N. T. Wright's "The Challenge of Jesus"

I had to read N. T. Wright's The Challenge of Jesus and then had to answer these 3 questions in response in only 200 words for all three. The book shifted my paradigm of the gospels and I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about the Historical Jesus and what he means to us, to anyone thinking about our mission in response to Jesus, to anyone wanting to expand their faith!

(1) if Jesus remains anchored in the first century Judaism, as Wright suggests, does not his relevance for us today diminish? If I were to answer question one in reading only the first three chapters, I would have to say, “Yes, Jesus' relevance is diminished being so firmly rooted in the 1st century.” Wright portrays a Jesus that is solely for his day. He gives Jesus a mission and passion for 1st century, second-temple Israel that simply cannot be scripturally denied but is fully present in our gospel narrative. I very much lamented Wright's conclusions to come after reading these chapters only to be fully raptured by Wright's re-definition of our Christ-centered vocation.

(2.) What, according to Wright is, and is not, the significance of the resurrection for understanding Jesus? Resurrection did not signify that one had had some sort of personal experience and that everything was going to be ok because our Messiah had died and is spiritually in heaven. Rather, it meant the climax of exiled Israel being freed. It meant that Jesus was physically re-embodied as the 1st century Jews believed the righteous would be, but there is only one who is righteous. It meant the beginning of God's new creation.

(3.) What is the relationship between our present work in reshaping our world, and the future world that God intends to make? It is not simply to hold a dualistic approach in which God has set everything good, but it will fail again, so we sit idly by and wait for the end (Dispensationalism). Rather, it means that we are to be engaged in society and the world, letting Jesus' redemption shine. We are to build on the Jesus foundation, continually pointing to Jesus' new creation, free from exile and forgiven.


Be Blessed and peace be with you!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review-ish of N. T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope"

Image
This is by far one of my favorite theological/ Christian books ever! I cannot be misunderstood. There is no hyperbole in my statement. This book rocked my world. I mean, I love C. S. Lewis. "Mere Christianity" changed my life. But if I can be a little blasphemous against Lewis, this book is better. It is better at framing a Christian Worldview and the entirety of the Christian life than the above mentioned. It also clears up the murky waters of Death, Dying and the after-life and what Wright wants to call something like "life after death after life." Basically this is a book about the Ultimate Christian hope (Resurrection into New Creation) and how that hope impacts our lives now! These are the types of questions Lewis sometimes missed on. I have two critiques. (1) I wish there was more scripture actually quoted. I know the verses he alludes to. I know many more that he doesn't. But more is better when you are challenging 200 years of Dispensationalism and
Read more

Mormonism and Christianity - Differences and Similarities

There is a rumor going around that people think Mormons and Christians are the same. This could not be further from reality. I have heard this many times and it usually comes from Mormons and people who overvalue tolerance at the expense of truly understanding. President Hinckley of the Mormon church personally taught this to all of the Mormon church and is it found on their official site . Let's get a few things straight at the start. I love my Mormon friends. I consider some closer than family. I think they are mistaken about some things, but love certainly triumphs over differences here. Second, this post is completely unpolitical. I could care less if a Mormon is president. I could really care less about politics at all in this point in my life. Ok... that being said, there are some huge differences between Orthodox Christianity and Mormonism. Differences that cause each group to be outside of the others tent - if that makes sense.   The biggest and most
Read more

Jesus for President (JFP): Section ! Part 2

Image
The idea of the Jubilee is something that has always blown my mind. This gift of God that the Israelites never opened is quite possibly the most radical idea ever commanded of human beings on a societal level. I love it on so many levels. This book, being about the church and empire, has an empire focus, but still awesome nonetheless. It says: "One of the most exciting of the Sabbath laws was applied every seven years. Just like the Hebrew people were supposed to refrain from working every seventh day so that their land, animals, and servants could rest (a marked contrast to their overworked life in Egypt), every seventh year, the Hebrew people had a celebration called the Jubilee (named after the jovel, a ram's horn that sounded to herald the remission), during which during which they would take the whole year off of work. During this one-year break, all the food that continued to grow in their fields was free for the taking for families who were struggling to get by (Exodu
Read more