 |
|||||
Reviewed by Patricia Farris, Senior Minister, Santa Monica First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica, CA Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N.T. Wright To read Simply Christian is to enter into deceptively simple, deeply profound and lyrically beautiful conversation with N.T. Wright. Anglican Bishop of Durham, England, New Testament scholar and prolific writer, Wright brings all his scholarship to bear in this book as foundation rather than foreground. There is not a footnote to be found, though the Afterword does contain suggestions for further reading and study. The last sentence captures the tone and goal of the book: “As we might say to someone starting to enjoy music: don’t just listen to it, find an instrument and an orchestra and join in.” A work of theology, Wright does not begin at what we might assume to be the beginning. He does not get around to God, Jesus and the Spirit (God’s “breath of life”) until Part Two, entitled “Staring at the Sun,” Part One, “Echoes of a Voice,” begins with a dream analogy that entices seekers to explore questions of truth, beauty and justice. It’s like, Wright says, waking from a powerful and interesting dream, not remembering the details of what it was about, but carrying forward echoes of voices from the dream and profound revelations from the dream that keep calling us back to the totality of what the dream had revealed. Our passion for justice, says Wright, comes from just such an experience, as does our thirst for spirituality, our hunger for relationship and our delight in beauty. It is the Christian’s experience, Wright maintains, that God has articulated the dream in us, through Scripture, prayer, worship, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in the same sense that Augustine knew, so that “our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee.” Along the way of this compact book of 200+ pages, the reader will cover a lot of ground—sin, salvation, kingdom, sex, call, church, blessing, covenant, hope and great good news. New insights will be found into such classic theological constructs as ascension, Pentecost and resurrection. And at the same time, readers are invited, wooed even, into not only new ways of thinking, but into more faithful living as followers of the One sent to bring life and bring it abundantly. Advertised as an introduction to Christianity for those outside the faith, for those who think of Christianity mostly as a way to “go to Heaven when you die,” life-long followers of the Way will find that it illuminates and challenges. Preachers will be inspired to continue working harder to find and craft the right words to communicate what we know to be life-giving and true. There is a compelling beauty in this book, as if it is permeated with light, coming as it does from a life of careful scholarship and dedicated study melded to a lifetime of faithful living and grateful discipleship.
|
