Simply Christian by N.T. Wright
N.T. Wright Simply Christian : Why Christianity Makes Sense Harper Collins, 2006
For quite some time, N.T. Wright [Anglican Bishop of Durham] has been addressing audiences across the globe concerning his heartfelt commitment to the Bible and the message it gives of God’s love for a hurting world. Rising up through the ranks of the Anglican movement, Wright serves as a theologian and church leader inspiring other leaders to remember their foundation in the gospel of Christ and their calling to spread the good news to others. Lately, Wright has been working on spreading the good news in the community at large, eagerly sharing the message of Christianity with those that are not of the faith but may be interested to know more about it.
In his latest book, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, Wright urges readers to take a look at what, or better “who,” is at the foundation of the human sense of justice, thirst for spirituality, need for relationship and admiration of beauty. He suggests that Christianity and its message makes true sense of why we cringe at injustice, search for greater meaning, long for fulfilling relationships and continue to vie for beauty in such ugly contexts. At the bottom of these human longings is a God who created a world where such longings can be fulfilled.
Wright acknowledges that although looking to God may feel like we are staring at the sun, through the glare exists a God who desires to make himself known. This God does so through a representative people, Israel, who have held an important place in human relationship with God. It is through this people that God desires the world to know him. In the faithfulness of their historians, the story of what God is up to is most vividly shared in the narrative of God’s relationship with the nation of Israel. Through them, God’s goal is to reach out to humanity represented in other nations in order to make himself known and to gather them near so that he might purge them of the evil that plagues them.
What brings such understanding is the appearance of Jesus who with claims of being the Son of God shares with Israel the true face of God and his purpose of relationship with humanity and the world. It is in Jesus’ life and words that we understand that the world has been affected by evil and that God’s goal through Jesus’ life is to rescue the world from evil and eventually purge such evil so that the world can be renewed fulfilling the expectations that have continually been borne through the human heart [as mentioned above in the sense of longing for justice, thirst for spirituality, longing for fulfilling relationships and desire for beauty].
Wright encourages the reader to consider three viable options of relationship with God. Option 1 is the Pantheistic view which Wright acknowledges does not answer the longing of the human heart for a better world since God is part of this fallen world. Option 2 is the Deist view which also leaves humanity in its futile longing since God is not at all involved in the human drama. Option 3, outlined above, focuses on God’s Spirit involved in the world and in humanity drawing both toward God’s intended goal of purging both of evil and renewing the world so that humanity can live in fulfillment of the longing of its true purpose in God’s creation. This option expresses a God who is very involved in his creation and who has taken responsibility to heal it by establishing his reign over it.
In the tradition of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, Wright has offered us a book that encourages the atheist, agnostic and seeker of spirituality to seriously consider the claims of Christianity and see how its claims make sense of the place human beings find themselves in and how the gloom of their longing heart is satisfied by a God who has always been connected to his creation and will recover it establishing his kingdom on earth and filling the world and humanity with his glory. Its big picture presentation of Christianity is a must read for all who want to consider Christianity as their basis for faith or are thinking of doing so.
Wright has been a prolific writer and it is worth noting his suggestions at the end of the book concerning other books he has written; in particular The Challenge of Jesus which deals further with the significance of the person of Jesus in God’s plan to rescue humanity and the world from evil. His other recent works on the significance of the Resurrection and on the Authority of the Bible are also worth reading as an expansion on the topics he initially addresses in Simply Christian. Supporters of N.T. Wright have also graciously made available audio sessions by Wright at the following website http://www.ntwrightpage.com/. You will find Wright a very articulate and thoughtful presenter.
For quite some time, N.T. Wright [Anglican Bishop of Durham] has been addressing audiences across the globe concerning his heartfelt commitment to the Bible and the message it gives of God’s love for a hurting world. Rising up through the ranks of the Anglican movement, Wright serves as a theologian and church leader inspiring other leaders to remember their foundation in the gospel of Christ and their calling to spread the good news to others. Lately, Wright has been working on spreading the good news in the community at large, eagerly sharing the message of Christianity with those that are not of the faith but may be interested to know more about it.
In his latest book, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, Wright urges readers to take a look at what, or better “who,” is at the foundation of the human sense of justice, thirst for spirituality, need for relationship and admiration of beauty. He suggests that Christianity and its message makes true sense of why we cringe at injustice, search for greater meaning, long for fulfilling relationships and continue to vie for beauty in such ugly contexts. At the bottom of these human longings is a God who created a world where such longings can be fulfilled.
Wright acknowledges that although looking to God may feel like we are staring at the sun, through the glare exists a God who desires to make himself known. This God does so through a representative people, Israel, who have held an important place in human relationship with God. It is through this people that God desires the world to know him. In the faithfulness of their historians, the story of what God is up to is most vividly shared in the narrative of God’s relationship with the nation of Israel. Through them, God’s goal is to reach out to humanity represented in other nations in order to make himself known and to gather them near so that he might purge them of the evil that plagues them.
What brings such understanding is the appearance of Jesus who with claims of being the Son of God shares with Israel the true face of God and his purpose of relationship with humanity and the world. It is in Jesus’ life and words that we understand that the world has been affected by evil and that God’s goal through Jesus’ life is to rescue the world from evil and eventually purge such evil so that the world can be renewed fulfilling the expectations that have continually been borne through the human heart [as mentioned above in the sense of longing for justice, thirst for spirituality, longing for fulfilling relationships and desire for beauty].
Wright encourages the reader to consider three viable options of relationship with God. Option 1 is the Pantheistic view which Wright acknowledges does not answer the longing of the human heart for a better world since God is part of this fallen world. Option 2 is the Deist view which also leaves humanity in its futile longing since God is not at all involved in the human drama. Option 3, outlined above, focuses on God’s Spirit involved in the world and in humanity drawing both toward God’s intended goal of purging both of evil and renewing the world so that humanity can live in fulfillment of the longing of its true purpose in God’s creation. This option expresses a God who is very involved in his creation and who has taken responsibility to heal it by establishing his reign over it.
In the tradition of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, Wright has offered us a book that encourages the atheist, agnostic and seeker of spirituality to seriously consider the claims of Christianity and see how its claims make sense of the place human beings find themselves in and how the gloom of their longing heart is satisfied by a God who has always been connected to his creation and will recover it establishing his kingdom on earth and filling the world and humanity with his glory. Its big picture presentation of Christianity is a must read for all who want to consider Christianity as their basis for faith or are thinking of doing so.
Wright has been a prolific writer and it is worth noting his suggestions at the end of the book concerning other books he has written; in particular The Challenge of Jesus which deals further with the significance of the person of Jesus in God’s plan to rescue humanity and the world from evil. His other recent works on the significance of the Resurrection and on the Authority of the Bible are also worth reading as an expansion on the topics he initially addresses in Simply Christian. Supporters of N.T. Wright have also graciously made available audio sessions by Wright at the following website http://www.ntwrightpage.com/. You will find Wright a very articulate and thoughtful presenter.
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