N.T. Wright

It was really a privilege to get to hear N.T. Wright (author, scholar, and Bishop of Durham) speak at an event hosted by Fuller Seminary last night. N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of those unique biblical scholars and theologians who has been able to speak beyond the walls of the academy and address the concerns of pastors and lay people.

Probably the two most influential biblical scholars of the last few decades amongst evangelicals have been Walter Brueggemann in the Old Testament and Tom Wright in the New Testament. I have had the chance to meet Brueggemann a couple of times at the Society of Biblical Literature. My good friend once asked him how he became such a prolific and gifted writer. His answer, apart from hard work and discipline, was that he had a breakthrough thought about the OT and has written that same idea over and over in different contexts within the OT. His breakthrough idea was essentially that the primary purpose of the OT was and is to form a separate (or holy) people who are shaped by the character of God in contrast to the politics, economics, and values of the Egypt of Pharaoh. Therefore the tension and temptations for the people of God in the OT are always things like idolatry, kingship, and economic exploitation of others.

Tom Wright's great breakthrough in the NT has been to recover an eschatology of hope that is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. To paraphrase Paul, if Jesus did not raise from the dead then nothing else about the faith really matters. But if Jesus did raise from the dead, then the hope of a new (or renewed) heaven and earth is the goal to which all things now point.

The subject of last night's lecture was the need to recover the concept of virtue in the life of the believer. He argued that transformation is the goal of the work of the Spirit in our lives, but that learning to live "Christianly" in the world is much like learning a second language as an adult. The process of building our moral or Christ-like muscles takes conscious thought and diligent work within the context of the community of the faithful and through the means of grace until what once was not our nature becomes second nature. The goal of discipleship is to work with the Spirit as we move toward the renewing of our minds into the nature of Christ.

There's too much content in the lecture to write about here, but I'm sure it will show up in book form in the not too distant future. And like everything else he has written, I'm sure it will be well worth the reading.

As Wright was lecturing my dad leaned over to me and said, "It is amazing how knowledgeable he is of the NT and how he is able to move in and out of the texts without thinking about it." In some ways that's exactly what he was talking about. None of us sees the years and years he has spent in study not only of the NT itself but of the history of scholarship about the NT. Now the scripture all of those sources have become a second nature way of thinking for him. 

I am so thankful for those like Wright and Brueggemann that have given their lives in the hard work of study so that now speaking truth through the lens of the scripture just flows from them. They inspire me.

Comments

[~ mm]

Oh to be given the time to be like them. Alas, a teaching mule am I.

[Chuck]

Can you clarify your second to last sentence?--"...speaking truth from the Word just flows from them," It is as if you are referring to the Bible as the Word. Has your Christian muscle conformed to the general consensus of the church regarding the "Word?" or do you have warrant for this statement?

[Scott]

I rephrased the sentence Chuck. Is it better now?

[Larry Rench]

I am so thankful for a pastor that has given his life in the hard work of study so that now speaking truth through the lens of the scripture just flows from him! If Walter Brueggemann or Tom Wright would ever have the privilege of hearing you preach, they would no doubt say the same. Just this last weekend we had a couple from church over for dinner, and they commented on how your sermons hit home each and every Sunday. Thank you so much!

Larry

[Scott]

Thanks Larry.