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This video encapsulates what I understand to be the focus of the teaching of the four Gospels in the New Testament.
My thread will attempt to explain why I find N. T. Wright's articulation of this theme so compelling. 1/x https://twitter.com/thykingdom_come/status/1288791449878880258
My thread will attempt to explain why I find N. T. Wright's articulation of this theme so compelling. 1/x https://twitter.com/thykingdom_come/status/1288791449878880258
Wright did not come up with all this on its own. As critical biblical scholarship arose after the Enlightenment, these ideas began to emerge out of the tremendous attention given to the primary sources of the NT and Hellenistic literature to the origins of Christianity. 2/x
When I say "critical biblical scholarship," many will think of the conflict between historic Christian orthodoxy and what's broadly labeled as "liberal theology" or formerly "modernism" or such. And that was a real thing. 3/x
But in that messy, very human exchange of analyses, interpretations, and such, the data of the sources remains a persistent check on the excesses. Some trendy, appealing, new reading of the texts may become popular for a season or three, . . . 4/x
and it may be pitted in conflict with some other widely held point of view--historically orthodox or not. But over time, even though bad ideas persist and new, bad ideas arise, the data of the sources tends to squelch the bad and leave the good. 5/x
Various ideas in NT studies especially began to bubble up from the late 19th century into the 20th: that the concept of God's reign is central; that it is tied to Jesus' appearance, death and resurrection; that it has both present and future aspects. 6/x
I think that Oscar Cullman was important in this realization, as he responded to things done by Rudolf Bultmann and C. H. Dodd. In my long life, George Ladd brought them home to me. He'd taken Cullman a step further. My undergrad mentor Tom Friskney was instrumental, BTW. 7/x
As a PhD student in the late 1980s, I heard about this new guy, Tom Wright, who'd written a thesis at Cambridge that everyone was buzzing about. I asked what made him special. The response was that he brought so many things together so compellingly. 8/x
He was "the straw that stirs the drink," to borrow Reggie Jackson's infamous phrase. He was the thing that brought all the ingredients into one delicious whole.
When Wright started publishing, I saw the same. 9/x
When Wright started publishing, I saw the same. 9/x
"The NT and the People of God" didn't so much show me new things as give me better ways of thinking about and talking about the things I'd been coming to understand for a decade and a half. Wright didn't change my mind. He enabled me to consolidate my thinking. 10/x
At the same time, he demonstrated a remarkable knack for being able to express his ideas in terms that are readily accessible to Christian laypeople. He is the remarkable combination of a learned scholar and a thoughtful pastor. 11/x
Granted, he has his detractors. His work has alienated those doggedly in the Reformed camp, and many others who are simply suspicious of anything that doesn't fit their prior categories. In NT scholarship, he's sometimes criticized, not entirely without reason, . . . 12/x
for preoccupation with certain ideas (exile and Yahweh's return to Zion) and broad characterization in place of detailed analysis (despite writing some of the longest books in history, but whatever). And there's professional jealousy. 13/x
I'm sure there are people who will listen to this video and object that he describes Jesus' death as "exhausting" something rather than satisfying God's wrath. I understand where that objection comes from, but I think it misses what he's doing. Anyway . . . 14/x
Whatever the shortcomings and objections (I thought his ideas about global politics articulated in the 1990s were silly even though they were grounded in his excellent reading of the NT), his articulation of the core of the biblical message remains compelling, at two levels. 15/x
One is a the level of the sources. Wrinkles remain, but Wright provides a panorama of the Christian canon of sacred texts that has tremendous explanatory power.
The other is human experience. Wright shows how the Christian message addresses our deepest longings. 16/x
The other is human experience. Wright shows how the Christian message addresses our deepest longings. 16/x
I have an old tee shirt from my prior institution that says "Truth, Love, Justice, Beauty." Those shirts were made on the order of the institution's admissions office after I spontaneously rattled off that list in a class. 17/x
Had it not been for Wright, I never would have thought to say those four words together in that context. Had it not been for Wright, I could not have taught my students as well as I hope I did.
I hope you find what he says in this video compelling. 18/18
I hope you find what he says in this video compelling. 18/18
Postscript: I regret that twice in this thread I wrote as if the word "data" is singular.
