar,’ declared Jesus, ‘the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.’ That famously cryptic comment serves not only as a title for this article but as […]
On Becoming the Righteousness of God
2 Corinthians 5:21 (Originally published in Pauline Theology, Volume II, ed. D. M. Hay: Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, 1993, 200–208. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 poses several problems for the interpreter; I shall here focus on one in particular. What does Paul mean when he says “that we might become […]
Paul, Arabia, and Elijah (Galatians 1:17)
(Originally published in Journal of Biblical Literature vol. 115, 683–692. Reproduced by permission of the author) We don’t know, say most of the commentators, why Paul went to Arabia or what he did there. We aren’t even sure which bit of “Arabia” he visited. In what is, for Paul, an unusually long autobiographical section (Gal […]
The Paul of History and the Apostle of Faith
THE TYNDALE NEW TESTAMENT LECTURE, 1978 (Originally published in Tyndale Bulletin 29, 1978, pp. 61–88. Reproduced by permission of the author.) By N. T. Wright ‘Controversy’ writes Ernst Käsemann is the breath of life ‘to a German theologian’: and he should know. What he imagines the rest of us breathe he does not say: but […]
Worship and the Spirit in the New Testament
Yale Conference on Worship and the Spirit: February 21–23 2008 N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham Introduction At first sight, it appears strange that those who have written about the Holy Spirit in the New Testament have not usually given much attention to worship, and those who have written about worship in the New Testament […]
Where is God in ‘The War on Terror’?
a public lecture in Durham Cathedral, 7.30 pm, 9 November 2006 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright Introduction We live at a remarkable moment in western history and culture. The old certainties and stabilities have been swept away; questions we thought we’d avoided have come back to haunt us. The extraordinary events […]
The Fourfold Amor Dei and the Word of God
intervention by the Rt Revd N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham (Church of England) Synod of Bishops, 14 October 2008 Your Holiness; your Eminences and Excellences; brothers and sisters in Christ: It is an honour and privilege to be here, and to bring you greetings from the Archbishop of Canterbury. We face the same challenges […]
Two Radical Jews
a review article of Daniel Boyarin, A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity. [1] (Originally published in Reviews in Religion and Theology 1995/3 (August), 15–23. Reproduced by permission of the author) by N. T. Wright Lichfield Cathedral, England This is an incredible book. I can’t believe the range, the skill, the chutzpah of it. […]
The Servant and Jesus: The Relevance of the Colloquy for the Current Quest for Jesus
(Originally published in Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed. William H. Bellinger, Jr. and William R. Farmer. 1998, Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International. 281–297. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N. T. WRIGHT Introduction I am enormously grateful for the chance to take part in this colloquy. I have caught […]
The Monarchs and the Message: Reflections on Bible Translation from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century
International SBL Meeting, London, July 2011 N. T. Wright St Mary’s College, St Andrews 1. Introduction: Translation as part of Biblical Faith The phrase ‘lost in translation’ is such a cliché that it even became the title of a movie. There is a famous story about a missionary starting a sermon by quoting Jesus’ words, […]
Resurrection: From Theology to Music and Back Again
(Originally published in J. Begbie, ed., Sounding the Depths: Theology Through the Arts, 2002, (London: SCM Press), 193–202. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N. T. WRIGHT Beginnings The second week of May 1998 was a typical week in the life of Lichfield Cathedral. Worship, preaching, meetings, visits and more meetings. And one of those […]
The Resurrection and the Postmodern Dilemma
(Originally published in Sewanee Theological Review 41.2, 1998. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright In concluding this series of lectures, I want to do something rather different than what I have done in the previous two. My interest in the resurrection of Jesus is at the same time fully historical, fully theological, and […]
Redemption from the New Perspective?
[69] Redemption from the New Perspective? Towards a Multi-Layered Pauline Theology of the Cross Originally published in Redemption, ed. S. T. Davis, D. Kendall, G. O’Collins (Oxford: OUP) 2006, 69–100. Original pagination is retained in bold italicized numbers. Reproduced by permission of the author. N. T. WRIGHT I INTRODUCTION Calling something ‘new’ is always risky, and […]
The Prayer of the Trinity
(Originally published in New Tasks for a Renewed Church, 1992, London: Hodder. Also published as Bringing the Church to the World, 1992, Bethany House, U.S.A., 209-15. Reproduced by permission of the author.) by Tom Wright Trinity Sunday Isaiah 6:1-8; Ephesians 1:3-14; John 14:8-17 I suggested in chapter 13 that there might be different sorts of […]
Resurrecting Old Arguments: Responding to Four Essays
[209] Resurrecting Old Arguments: Responding to Four Essays (Originally published in Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 2005, 3.2, 187–209. Original pagination is retained in bold italicized numbers. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright Bishop of Durham Durham, UK ABSTRACT The author is grateful for the attention given to his book […]
Paul
(Originally published in New Dictionary of Theology. David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, J.I. Packer (eds), 496-499. IVP. Reproduced by permission of the author.) PAUL. This article presents an overview of Paul’s life and work, his theology, place in early Christianity, and significance for today. 1. Life and work The apostle Paul, a Jew from […]
Justification
(Originally published in New Dictionary of Theology. David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, J.I. Packer (eds), 359-361. IVP. Reproduced by permission of the author.) JUSTIFICATION denotes, primarily, that action in the lawcourt whereby a judge upholds the case of one party in dispute before him (in the Hebrew lawcourt, where the image originates, all cases […]
Jesus
(Originally published in New Dictionary of Theology. David F. Wright, Sinclair B. Ferguson, J.I. Packer (eds), 348-351. IVP. Reproduced by permission of the author.) JESUS. Who is Jesus? How much can be reliably discovered about him? What is the significance of his ministry in 1st-century Palestine? Such are the questions posed by contemporary NT scholarship. […]
My Pilgrimage in Theology
(Originally Published in Themelios, January, 1993, 18.2, 35. Reproduced by permission of the author.) Tom Wright Most theological students associate John Wenham with Greek grammar. Not me. I was in an undergraduate audience which he addressed in 1970. He urged Bible-loving Christians to consider theological study and a ministry of teaching and writing. His model […]
Doing Justice to Jesus: A Response to J.D. Crossan: ‘What Victory? What God?’
(Originally published in Scottish Journal of Theology 1997, 50.3, 359–79. Reproduced by permission of the author.) by N. T. Wright I am grateful for the invitation to respond, even though commenting on comments runs the risk of being ‘patently defensive’. It’s a risk I shall have to take. Quests. I am fascinated by your speculations […]
Jesus’ Self-Understanding
[47] Jesus’ Self-Understanding (Originally published in The Incarnation, ed. S. T. Davis, D. Kendall, G. O’Collins 2002, Oxford: OUP, 47–61. Original pagination is retained in bold italicized numbers. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N. T. WRIGHT I INTRODUCTION (A): TODAY’S SITZ IM LEBEN As I prepared to write this short chapter on Jesus’ self-understanding, […]
Moral Climate Change and Freedom of Speech
speech in the House of Lords, February 9 2006 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lady, Baroness Knight, for the opportunity offered by this debate to address some issues that have become urgent in our national life. It would be a mistake, my Lords, […]