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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 […]

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, […]

The Holy Land Today

(Originally published in The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage in the Holy Land and Beyond. 1999, London: SPCK; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 119-130.  Reproduced by permission of the author.) By Tom Wright ALL THAT I have said in this book would be just as relevant if the Holy Land, and Jerusalem in particular, were uninhabited […]

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, […]

Faith in Further Education?

Comments on the draft bill before the House of Lords, December 13 2006 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, there are, as we have heard, several potentially controversial aspects of this Bill, to put it mildly, but I will focus mainly on an important lacuna. […]

Economy and Business: debate on the Queen’s Speech

Monday December 8 2008 Speech by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright My Lords, like I suspect many of us in this House I was delighted but not surprised to see that the Gracious Speech started with a clear stress on the stability of the British economy during the current global economic downturn. […]

Early Traditions and the Origins of Christianity

(Originally published in Sewanee Theological Review 41.2, 1998. Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright Introduction I have so far endeavored to sketch a historical argument I have urged that the rise of early Christianity cannot be explained except on the basis upon which the early Christians themselves insist, namely, that Jesus of Nazareth, […]

Doubts about Doubt: Honest to God Forty Years On

[181] Doubts about Doubt: Honest to God Forty Years On* (Originally published in Journal of Anglican Studies, 2005, 3 (2), 181–96.  Original pagination is retained in bold italicized numbers.  Reproduced by permission of the author.) N.T. Wright ABSTRACT Honest to God, published in 1963, was one of the most public religious bestsellers of the twentieth […]

Diocese of Durham: Diocesan Synod, May 21 2010

Presidential Address: The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd N. T. Wright, DD Some of you, older synodical hands than I, have seen bishops come and go over a long period, and no doubt you tick them off one by one in your mind, perhaps even carving another notch on the end of the pew. […]

On Dropping the Debt

A note on the subject of debt relief, 12 May 2008 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr. N. T. Wright In some of my writings and sermons I have emphasized the importance of cancelling Third World debts. A great deal of work at quite a high level of economic and financial expertise has been done […]

Creation and Covenant

N.T. Wright Originally published in Paul: In Fresh Perspective.  London: SPCK; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005, pages 21-39. Reproduced by permission of the author. 1. Creation and Covenant in the Old Testament What I mean by ‘creation and covenant’ will become clear if we consider a couple of Psalms where the two are joined together. What I […]

The Shape of Justification

(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 […]

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 […]

That the World May Believe

Isaiah 41. 9b–13; Ephesians 4.1–6; John 17.11b–23 a sermon at the Licensing of Canon Jon Bell as Bishop’s Senior Chaplain and Executive Officer at St Peter’s Chapel, Auckland Castle, on the Feast of St Thomas Aquinas January 28 2006 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright Sometimes when you’re out on a walk […]

The Word of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1.18 [Isaiah 61.1–9; James 5.13–16a; Luke 4.16–20] a sermon at the Sung Eucharist with the Blessing of Oils and Renewal of Ordination Vows Durham Cathedral, Maundy Thursday, 5 April 2007 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright ‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but […]

Wisdom in a Troubled Time

Job 28; Psalm 8; 1 Corinthians 2.1–10 a sermon for the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference at their Annual Service in Westminster Abbey September 30 2008, 3 pm by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright You don’t need me to tell you that we meet at an extraordinary time. Someone asked me a couple […]

Those whom he justified, he also glorified

Romans 8.17–39 a sermon in celebration of the life and ministry of Keith A. A. Weston St Mary’s Church, Thame, Friday 22 February 2013 by the Rt. Revd. Prof N. T. Wright, University of St Andrews ‘Those whom he justified, he also glorified’: Romans 8, of course, and verse 30. Many of you will know […]

The Mutilated Mountain

Isaiah 61.1–2 with 58.6; Matthew 5.3–10 a sermon at the Civic Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication at the launch of the new Unitary County Council Durham Cathedral, 2 pm May 30 2009 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright If you’ve been on holiday to the Italian coast near Naples or Amalfi, chances […]

Jesus in the Perfect Storm

Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48 A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011 In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Andrews By the Rt Revd Prof Dr N T Wright, St Mary’s College The crowd went wild as they got nearer. This was the moment they’d been waiting for. All the old songs came flooding […]

The Ear of the Servant, the Tongue of the Teacher

Isaiah 50.4–10; Galatians 1.11–24; Mark 10.35–45 a sermon at the Annual Readers’ Service for the Diocese of Durham Durham Cathedral, Saturday September 16, 11.30 a.m. by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright James and John said to Jesus, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in […]

The Road to New Creation

Isaiah 35.1–10; Luke 10.25–37 Sermon at the Service of Re-dedication for the Priory of England and the Islands of the Most Venerable Order of The Hospital of St John of Jerusalem Durham Cathedral, Saturday 23 September 2006 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright There is a great theme in the scriptures which […]

Rest and Reflection

i Kings 19.9b–12; Mark 6.30–34 a sermon at the 60th anniversary celebrations of Shepherd’s Dene by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright To say Elijah was depressed is putting it mildly. In what we now see as a regular pattern, he had a huge and dramatic success followed by a total collapse. He […]

The Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9.2–7 a sermon at the rededication of the Memorial Cloisters, Sedbergh School 13 November 2005 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; for unto us a son is given, the Prince of Peace.’  Isaiah’s words are all the more poignant when […]

The Glory and the Prayer

Ezekiel 1.22–28; Colossians 1.24–29; John 17.1–13 a sermon at the Ordination of Priests in Durham Cathedral, June 26 2010 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N T Wright Some years ago, Maggie and I were invited to dinner by a very senior person in another university. After the meal I asked if I could see the […]

When the Spirit Comes

Acts 2.1–21; John 16.4b–11 a sermon for Pentecost (May 23) 2010 in the Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert, Durham by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright Every child learns to live in at least two worlds, and learns also how awkward it can be when the two […]

The Power of Heaven Let Loose on Earth

Acts 2.1–21; John 15.26—16.15 a sermon at the Eucharist and Baptism (of Isabel Johanna Sheen) in Durham Cathedral on the feast of Pentecost, 31 May 2009 by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright What are we praying for when we pray for the Holy Spirit? ‘Send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort […]